Gold Coast International Film Festival to Present Award-Winning Films

GCIFF has an established track record of picking award winning films - and this year is no exception. Many of the Festival's 2016 Festival picks are receiving critical andnational attention as awards season heats up. and GCIFF launches its year-round film and speaker Series with the 2016 winner of the Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or.

Some of the GCIFF films receiving recognition this year are The Salesman, which the National Board of Review chose as the Best Foreign Film; Life Animated, and Miss ShaRon Jones, which both made the list of the Top 5 Documentaries of 2016; and Hello My Name is Doris, the Board's pick as one of the Top 10 Independent Films of the year. Vanity Fair and the NY Film Critics Association have singled out Isabella Huppert's performance inThings to Come as one of the year's best, the latter organization awarding Ms. Huppert it's Best Actress award. And Joe's Violin has been short-listed for this year's Academy Award for Best Short Film in the Documentary Category.

Don't miss more award-winning films at the Festival's year-round film Series--which is dedicated to previewing the best new independent films and studio releases, along with Q&A's from filmmakers and a wide array of industry professionals. The Series will continue at the Bow Tie Squire Cinemas, 115 Middle Neck Rd, Great Neck, NY 11021 on Wednesday, December 21st with I, Daniel Blake and Wednesday January 4 with Alone In Berlin, starring Emma Thompson. There will also be an encore screening of The Salesman (Screened to TWO sold out audiences during this year's festival) with date TBD, and more films to be announced! (List of Upcoming Films and Dates Below).

WINTER FILM SERIES

Dates: Wednesdays Dec 7, 21; Jan 4, 25; Feb 1, 22

Venue: Bow Tie-Squire Cinemas, 115 Middle Neck Road, Great Neck

Time: 7:30pm

Subscription: $75 regular/$65 seniors; includes five screenings plus Q&As, priority seating, movie night deals and discounts at local restaurants (upon presentation of your subscriber card), and more

Tickets to individual films (subject to availability): $15 Advance/$10 Students Advance Tickets; $20 at The Door

I, DANIEL BLAKE

Wednesday, December 21st

Directed by: Ken Loach, UK/Belgium/France, 2016, English, 100 min

Winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, the latest from legendary director Ken Loach is a gripping, human tale about the impact one man can make. Gruff but good-hearted, Daniel Blake (Dave Johns) is a man out of time: a widowed woodworker who's never owned a computer, he lives according to his own common sense moral code. But after a heart attack leaves him unable to work and the state welfare system fails him, the stubbornly self-reliant Daniel must stand up and fight for his dignity, leading a one-man crusade for compassion that will transform the lives of a struggling single mother (Hayley Squires) and her two children. Graced with humor and heart, I, Daniel Blake is a moving, much-needed reminder of the power of empathy from one of the world's greatest living filmmakers.

CANNES FILM FESTIVAL 2016 - WINNER OF THE PALME D'OR
Official Selection - TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2016, NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL 2016, AFI FILM FESTIVAL 2016
Audience Award Winner - LOCARNO FILM FESTIVAL 2016, SAN SEBASTIAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2016

ALONE IN BERLIN
Wednesday, January 4th
Directed by: Vincent Perez, France, 2016, English, 103 min

How did an ordinary, middle-aged couple become a symbol of DEFIANCE against Nazi brutality? This true-life tale of courage unfolds against the tumultuous backdrop of Berlin in 1940. Otto and Anna Quangel (Brendan Gleeson & Emma Thompson) are a working class husband and wife doing their best to ride out the war. When their son is killed fighting on the frontlines, however, everything changes. They begin pouring their rage and grief into postcards emblazoned with anti-Nazi slogans, risking everything to disseminate their messages of protest across the city. But this seemingly small act of subversion rattles the regime, including a police inspector (Daniel Brühl) who will not rest until the culprits have been caught. Based on the bestselling novel Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada, Alone in Berlin is both a gripping thriller and a stirring ode to resistance.

THE SALESMAN
January, (DATE TBD)

Directed by: Asghar Farhadi. Iran/France, 2016, 125 min. In Persian with English subtitles.
Academy Award nominated Iranian director Asghar Farhadi's latest film is a simmering drama steeped in intellect and nuance that premiered at Cannes in 2016, taking home the awards for Best Actor and Best Screenplay. The film follows young couple Emad (Shahab Hosseini) and Rana (Taraneh Alidoosti), who are forced to find a new apartment in Tehran. While fate seems to finally smile on them, in the form of a recently vacant apartment owned by their acting buddy, an incident linked to the previous tenant of their new home dramatically changes the couple's life.Set against the lead up to the production of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, the film draws a "Hitchcockian" web around the anger, fear and moral anxiety that stem from the young couple after the seemingly isolated incident.

WINNER - Cannes Film Festival Best Screenplay & Best Actor
NOMINATED - Cannes Film Festival Palme D'Or
OFFICIAL SELECTION - Toronto Int'l Film Festival, Hamptons Int'l Film Festival

With an outstanding reputation of showing some of the best new independent features and studio releases, GCIFF's year-round film Series is sure to keep you warm with excitement in the coming Winter months at Bow Tie Squire Cinemas, 115 Middle Neck Rd, Great Neck, NY 11021!