Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival

Friday, November 10----More and more film directors, actors and personalities are descending on Fort Lauderdale, as the film festival enters its final weekend. The number of parties and special events make this not only the cultural high point but also the social "must attend" event of the week.

WHO'S IN TOWN

Mel Stuart
The award-winning producer/director, who entertained audiences with anecdotes yesterday evening at a rare screening of his Emmy Award winning documentary MAN RAY: PROPHET OF THE AVANT GARDE at the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art, will also make appearances today at 5:30pm for the FREE SCREENING of his film THE HOBART SHAKESPEAREANS at the Cinema Paradiso. On Saturday morning, Stuart will introduce the FREE SCREENING of his classic WILLIE WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (starring Gene Wilder) at 9:45 at the Cinema Paradiso. Later on Saturday, he will offer more insider information following the 2:00pm FREE SCREENING of his loving portrait of screen icon Sophia Loren, in SOPHIA: A PORTRAIT, also at Cinema Paradiso. Stuart will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award this weekend.

Shiva Rose/Dylan McDermott
Actress Shiva Rose will attend the screening of her "political comedy" DAVID & LAYLA, in which she stars as a Moslem woman who falls for a Jewish television journalist. The Indian beauty will be accompanied by her husband, television and film star Dylan McDermott. They will both attend the screenings of the film on Friday, 6:45pm and Saturday, 7:30pm at the Cinema Paradiso.

Ernie Hudson
Best known for his work on the HBO hit series OZ and his recurring role in the MISS CONGENIALITY films, Ernie Hudson will be honored with a career achievement award this weekend. He also appears in the bracing comedy film HALFWAY DECENT, and will introduce the film at the Friday, 8:45pm screening at the Cinema Paradiso.

Michelle Phillips
The beautiful singer/actress, best known as one of the original members of the 1960s group THE MAMAS AND THE PAPAS, is in town to promote her involvement with the documentary film AND THE SEA TOOK US, which screens on Sunday, November 12 at 3:15pm at the Cinema Paradiso. Phillips, a committed activist, narrates the film that looks at the relief efforts following the cataclysmic Asian tsunami of Christmas, 2004. She brings her considerable talents to enlighten how simple gestures of international relief workers have made all the difference in an area of the world that is still coping with the disaster two years later.

William Prosser
A painter living in Ojai, California, William Prosser was so moved by the cataclysm of the December 2004 Asian tsunami, that he volunteered to work in southern Sri Lanka to help with the second phase of disaster relief. Documenting his time in that ravaged place, his documentary AND THE SEA TOOK US will screen on Sunday, November 12, 3:15pm at the Cinema Paradiso. Prosser will be on hand with the film's narrator, singer/actress Michelle Phillips, to answer questions.

Christopher Glatis
The director of the US indie film CALL BACK will attend his screening on November 11, 5:45pm at the Cinema Paradiso. The LA-based director shot his film using locations from Venice Beach to the Valley, making the city a vibrant character in the film. He is in Fort Lauderdale this weekend before returning to Los Angeles, when he is preparing his next film, WATERLOGGED.

Sandy Mandelberger
Online Festival Dailies Editor