New Yorkers in dire need of a break from the fast-pace and hectic streets of the city can seek refuge with the annual Rural Route Film Festival, July 20-22, hosted by the renowned Anthology Film Archives. Celebrating its fifth year, the festival includes premieres, fresh food, free beer, and live music centering on all things rural. This year's festival boasts films from 23 states and 15 countries and brings small-town prices with $8.00 tickets for all film programs; and many of the screenings include Q & A sessions with the filmmakers and brand new 16mm & 35mm prints. Overall, this year's fest is the product of five years of hard work and festival growth, culminating in a world class, cutting edge mix of international and down home Americana film.

The Rural Route Film Festival continues its partnership with Rooftop Films in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, with a special showing of shorts from last year's festival, a NY Premiere of the Finnish doc, "No Man is an Island", plus a sneak preview of the 2007 films on July 13.

2007 Rural Route Film Festival Features:
"Popular Music from Vittula" - NEW YORK PREMIERE! 35MM PRINT!
Reza Bagher • Vittula, Lappland, Sweden • 2004 • 105 min. • Narrative This pick from Rural Route's recent trip to Sweden's Hela Sverges festival North of the Arctic Circle is an eye-opening story about two friends growing up in the '60s. Driven by a dream of becoming rock stars, their lives change forever when they hear the Beatles' "Rock and Roll Music." The song intoxicates them, becoming a weapon for one to fight for independence from his tyrannically religious father and to reach for freedom. An energetic, poetic narrative about growing up - and ultimately growing apart - in a beautiful rural region in Scandinavia, Popular Music from Vittula, delivers on dramatic, comedic and heartwarming levels. For additional info: www.sfi.se. The feature will be preceded by the Norwegian Sámi dance short Biegga Savkala Ahte Duoddariid Duohken Lea Soames (The Wind Whispers There is Someone Behind the Tundra).

London's Raindance Film Festival Co-Presents "Huldufolk 102" - NEW YORK PREMIERE! Q&A w/director Nisha Inalsingh • Iceland • 2006 • 74 min. • Documentary Set against the backdrop of Iceland's breathtaking rural landscapes and a mesmerizing soundtrack that includes Siqur Ros, Huldufolk 102 explores the country's incredible attitude towards a supernatural phenomenon most of us associate with Walt Disney, J.R.R. Tolkien and five year olds. Nisha Inalsingh's film debut tackles parallel universes, fairies, elves and all things three feet tall. Farmers and academics, politicians and priests, the young and old, and the superstitious and the rational bear testament to the survival of ancient folkloric traditions in all segments of Icelandic society. For additional info: www.huldufolk102.com. The Scottish short The Clearing will be shown in this program. Q&A with Nisha Inalsingh and Helen Watkins following the screening.

"Ruby's Town" - NEW YORK PREMIERE! Q&A w/director Erik McCowan • Cuero, TX & Worthington, MN • 2007 • 90 min. • Documentary When the towns of Worthington, Minnesota and Cuero, Texas meet each year for the Great Gobbler Gallop, bragging rights to be called 'Turkey Capital of the World' are on the line. The annual race rests the pride of both cities on the feathered wings of its competitors: Paycheck and Ruby Begonia. Ruby's Town explores the current state of turkey affairs, and goes back to the origins of it all with an event called the Turkey Trot where thousands of the Thanksgiving birds were herded to town every Fall in what was the most fun and spectacular live turkey market ever. For additional info: www.myspace.com/rubystown.

"Milk and Opium" (Post-Peasant International program) Joel Palombo • Jaisalmer villages, Great Thar desert, India • 2006 • 83 min. • Narrative Swaroop is an innocent 14-year-old Muslim musician who is discovering the world outside, while his uncle Nizam takes opium regularly and scams money in any way he can. Nizam's greed and use of religious rhetoric lead to their group's break-up and Swaroop's eventual departure. Set to a soundtrack of traditional Sufi music with a twist of fusion, Milk and Opium leaves the viewer questioning what will become of both Swaroop and traditional India. For additional info: www.milkandopium.com This Indian import is paired w/Hungarian documentary The Angelmakers in the Post-Peasant International: The Roots of Rural & Back Again program curated by RR Canadian Correspondent, Don Goodes

"Homecoming" • Charlene Gilbert • Montezuma, GA • 1999 • 57 min. • Documentary In 1920 there were nearly one million black farmers in America; in 1999 there were less than 18,000. Traveling to her cousin's farm in rural Georgia, filmmaker Charlene Gilbert investigates the social and political implications of African American land loss in the South. Both a historical examination and an intimate look at one rural family, Homecoming documents the tradition and decline of black farming, and explores the bittersweet legacy of the land, a symbol of both struggle and survival.

The festival is also proud to present a diverse roster of six shorts programs with many films making their NY debut. For roots music fans, there's the old-time sounds of the short films in "Appalshop Archives' Old-Time Hoedown" with live music before the screenings. Straight from Kentucky, these three rare documentary/found footage films feature the music of Lee Sexton, Ralph Stanley, Ricky Skaggs, and the "singing coalminer," Nimrod Workman. The "Go Organic!" program has something for everyone from foodies to environmentalists with films that delve into subjects such as farming ethics, sustainability, Cuban community farms, and the trend of women in farming.

"Montana and More" celebrates the geographic variety of rural films with offerings from all over the globe, including Ukraine, Nicaragua, and New York City. "The Lights are on, but Nobody's Home" program takes an alternate route, presenting a series of short art films about sense of home and artificial vs. natural light. In "Stories of the Young 'Uns", the spotlight's on rural kids doing it all, from setting up lemonade stands to getting lost at the state fair. Engines rev in "Motor Away", with shorts about lawnmower races, truck drivin' ladies, a Pueblo Indian casino, and more. The festival also presents music videos from Saddle Creek artists Bright Eyes and Eric Bachmann, plus German techno artist/ornithologist Dominik Eulberg.

In addition to the main event in New York City, the festival tours the globe year round, traveling from Sweden to North Carolina to Alaska and back again.

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2007 Festival Sponsors: Iowa Film Office, NYSCA, Swedish Consulate, National Development Council, Nevada Film Office, Experimental Television Center, Post Logic Studios, Fractured Atlas, Montana Film Office, Organic Valley, IA Scriptwriters Alliance, IA Motion Picture Association, IA Digital Filmmakers Guild, and Pabst Blue Ribbon.

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Tickets for sale online @ http://www.smarttix.com/package.aspx?showcode=RUR68

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2007 Schedule

Friday, July 13th:
8PM - sneak peak @ Rooftop Films (Automotive High School, Williamsburg, Brooklyn), co-presenting NY Premiere of Finnish doc "No Man is an Island" + new short films

All of the following screenings @ Anthology Film Archives:
Friday, July 20th:
7PM - Popular Music from Vittula (Reza Bagher) - NY Premiere - 35mm print!
9PM - Montana and More shorts program

Saturday, July 21st:
1PM - Stories of the Young 'uns shorts program 3PM - Go Organic!
5PM - Ruby's Town (Erik McCowan) - TX director in for Q&A 7PM - Appalshop Archives' Old-Time Hoedown (w/live music from the Moonshiners) 9PM - Motor Away shorts program

Sunday, July 22nd:
3PM - Post-Peasant International (35mm print of "Milk & Opium) 5PM - Homecoming 7PM - Huldufolk 102 (Nisha Inalsingh) - NY Premiere - Q&A w/director 9PM - Lights are on, but Nobody's Home shorts program