Films will be shown at six venues:...

Films will be shown at six venues: Edwards Big Newport, 300 Newport

Center Drive, Newport Beach; Lido Theater, 3459 Via Lido, Newport

Beach; Edwards Island Cinemas (two theaters, designated Blue or

Gold), 999 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach; Orange County Museum

of Art, 850 San Clemente Drive, Newport Beach; Adventures at Sea

Theaters, 3101 W. Coast Highway, Newport Beach. Unless otherwise

marked, tickets are $8 and can be purchased at the box office or

online at www.newportbeachfilmfest.com. For more information, check

the Web site or call (949) 253-2880.

* Denotes special event

TODAY

11 a.m.

UNTOUCHABLES VS. ARYANS: THE BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF INDIA

Edwards Island -- Blue

India 2002

* DIRECTORS: Ivan Kostka, John L. Pudaite

* RUNNING TIME: 52 minutes

A history of the caste system in India, the atrocities and

injustices suffered by the Untouchables, their expressions of pain

and protest through art and literature, and their previous political

and social movements to overturn the system. Today, the Untouchables

are fighting for their freedom and dignity by the last means

possible. They are renouncing the very religion that has

legitimatised this most ancient apartheid system in the world. They

are casting off the Hindu religion in favor of Buddhism, Islam,

Sikhism and Christianity, which is igniting a social revolution in

India.

IN THE NAME OF BUDDHA

Lido Theater

India, U.K. 2002

* DIRECTORS: Rajesh Touchriver

* RUNNING TIME: 146 minutes

Tamil Siva is forced to escape his home country and become a

refugee in Great Britain. The film depicts his and his family’s

experiences with human rights and random violence.

SHORTS (S5): ETERNAL SHORTS

Edwards Island -- Gold

* REPOSSESSED

* BARRIER DEVICE

* VENGEANCE

* APSARA

* THE DIM REAPER

* CHAN CHAN

* LAST NIGHT WITH ANGEL

* THE UNFORTUNATE TRUTH ABOUT LIFE

12:30 p.m.

FRANCISCA ( ... DE QUE LADO ESTAS?)

Edwards Island -- Blue

Germany, Mexico 2001

Southern California Premiere

* DIRECTOR: Eva Lopez-Sanchez

* RUNNING TIME: 83 minutes

In 1971, Helmut Busch attempts to flee his past as a Stasi

informant. He wants to go underground in Mexico, but the Mexican

secret service, lead by Diaz, recognizes and blackmails him.

Desperate to avoid extradition to East Germany, Helmut agrees to

observe a group of politically militant students. As Bruno Muller, he

becomes a professor at the University of Mexico City. The situation

becomes complicated when he gets more and more involved the very

group of young activists he is informing on, and falls in love with a

student, Adela.

1:30 p.m.

SHORTS (S2): GET INTO OUR SHORTS!

Edwards Island -- Gold

* BACKSLIDE

* LEGWORK

* TRYST WATCH

* A FAMILY X-MAS

* BOUNTY

* LE MIME

* 25, 5 & 3

* THE BOX MAN

EVERY STEWARDESS GOES TO HEAVEN (TODAS LAS AZAFATAS VAN AL CIELO )

Lido Theater

Argentina 2002

West Coast Premiere

* DIRECTOR: Daniel Burman

* RUNNING TIME: 98 minutes

Teresa is a stewardess who lives in her heaven of pantomime and

trays of frozen food. She has a fear of men, love, motherhood and

family. She prefers a life of eternal flight. Julian, a young doctor

and new widower, travels to the most southern city of the world in

order to keep a promise. Julian does know about love and pain, and

wants to escape to heaven.

2 p.m.

GIRLHOOD

Orange County Museum of Art

United States 2002

* DIRECTOR: Liz Garbus

* RUNNING TIME: 80 minutes

A three year journey follows two girls through the juvenile

justice system to their home on the bleak streets of East Baltimore,

Maryland. The film provides insight into the world of young women at

risk. Girlhood tells a coming of age story about mothers and

daughters, crime and its consequences, and triumph in the face of

hopelessness.

2:30 p.m.

