Film Fest New Haven wants to reflect the eclectic, electric mix of people caught in the human condition . . . people just like the real-life citizens of New Haven itself. The Festival, to be held in New Haven from September 21 – 25, seeks a more global, diverse perspective.

To that end, Executive Director Heidi Hamilton, Artistic Director Melissa Bisagni and Artistic Advisor Nina Adams have turned to Yale University for advice, and what they have come up with is a roster of films and cultural explorations all three are extraordinarily proud to present as their tenth anniversary festival fare.

With a large assist by Yale’s Latin American and Iberian Studies Department, the festival will feature three films that have taken the festival circuit by storm.

FAVELA RISING, by Yale graduate Matt Mochary and Jeff Zimbalist, was a top choice. Hailed as a filmic antidote to the pessimism of CITY OF GOD, the documentary follows Anderson Sa. Sa, a native of Vigario Geral, the worst of Rio de Janeiro’s favela – shanty towns -- witnessed a deadly massacre of 21 innocent people by the city’s own policemen when he was only ten years old. In response to the senseless violence, Sa founded Afro Reggae, a nonviolent flowering of Afro-Brazilian culture through dance, theater and popular percussion-fueled reggae bands. For this film, Mochary and Zimbalist were singled out for the Best New Documentary Filmmaker Award by the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival.

Two other Latin American and Iberian Studies Department-influenced choices are PLAY, a narrative feature by Chilean filmmaker Alicia Scherson, and THE YOUNG REBELS (JOVENES REBELEDES) a short documentary by Anna Boden. PLAY, the story of a couple looking for love who never quite find each other, was funded by support from the Hubert Bals and CORFO film funds and the Beca Fundacion Carolina from the Spanish Government. THE YOUNG REBELS follows five Cuban hip-hop groups and two producers over the course of a Havana summer.

Explains Executive Director Hamilton, “We are seeking to expand our audience base, and to that end we are partnering and collaborating with a host of others in New Haven and around the world.”

Continues Hamilton, “Films from Mexico, India, Africa and elsewhere will establish FFNH as a festival of international appeal.”

The opening night film constitutes what the festival considers something of a major coup: THE DYING GAUL. As Artistic Advisor Nina Adams explains, “Here’s a film based on New Haven theater colleague Craig Lucas’s very successful play. A film Lucas directed and which stars Campbell Scott and Yale Drama School graduate Patricia Clarkson, THE DYING GAUL weaves the kind of intricate and complex relationships audiences have come to expect from Lucas’s other screenplays, including LONGTIME COMPANION and THE SECRET LIVES OF DENTISTS which he did in collaboration with Producer/Lead Actor Campbell Scott. THE DYING GAUL was a Sundance favorite.

Though no one is making any promises, FFNH hints that Lucas, Scott and Clarkson could be in attendance at the screening; if they are, a Q and A could follow the presentation.

As always, the Festival will be highlighted by the day-long family programming which will reprise some of the best of FFNH’s family films and by selections from the Boston Underground Film Festival chosen especially for FFNH by Boston’s own David Kleiler.

Carla Stockton is a writer/producer and IMAGINE’s Associate publisher in Southwestern Connecticut. She can be reached at carlaatimagine@yahoo.com