The Stony Brook Film Festival, which will run from July 21 to 30, is set to showcase independent international features for the 21st consecutive year.
Staller Center’s massive 40-foot screen will take viewers across the globe to Hungary, Israel, Belgium, Finland, Ghana, Switzerland, Russia and Iran, among others.
Fifteen thousand tickets and passes are sold annually; many are repeat festival goers. In fact, 300 people purchased festival passes before the lineup was even announced.
“They trust it’s going to be great, so they come back every year,” Director of Marketing and Public Relations for the Staller Center Julie Greene said. “It wouldn’t be summer without it.”
The festival will kick off its opening night with a showing of “The Carer,” a Hungarian film starring Brian Cox that tells the story of a retired terminally ill Shakespearean actor, who gets a young refugee as his newest caregiver. The 10-day festival will come to a close with the Swedish feature “A Man Called Ove,” a dramatic comedy that touches upon the importance of family and love.
Those interested in getting a little taste of Hollywood after the conclusion of the festival can purchase tickets to the Closing Night Awards Reception at the Hilton Garden Inn, and seize the opportunity to mingle with filmmakers between drinks and desserts. Greene described the event as a “mini Oscars Ceremony.”
In conjunction with the film festival, the Zuccaire Gallery will host a summer exhibition for the second year in a row. Last year’s display, which drew in nearly 2,000 guests, featured vintage movie posters. This year’s exhibit, entitled “On the Record,” will showcase hundreds of diverse vinyl record covers from various genres and decades.
The record covers, borrowed from WUSB radio station and private collectors, are what Director and Curator of the Paul W. Zuccaire Gallery, Karen Levitov, calls “artistically important.” The iconic album covers designed by Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali, Brian Duffy, Alex Steinweiss and Irving Penn, among other famous designers, illustrators and photographers will be displayed.
The exhibition will be open Tuesday through Friday, 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., and each evening of the Stony Brook Film Festival starting an hour before the first screening. In addition to the hanging vinyls, there will be interactive record players and music from the albums will be featured.
“We’re really excited,” Levitov said. “My only regret is that the exhibition is only two weeks.”
Festival goers can purchase a pass to see all the films for $85, while general admission is $12. Students and seniors receive discounts, $5 and $10 respectively. Admission to the Zuccaire Gallery is free. Unfortunately, according to Jinyoung Jin, the director of cultural programs at the Wang Center, there will be no events at the Wang Center this summer.
For more information on the festival, call 631-632-2787 or visit stonybrookfilmfestival.com.