JUMPING FOR JOY

Edwards Island -- Blue

United States 2003

World Premiere

* DIRECTOR: Tim Nelson

* RUNNING TIME: 94 minutes

For a persistent teenage girl in 1964, Bobbie Dean’s goal of

becoming a champion basketball player is easier dreamed than

accomplished -- especially at a time when the line between boys and

girls sports was clearly drawn. Bobbie is an excellent player, but

when it comes to playing on a team, she can hardly follow the “girls

rules.” When Bobbie is mistaken for a boy, she thinks her dream may

have finally come true.

3:30 p.m.

MOVING ALAN

Lido Theater

United States 2002

World Premiere

* DIRECTOR: Chris Shelton

* RUNNING TIME: 84 minutes

Tough girl Emily and meek, pampered Melissa have not spoken in

three years, so when Emily receives a desperate call from her sister

summoning her to Los Angeles, this is serious. Arriving at Melissa’s

lush Hollywood Hills home, Emily greets her disoriented sister and

soon discovers that her husband Alan’s naked, and apparently dead,

body is stuffed under the kitchen sink. In a fit of panic, the

sisters concoct a plan to dispose of Alan in a remote desert area.

With Alan’s body in the trunk of the car, the two sisters embark on a

journey, encountering strange and eccentric characters along the way.

THE CHINATOWN FILES

Orange County Museum of Art

United States 2001

* DIRECTOR: Amy Chen

* RUNNING TIME: 57 minutes

The roots and legacy of the Cold War on the Chinese American

community in the 1950’s and 1960’s are explored through first-hand

accounts of seven men and women. During the McCarthy era witch hunts,

the loyalties of more than 10,000 Chinese Americans were questioned

based on their ethnicity and alleged risk to national security. While

China remains an enigma to most Americans, the prejudice and jingoism

that has negatively affected the lives of Chinese Americans has

rarely been examined.

4 p.m.

PEACE JAM

Edwards Island -- Gold

United States 2002 West Coast Premiere

* DIRECTOR: Dennis Flippin

* RUNNING TIME: 71 minutes

PeaceJam follows five teens over a six-year period as they work

side-by-side with Nobel Peace Prize Laureates and learn how to become

leaders in their own communities. This documentary records their

transformation into people of purpose while capturing the moments

that changed their lives -- the murder of gay student Matthew

Shepard, the carnage at Columbine High School, the death of a father

who overdosed.

4:30 p.m.

CHILDREN ON THEIR BIRTHDAYS

Edwards Island -- Blue

United States 2002

U.S. Premiere

* DIRECTOR: Mark Medoff

Attended by director, producer, principal cast

* RUNNING TIME: 101 minutes

Alabama in 1947, a mysterious girl arrives in town on a hot summer

day. Lilly Jane, 13 years old and wise beyond her years, speaks for

her mute mother who is a talented seamstress. Billy and Preacher are

best friends and they find themselves both drawn to Lilly Jane.

Friendships are lost as they vie for Lily Jane’s attention in this

charming mystical film.

5 p.m.

FOUL KING (VUA BAI RAC)

Lido Theater

Vietnam 2002

* DIRECTOR: Do Minh Tuan

* RUNNING TIME: 97 minutes

Trong is an overbearing gang chief and garbage dealer, pocketing

the profits from garbage collectors in town. His life is turned

around when he meets Thuy, a flower vendor, selling her virginity to

buy medicine for her sick mother. Trong falls deeply in love with

Thuy and brings her back to live with him at the dump. With his love

for Thuy and friendship with other impoverished people in his

community, Trong sets out to improve the living and working

conditions at the dump. All begins to work out until Trong almost

kills a young artist who is obviously attracted to Thuy. This act of

jealousy causes Thuy to leave and the remorse that follows causes

Trong to seek redemption and the respect of the entire community.

GUILTY PLEASURE: THE EXTRAORDINARY WORLD OF DOMINICK DUNNE

Orange County Museum of Art

Canada 2002

West Coast Premiere

* DIRECTOR: Barry Avrich

* RUNNING TIME: 46 minutes

This is a powerful and enlightening documentary chronicling the

rise and fall and rise again of victim’s advocate and author Dominick

Dunne. The film features provocative interviews with Graydon Carter

(editor, Vanity Fair), Larry King, Dorthy Moxley, Johnnie Cochran,

Mark Fuhrman, David Carr (editor, New York Times) and legendary

Hollywood producer David Brown.

