That’s a wrap!

Long Beach International Film Festival celebrates its 5th anniversary

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The Long Beach International Film Festival celebrated its 5th anniversary with its annual event Aug. 3-5 that included a line up of independent and studio films from around the globe.

The festival featured an international slate of more than 40 films, including feature-length narrative, documentary, short and animated that competed for a series of Jury, Festival Honors and Audience Awards.

On Friday, for the second consecutive year, the festival featured a diverse lineup of local musical acts right on the beach at the National Boulevard stage located in front of the Allegria Hotel to accompany the Taste on the Beach event.

Taste on the Beach kicked off with a red-carpet ceremony on the beach in front of a crowd that doubled last year’s attendance.  In addition to the dozens of directors and renowned filmmakers, notable attendees included Barbara Rosenblat of “Orange is the New Black,” Larry Romano of “The King of Queens” and “Donnie Brasco,” former New York Jet Eric Coleman and his wife, the actress Sabrina Coleman, former New York Jet Wesley Walker, and chef Barret Beyer, who has appeared on “Hell’s Kitchen” and “Cutthroat Kitchen.”

SVS Jewelry gave away a 1-carat Forevermark diamond at the festival’s Bling & Bubbly event, with proceeds donated to the local nonprofit Surf For All.

More than 40 vendors were on hand for the festival’s popular Taste On The Beach event, which featured many of Long Island’s premier wine, spirits, and restaurants to offer their most popular dishes for festival attendees.

“We were overwhelmed and so grateful for the outpouring of attendees as well as the 87 volunteers from all over New York and from all walks of life,” LBIFF Co-founder Ingrid Dodd said. “It was a testament to the fact that the festival is growing in leaps and bounds and people are enjoying the show.”

Opening night was sold out with the New York premiere of the award-winning film, “Money” at Long Beach Cinema 4. The directional debut of Martin Rosete won the Jury Award for Best Feature Narrative.

Other winning films included “Nobody Walks in L.A.,” which won the Joan Jett Music Award and the Audience Award for Best Feature, along with “Fire and Water,” a documentary that looks at New York City’s history through the eyes of local surfer turned New York City firefighter, Don Eichin, which won an Audience Award for Best New York film. The best feature documentary was awarded to “Since: The Bombing of Pan-Am 103,” about the 1988 bombing of Pan-Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people.

A few films focused on the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and its impact on Long Beach and other communities. “A Rising Tide,” directed by Ben Hickernell, tells the story of a young chef struggling to save his family’s restaurant after it is virtually destroyed by Sandy, and “Saving Jamaica Bay,” directed by David Sigal, showcases a community fight against the government and Hurricane Sandy to preserve a precious resource that had become a dumping ground for garbage and murdered mobsters.

The Shorts on the Beach event featured a screening of “Sharing the Stoke,” a short documentary about Dylan Hronec, a surfer with cerebral palsy known as the Surfing Samurai, and his friendship with world-class surfer and Skudin Surf Co-founder Cliff Skudin.

Dodd spoke about the impact that the film festival has on the Long Beach community after seeing the films.

“We love the way film festivals are able to bring communities together,” Dodd said. “They bring awareness to great causes through film, and what better place to do so but here in our beautiful beachfront community.”