The Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You Series at MoMA Friday, November 18 – Sunday, November 21, 2011 AND IFP and charitybuzz partner on a silent auction for the Gotham Independent Film Awards

The 6th Annual Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You™ Series at MoMA begins Friday, November 18 and runs through Monday, November 21.

MoMA’s Department of Film, in collaboration with IFP and its quarterly publication Filmmaker Magazine, will screen the five nominees for the Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You™ Award. The nominees, selected by Filmmaker’s editorial staff and Joshua Siegel , Associate Curator, Department of Film, MoMA, represent the year’s best American independent films on the festival circuit that have yet to be picked up for theatrical distribution.  The winner receives a one week run at Cinema Village, ad support in the New York Times and a $15,000.00 grant.  Filmmaker Q&A’s will follow many of the screenings. The Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You™ is sponsored by Royal Bank of Canada (RBC).

TICKETS: (212) 708-9480 or www.MoMA.org/film

Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same

Director:  Madeleine Olnek

Madeleine Olnek ‘s Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same affectionately combines the camp of ’50s sci-fi B-movies with a contemporary New York City romantic comedy in which three lesbian aliens from the planet Zotz travel to Earth to save their planet – and to fall in love and have their hearts broken.

Green

Director:  Sophia Takal

A growing jealousy and paranoia pervades Sophia Takal’s horror-inflected Green, in which a city couple relocates to the country where a friendly local woman gradually becomes a wedge between them.

The Redemption of General Butt Naked

Directors: Eric Strauss and Daniele Anastasion

Daniele Anastasion and Eric Strauss’ The Redemption of General Butt Naked recounts the controversial story of Joshua Milton Blahyi , a ruthless warlord during Liberia’s 14-year civil war who has reinvented himself as a Christian evangelist on a journey of self-proclaimed transformation.

Scenes of a Crime

Directors:  Blue Hadaegh & Grover Babcock

Using footage from a 10-hour police interrogation and videotaped confession of a father accused of killing his infant son, Grover Babcock and Blue Hadaegh’s Scenes of a Crime is at once a coolly impassioned social justice documentary, a keen-eyed epistemological inquiry, and a gripping police procedural.

Without

Director:  Mark Jackson

In Mark Jackson’s Without, a young woman becomes caretaker to an elderly man in a vegetative state on a remote wooded island, and as the monotony of her daily routine starts to unravel, boundaries collapse and she struggles with sexuality, guilt and loss.

Also announced today, the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), the nation’s oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers, have teamed up with charitybuzz.com for the annual silent auction Wednesday, November 16 to Thursday, December 7, 2011.

“We are excited to partner with charitybuzz.com for the annual silent auction and we are grateful for the incredibly generous items and unique experiences that have been donated in support of the independent film community,” said Joana Vicente, IFP Executive Director of the IFP.

The partnership between IFP and charitybuzz.com will raise funds for IFP in support of the programs that support independent filmmakers. These auction items are one of a kind experiences extended by key supporters and celebrities in the independent film world.  Auction items include:

Two VIP Passes and seats for the 2011 Gotham Awards

Set visit to Boardwalk Empire

Private screening for 70 at the Paramount Screening Room in NYC

Premier tickets to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Walk on part in a Likely Story feature film (past films Please Give, My Idiot Brother)

Internship with Filmmaker Magazine

Two VIP Passes to The New York Times Times Talks

Consultations with industry mavericks; Sheila Nevins (HBO), Ted Hope (Double Hope Films) and Paul Schnee of Barden/Schnee Casting

Go to charitybuzz.com/gotham to bid on these items and many more.

As the first major awards ceremony of the film season, the Gotham Independent Film Awards™ provide critical early recognition and media attention to worthy independent films. Previous winners for Best Feature and Best Documentary include WINTER’S BONE (2010), THE OATH (2010), THE HURT LOCKER (2009), FOOD, INC (2009), FROZEN RIVER (2008) and TROUBLE THE WATER (2008). The awards are also unique for their ability to assist in catapulting award recipients prominently into national awards season attention, including recent winners and ultimate Oscar® contenders:  feature winners WINTER’S BONE (2010) and THE HURT LOCKER (2009); Breakthrough Actors  Melissa Leo (2008), Ellen Page (2007), Rinko Kikuchi (2006) and Amy Adams (2005).

Previously announced were the nominees for six competitive awards for Best Feature, Best Documentary, Breakthrough Director, Breakthrough Actor, Best Ensemble Performance, Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You™. In addition to the competitive awards, Charlize Theron, Gary Oldman, David Cronenberg and Tom Rothman will each be presented with a career tribute.  Also announced was the euphoria Calvin Klein Spotlight on Women Filmmakers ‘Live the Dream’ grant, a $25,000 cash award for an alumnus of IFP’s Independent Filmmaker Labs, nominees:  Jenny Deller, director, FUTURE WEATHER, Lucy Mulloy, director, UNA NOCHE, Rola Nashef, director, DETROIT UNLEADED.

The Premier Sponsors of the Gotham Independent Film Awards™ are Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and The New York Times, Presenting Sponsor euphoria Calvin Klein, Official Partners:  charitybuzz; MoMA; Andaz Wall Street; Heineken USA; Russian Standard Vodka;  and Official Wine Partner Mionetto Prosecco.  Additionally, the awards will be promoted nationally in an eight-page special advertising section in The New York Times on November 18th, 2011.

About Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP)

The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) is the nation’s oldest and largest not-for-profit advocacy organization for independent filmmakers. Since its debut at the 1979 New York Film Festival, IFP has supported the production of over 7,000 films and offered resources to more than 20,000 filmmakers, providing an opportunity for many diverse voices to be heard. IFP believes that independent films enrich the universal language of cinema, seeding the global culture with new ideas, kindling awareness, and fostering activism. The organization championed the early work of pioneering independent filmmakers Charles Burnett, Todd Haynes, Mira Nair, Michael Moore, Joel and Ethan Coen, Kevin Smith, and Todd Solondz. IFP continues to play a vital role in launching first films of many of today’s rising stars on the independent scene including Debra Granik (“Down to the Bone”), Miranda July (“Me, You and Everyone We Know”), and Ryan Fleck & Anna Boden (“Half Nelson”).

IFP represents a network of 10,000 filmmakers in New York City and around the world and fosters the development of 350 feature and documentary films each year. Through its workshops, seminars, conferences, mentorships, and Filmmaker Magazine, IFP schools its members in the art, technology, and business of independent filmmaking.  The year-round program includes Independent Film Week, Envision, The Cross-Media Forum, The Gotham Awards, and the Independent Filmmaker Labs. IFP’s programs promote diverse voices in independent film by working to include racial, ethnic, religious, ideological, gender and sexual diversity. IFP, often in collaboration with other cultural institutions, builds audiences by hosting premieres and special screenings.

For more information: www.ifp.org

About the Gotham Independent Film Awards™

The Gotham Independent Film Awards, selected by distinguished juries and presented in New York City, the home of independent film, are the first honors of the film awards season. This public showcase honors the filmmaking community, expands the audience for independent films, and supports the work that IFP does behind the scenes throughout the year to bring such films to fruition.

For information on attending: http://gotham.ifp.org

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For additional information contact:

Marian Koltai-Levine – [email protected] – 212.373.6130

Freida Orange – [email protected] – 212.373.0114