5:30 p.m.

SHORTS (S26): POLYESTER PRINCE ROAD SHOW

Edwards Island -- Gold

6:30 p.m.

BETWEEN STRANGERS

Edwards Island -- Blue

Italy, Canada 2002

U.S. Premiere

* DIRECTOR: Edoardo Ponti

* RUNNING TIME: 97 minutes

A probing and revealing drama interweaves the stories of three

women who, though strangers to each other, are grappling with

curiously intertwined dreams, desires and choices whose consequences

haunt their daily lives. As each story unfolds, the women find

themselves transported by the vision of a young girl. Representing an

image of a bygone childhood and a pressing reminder of lingering

desires, the young girl inspires the women to live more liberated

lives and to pursue their dreams with a newfound free spirit.

SKATING THROUGH THE SAND

Orange County Museum of Art

Israel 2002

A film by Wayne Abbott

Attended by director

* RUNNING TIME: 48 minutes

The cameras follow a group of young athletes who set out on a

hockey odyssey in order to realize their collective dream -- to win

respect for their nation on a surface of ice far away from home. It

follows the Israeli National Hockey Team on a quest for hockey

legitimacy at the World Group ‘C’ Hockey Championships in

Johannesburg, South Africa.

7 p.m.

THE KILL SIX

Lido Theater

Tahiti, United States, Costa Rica, Australia, New Zealand 2002

* RUNNING TIME: 50 minutes

Shot in Tahiti, California, Hawaii, Costa Rica, Australia and New

Zealand, The Kill Six is packed with big airs, gaping barrels, and

slashing action. Featured are surfers including CJ Hobgood, Kelly

Slater, Joel Parkenson, Tom Curren and The Irons Bros. The soundtrack

is modern punk pop and fills this film with intensity.

8 p.m.

* SEARCHING FOR PARADISE

Edwards Island -- Gold

United States 2002

* DIRECTOR: Myra Paci

Attended by representatives

* RUNNING TIME: 88 minutes

Gilda Mattei, just graduated from high school, is infatuated with

enigmatic Hollywood movie star Micheal De Santis. With her camcorder,

she documents her fascination with him, her internal world of dreams,

and her strained though loving relationship with her dying father.

After her father dies, Gilda discovers that he was carrying a long

affair with a mysterious Italian woman. Gilda goes crazy with grief

and anger. Her crush on Micheal De Santis takes on an obsessive turn.

Posing as an Italian journalist with the same name and persona as her

father’s mistress, she succeeds in making it on to the film set where

De Santis is shooting and to a private interview with him.

8:30 p.m.

SHORTS (S4): DID SOMEONE SAY SHORTS?

Edwards Island -- Blue

* AUDIT

* COW

* BUGGED

* HERE WAS THE ANTHEM (AQU IBA EL HIMNO )

* JON’S DAY

* DROWNING

* THE WORMHOLE

SMALL VOICES (MGA MUNTING TINIG)*

Closing Night

Lido Theater

Philippines 2002

* DIRECTOR: Gil M. Portes

Attended by film representatives

* RUNNING TIME: 109 minutes

Dreams are what Melinda brought with her the day she left for the

Provincial town of Malawig. The young teacher arrives to find a land

of coconut and rice fields and people barren of hope. Poverty has

made the townsfolk passive and resigned to a bitter fate, while

others fight in the mountains. Staking their lives for some kind of

change against the skepticism of the town, Melinda and the children

of Malawig join a humble singing contest. Their song awakens in

everyone a small flame of hope, a daring to dream and willingness to

fight for it. Melinda leaves the town believing that it is within

one’s power to make a difference and that within one’s self is a

voice of hope waiting to be heard.

A reception will be held after the screening. $20. Business

casual.

FRIDAY

7 p.m.

AWARDS NIGHT*

Radisson Hotel Newport Beach

Awards will be given out for a variety of categories, including

best feature, etc.

Gala event will include cocktail reception and catering. $40.

Black tie optional.