“Let Freedom Ring” Theme for the 5th Annual Director’s View Film Festival
Celebrates the rights of artists to tell their stories freely.

Yes we, at Filmfestivals, really share this opinion: we need more of these ventures.

Now in its fifth year, the Director’s View Film Festival was created to educate and expand people's horizons and make an impact on the community through an important cultural event. The five-day festival will take place from February 12-16, 2004 in Greenwich, Stamford, Westport, New Canaan and Norwalk, Connecticut.

Robert Kesten, the festival’s founder, created this year’s “Let Freedom
Ring” theme in response to the growing political uncertainty in our own
nation. Kesten said, “I hope the festival opens people's eyes to the
importance of the arts, and the role artists play in reflecting and
interpreting society and culture. Free speech, as embodied in artistic
expression, is what unites us as a nation, it is what provides us with an
identity, it is the image we present to the world. That image is one of
openness and inclusion, intellectual and artistic curiosity, and hope that
there really is a better world out there if we work together.”

“Let Freedom Ring” will be a key topic during the festival’s documentary
panel discussions and the Director's Round Table discussion. All are open
to the public at no charge. Kesten believes artists and those who support
the arts are ready to take on this challenge: to preserve and strengthen
these most important rights. A pre-festival program, featuring actress and
former head of the National Endowment for the Arts Jane Alexander, took a
closer look at this theme. The festival’s 2004 honorees, legendary director
Sidney Lumet and renowned documentary filmmaker St. Clair Bourne, have both
dealt repeatedly with questions of free speech and artistic integrity in
their films. “It is vital for us all to remember what this freedoms mean,
why it was incorporated into the very first amendment of our Constitution
and what it means if we lose this important right,” Kesten added.

Sidney Lumet will receive the Joseph L. Mankiewicz Excellence in Filmmaking
Award, to be presented on February 13, 2004 at a gala dinner held at the
Stamford Marriott Hotel following the premiere screening of this year’s
Community Film Project and a film tribute to Mr. Lumet at the Avon Theatre
in Stamford. Lumet’s long list of acclaimed films includes “Serpico,” “Dog
Day Afternoon,” “12 Angry Men,” “The Verdict,” and many others. The festival
will include screenings of a number of Lumet’s films as well as a reading of
scenes from his most recognized works by some of the stars that have worked
with him over the years.

Former Connecticut resident St. Clair Bourne will receive the second annual
Director’s View Film Festival Documentarian Award at a ceremony scheduled
for Monday, February 16, 2004. Bourne is not afraid to take on the tough
issues of race, politics and the complex subjects that others dance around
but never address directly. For over 25 years, he has specialized in
exploring African life both in the United States and internationally by
finding common links among people of African descent. Bourne has produced,
directed, and written over 40 movies, including documentaries for HBO, PBS,
NBC, BBC, and National Geographic, as well as his own independent films.
Standouts of his luminous career include Half Past Autumn: The Life and
Works of Gordon Parks (HBO) and John Henrik Clarke: A Great and Mighty Walk,
a feature-length documentary about the respected historian and Pan-African
activist.

In addition, the festival will screen independent films, documentaries and
student films, recognize the talents of local, regional and international
filmmakers, host a studio film premiere and Hollywood-style back lot party
and organize discussions and programs exploring the role of the director and
the potential for filmmaking in Fairfield and Westchester Counties.

The Director’s View Film Festival is a nonprofit organization that produces
an annual film festival in Fairfield County, Connecticut, with additional
programming in Westchester County, New York. The festival also produces The
Community Film Project, Women Filmmakers Series and other programs
throughout the year. Last year DVFF founded the Connecticut Film Society as
a way of keeping people informed about film and filmmakers.