Mark Drumond, Festival Director, announces the 2001 Boston Film Festival line up to the Boston Press Corp in the Dome Room at the Lenox Hotel.

While many New England film festivals take a laid-back, understated approach to independent filmmaking, the Boston Film Festival is an unabashedly well-oiled, robustly-scheduled, Hollywood-studded event. It has become a proving ground for soon-to-be-released independent films, often attracting Hollywood A-list actors who come to promote their "indie" work. At a recent press luncheon, festival director Mark Diamond confirmed that this year's festival, running from Sept. 7 - 16, will continue in the same vein.

Diamond announced that Hollywood's renaissance man Steve Martin will be in town on Sept. 10 to accept the Boston Film Festival Award for Film Excellence. On the same night, the festival will screen Martin's new film NOVACAINE, which is a dramatic turn from his usually light-hearted fare, such as ROXANNE, PARENTHOOD, and FATHER OF THE BRIDE. Festival organizers describe the film as "an edgy, unpredictable crime thriller" in which Steve Martin's character is drawn into "a seedy underworld of sex, drugs and murder."

Other potential star sightings include Kevin Kline and Kristen Scott Thomas, who are slated to attend the Sept. 11 screening of their film LIFE IS A HOUSE. Also look for Armand Assante and Billy Baldwin, who star in ONE EYED KING and are scheduled to appear at the festival's opening night at the new Boston Common Loews theatre. This year, all films in the festival will be screened at either the Boston Common theatre or at the Copley Place cinemas.

In total, the 10-day festival will showcase 24 shorts and 40 feature films from the U.S. and around the world - 18 of which are still seeking distribution. And while the film roster is rife with well-known Hollywood actors and directors, festival-goers will also have the opportunity to sample the work of several local filmmakers.

For starters, the festival will host the world premiere of CIAO AMERICA, directed by Frank Ciota (THE NORTH END), a Harvard alumn and Lynn, MA native. The film was co-written by Frank and his brother Joe and tells the story of a young college graduate who travels to Italy only to become the unlikely head coach of a team of Italians playing American football. Filmed entirely in Italy, festival organizers describe the film as "marking a new direction in Italian-American cinema."

LIFT, the latest work by former Boston advertising creative team DeMane Davis and Khari Streeter, will also be screened. The film was first seen in the Dramatic Competition at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Almost four years in the making, LIFT tells the story of a girl who has a fractured relationship with her mother and shoplifts (a.k.a "boosts") as a way to reach out to her. According to festival organizers, "While most inner-city films have addressed the singular male experience, this film is multi-generational and true to households held together by strong, Black women." LIFT was set and filmed in Boston on Newbury Street, Summer Street and Roxbury. It follows up the duo's critically acclaimed first film BLACK & WHITE & RED ALL OVER, which played the Sundance Festival in 1997. A third film is already in the works.

Another film to look for is TREADING WATER, the feature film debut of Lauren Himmel who is a 1997 graduate of Boston University's film production program. The movie was filmed in Marblehead, MA, and uses the small-town, coastal backdrop to tell the story of a longshorewoman, her social worker girlfriend and their struggle to reconcile family relationships. TREADING WATER had its world premiere at this year's Seattle International Film Festival. Himmel first made a name for herself on the festival circuit with her B.U. thesis short TRAGEDY OF SAMANTHA BIGGLE AND THE TWINS.

The recent work of Rhode Islander Michael Corrente, who gained national exposure with his debut feature FEDERAL HILL (1995), will also be screened. Entitled A SHOT AT GLORY, the film stars Robert Duvall and Michael Keaton. It tells the story of a former goaltender who manages a Second Division football (soccer) team in Scotland and is challenged with pulling off an impossible win in the Scottish cup, in order to prevent the team's new owner from moving them to Ireland.

In addition to the many narrative films being shown, the festival will also screen several talked-about documentaries, including CHAIN CAMERA, which was screened at this year's Sundance festival. The premise: In August 1999, ten Los Angeles high school students were given video cameras to tape their lives - with no limitations. Week after week, the cameras were handed to ten new students, turning the camera into a sort of "chain letter" as it moved through the student body for an entire year.

The ticket price for all films in the festival is $10 with a 10-admission coupon book priced at $85. Visit www.bostonfilmfestival.org for a full listing and event times and locations.