SYRFILMFEST 2017 Begins Wednesday With Five Days of Film Screenings, Discussions

The 14^th annual Syracuse International Film Festival (SYRFILMFEST 2017) opens Wednesday, Oct. 18, and continues through Sunday, Oct. 22, with some three dozen films (including a silent film classic), as well as a filmmakers’ forum and discussions with Syracuse-born actress Siobhan Fallon-Hogan (“Men in Black,” “Forrest Gump,” “Wayward Pines”); actor Giancarlo Esposito (“Breaking Bad,” “Better Call Saul,” “Once Upon a Time”) and Syracuse University alumnus Dan Silver ’01, vice president and head of platforms and content/new media for Marvel’s Digital Media Group.

Giancarlo Esposito

Festival tickets are available online and at each venue 30 minutes prior to a program. Tickets are free for Syracuse University and Le Moyne College students with a festival wristband or college I.D. Single tickets are $10 per event or $8 for individuals 60 years of age or older and under 13. A weekend-only film pass, valid for all film screenings Oct. 21-22, is $25. A full festival pass—valid for all films, receptions and meet-and-greet opportunities—is $100 per person or $175 for two.

Screenings and other activities take place at The Palace Theatre, 2384 James St., Syracuse, and at Shemin Auditorium in the Shaffer Art Building on the SU campus.

SYRFILMFEST 2017 begins with two films Wednesday night in Shemin Auditorium starting at 6:30 p.m.: “Hope I’m In the Frame” (2017, 58 mins.), focusing on Israeli director Michal Bat-Adam and winner of the 2017 Israeli Oscar for Best Documentary (Under 60 Minutes), followed by Bat-Adam’s film “The Road to Where” (2016, 96 mins.). A Skype conversation with Bat-Adam will take place after the screenings.

Siobhan Fallon-Hogan

Other festival highlights:

• “The Show” (2017, 104 mins.) starring Josh Duhamel, Famke Janssen and Giancarlo Esposito, followed by a Q&A with Esposito, Thursday, Oct. 19, 6:30 p.m., The Palace Theatre

• “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (1920, 67 mins.), a silent film classic accompanied by live music performed by The Society for New Music, Friday, Oct. 20, 6:30 p.m., The Palace Theatre

• “Dabka” (2017, 116 mins.) by Syracuse alumnus Bryan Buckley ’85 and starring Al Pacino, Melanie Griffith, Evan Peters and Barkhad Abdi, Friday, Oct. 20, 8:45 p.m., The Palace Theatre

• Filmmakers’ forum, a presentation by SU alumnus Jerry Stoeffhaas ’74, G’80, deputy director of the New York State Governor’s Office of Motion Picture & Television Development, followed by a roundtable discussion, Saturday, Oct. 21, 10 a.m., The Palace Theatre

• “American Veteran” (2016, 75 mins.), about U.S. Army Sgt. Nick Mendes, who at age 21 was paralyzed from the neck down by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan in 2011, Saturday, Oct. 21, 1 p.m., Shemin Auditorium
  

  Dan Silver

• The David and Carol North Schmuckler New Filmmakers Showcase, featuring some of the best films produced by students in the College of Visual and Performing Arts Film Program in 2017 along with a new film by Le Moyne College film students, Saturday, Oct. 21, 3 p.m., Shemin Auditorium

• Dan Silver Program: a discussion by Silver interspersed with film clips from Marvel Entertainment, ESPN Films and ABC News, Saturday, Oct. 21, 4:30 p.m., The Palace Theatre

• The Doug Biklen: Imaging Disability in Film Showcase, Saturday, Oct. 21, 5 p.m., Shemin Auditorium

• New Directions in Short Form Film featuring seven short films, Saturday, Oct. 21, 7 p.m., Shemin Auditorium

• New Russian Experimental Films featuring three films, Saturday, Oct. 21, 9 p.m., Shemin Auditorium

• “Freak Talks About Sex” (1999, 90 mins.) starring Steve Zahn and Josh Hamilton, Saturday, Oct. 21, 10:45 p.m., The Palace Theatre
  

  Michal Bat-Adam

• 20 Years of Siobhan Fallon-Hogan Program in which the actress and Le Moyne College graduate will reflect on her career in film, television and theater, Sunday, Oct. 22, 2 p.m., The Palace Theatre

• “Song of the Sea” (2017, 93 mins.), a family-friendly, Academy Award-nominated animated film from Ireland, Sunday, Oct. 22, 4 p.m., The Palace Theatre

For the full schedule of films and more information, visit www.filminsyracuse.com. A portion of the ticket proceeds from SYRFILMFEST 2017 will benefit Meals on Wheels of Syracuse, which delivers nutritious meals, nutrition education and resource assistance to those in the Syracuse community who are unable to do so themselves.