For the Love of Film
One man’s film fondness is at the heart of the Delray Beach Film Fest

Dr. Michael Posner, founder and director of the Delray Beach Film Festival

Just when Miamians thought it was safe to turn on the lights and leave the theatre, along comes another film festival. South Floridians have barely recovered from the Miami International Film Festival, the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, the Women’s Film Festival, the Miami Jewish Film Festival, the Miami Latin Gay Film Festival, the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival and the Palm Beach International Film Festival. when 50 miles up the coast comes another—wait, don’t say it—film festival.

How can that be?

Just one hour north of Miami, on a good traffic day, from May 19-24, Delray Beach, with its centralized downtown, bars, restaurants and art galleries, plays host to the Delray Beach Film Festival.

Created in 2006, the DBFF is a home-grown labor of love, a local festival dedicated to indepdendent filmmakers and their films. It was the brainchild of Dr. Michael Posner, 61, a 30-year resident of Delray Beach and a true film buff.

A practicing veterinarian, in his free time Posner frequents the many film festivals around the country and late one night was inspired to create a festival in his own hometown.

Barry Bostwick

“I’ve traveled all around the country and overseas to many different film festivals, including all the big name festivals, and I realized that location is paramount to the film festival experience,” says Posner “It hit me quite suddenly that my own hometown of Delray Beach is the perfect locale in which to host a film festival.”

And host he did, gaining a reputation as a consummate host who wines and dines the filmmakers who fly in to Delray from various parts of the United States and from overseas. A grassroots effort, Posner runs the festival out of his home with a dedicated team of loyal volunteers.

Thanks to its small size and intimate environment, guests have the opportunity to network and form friendships and connections with fellow filmmakers. Visitors and filmmakers alike mix and mingle with actors, directors, musicians and big name film stars, who in the past have included Roger (King of the B Movies) and Julie Corman, who received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006; Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry (formerly of “L.A. Law”) who screened and starred in a short indie film in 2007, and Barry Bostwick who received a Lifetime Achievement Award at last year’s festival.

Bostwick, the star of the 1977 cult-classic film, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and more recently of “Spin City” and of the CBS mini-series, “George Washington”, where he played George, was an honored guest and enthusiastic participant.

The outdoor screening of his film, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, along with a live shadow cast and Michael Posner on stage in a tight red dress was one of the highlights of last year’s event.

Lauren Graham and Jeff Daniels, stars of the opening night film The Answer Man

“Michael loves his community and brings intrigue and challenges to it on a yearly basis,” says Bostwick, who easily mingled with the crowd and posed for photos with his many fans. “The film community needs more people like Michael to keep its dreams alive and kicking. He gives a platform to those of us who have an artistic vision and a need to share it.”

Posner creates a climate in which filmmakers and their films are truly the stars. In its short lifespan, the Delray Beach Film Festival has earned a reputation as a “filmmakers’ festival.”

Unlike many other festivals which began as a forum for independent films, and then evolved into a showcase for big Hollywood studio films, the DBFF prides itself on remaining true to its roots of encouraging independent filmmakers and showcasing their works.

This year, Posner received more than 400 film entries from countries as diverse as China, Panama, Canada, Taiwan, and Ireland. He has selected more than 100 films to screen, including some with recognizable star power.

Two of these films are the opening night film, The Answer Man, and Burning Plain, a romantic mystery starring Kim Basinger and Charlize Theron, written and directed by Guillermo Arriaga, the Oscar-nominated writer of 21 Grams, Babel and Amores Perros.

Cyndi Lenz. Photo: Penny Paine

The Answer Man comes to Delray direct from Sundance and is the Florida premiere of the film. It stars Jeff Daniels and Lauren Graham in a romantic comedy by first time writer/director, John Hindman. Daniels plays a reclusive author of a new age self-help book. On the eve of the book’s 20th anniversary he is still sought after as the man who has all the answers, but in reality is still searching for answers like the rest of us.

The “script-to-screen” contest, always an audience favorite, returns as well along with a heavy sprinkling of X-treme sports films, highlighting daredevil feats of surfing, skiing and snowboarding.

Films will be screened at various locations in and around the city, including the Crest Theatre in Old School Square, the Delray Beach Public Library and at the Movies of Delray west of the city.

In addition to all the films and parties, there are workshops and panels on film and industry-related topics such as film financing and distribution, screenwriting and acting and a kids’ day with children’s films and activities.

One day is devoted to Hispanic and Brazilian films and another day to Israeli and Jewish-themed films. Posner has also selected some African and Haitian films with relevance to the larger community.

Louis Pappas on set

Maryanne Galvin, a forensic psychologist and documentary filmmaker met Cyndi Lenz, a local filmmaker from Boca Raton two years ago at the festival and teamed up to partner on Galvin’s latest project.

Galvin’s short film, What’s Going on up There? about the sacrifices we need to make if we want to revitalize the space industry screened at the 2007 festival, as did Lenz’s short film, Social Work. Lenz won a Sara Fuller Scholarship Award from the Palm Beach Film Commission for her film.

“What I love about the DBFF, in addition to the great films, is that it is always a lot of fun and very unpretentious,” says Lenz. “Michael sets the tone with his personal vision of bringing together the filmmaking community.”

Another local filmmaker is Louis Pappas, 46, of Fort Lauderdale who won the script-to-screen contest in 2007 with his original screenplay, The Ticket. Pappas’ story about a homeless man who buys a winning lottery ticket was turned into a short film by five different teams as part of the filmmaking contest.

This year, Pappas is involved with two films that he plans to screen at the festival; Know thy Enemy, directed by Lee Cipolla and a Smile, in which he has a lead role.

He has worked in the film industry for the past 30 years and considers the DBFF a “local gem.”

“Every year Dr. Mike wills this event into existence, despite dwindling support from local government and sponsors,” says Pappas. “There is no truer testament to one man’s love of movies and filmmakers than the sacrifices Dr. Mike makes every year to keep this fest alive. Dr. Mike is truly the beating heart of this festival.”

The Delray Beach Film Festival runs May 19-24. For tickets and more information, visit www.dbff.us.

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