THE REFLECTING POOL 

Friday, November 2----------The Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival has always had a commitment to showcasing the best of the new American independent cinema, and this weekend it offers a diverse and diverting group of films from new American indie talents. For those interested in the technical and thematic innovations that these filmmakers are bringing to the medium, get to the Maniaci Center or Cinema Paradiso for a taste of the new American autuers.

On Saturday, the Festival will present the political thriller THE REFLECTING POOL, directed by Jarek Kupsc. The film is an intense investigation of the events surrounding 9/11, as a Russian-American journalist teams with the father of a World Trade Center victim to implicate the US government in the attacks. This is provocative stuff and brings light to controversial theories of government involvement that is held by segments of the population. The film definitely grabs its audiences by the throat and makes them confront the possibility of the biggest conspiracy since the Kennedy assasination. Watch the video trailer on YouTube, if you dare: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32b-e-xwuB8

An entirely different note is struck on Sunday with the premiere screening of FLOAT, the new comedy from debut director Calvin Simmons, which won him the Best Director prize at the Socal Independent Film Festival. FLOAT is a media-savvy comedy about a perennial loser and his dream to make an 'Oscar-worthy' film… about a floating women's prison. For an indie filmmaker, navigating the Hollywood system is often one long road of failure and rejection.....but hope always spring eternal and good fortune is just around the corner. Working from a shooting script that contained no written dialogue, the film relies heavily on improvisation, delivering uniquely fresh performances.

The comedy continues with the premiere of local Florida director Erika Yeomans' dark comedy, POSE DOWN. The film is set in  Southwest Florida and tells the story of three former high school classmates –The Bodybuilder, The Good Ol' Boy and The Homecoming Queen - whose lives become entangled after the airing of a tabloid news program. The film premiered at the Portobello Film Festival in the United Kingdom and is making its US Premiere at FLIFF. Audiences looking to experience what local filmmaking talents are doing in the Sunshine State should add this to their must-see lists this weekend. For more info, visit the film's MySpace page at: http://www.myspace.com/posedownthemovie

Sandy Mandelberger, Fort Lauderdale FF Dailies Editor