Long Island International Film Expo

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As always, the slate of films includes short and feature length, documentary and foreign selections. Among this year’s highlights are three Westerns, including one feature-length film, “Dawn of Conviction.”
“We don’t usually get Westerns,” Markowitz said, “so this is something really new and exciting for us.”
The festival also continues with screenings of movie trailers and music videos as part of the film mix, something that was introduced last year.
Of course, it’s the films that are the draw, and Markowitz, who is always enthusiastic about the festival’s selections, is particularly fond of this year’s slate. “We have a strong mix with drama, thrillers, horror, documentary, and those Westerns,” she said. “We’ve truly become a cultural event, with films that are unique and different. You are not seeing the same old film, packaged differently. These are special films. Some will end up in theaters, but some you might not get to see otherwise.”
The festival begins with its traditional film festival warm-up on July 17, and kicks into high gear July 19 with the opening night feature double-bill, “Wet Behind the Ears,” by past LIIFE winner Sloan Copeland, anchored by Fred Carpenter’s “Send No Flowers.”
Carpenter, of “Jesse” fame, is a film festival favorite. The director, a graduate of SUNY Stony Brook, who grew up in Atlantic Beach and Baldwin, has just put the wraps on this film, which has its premiere at the festival.
He describes his film — starring Sean Young, Tony LoBianco, Robert Clohessy and Gianni Russo — as “a mob chick flick.”
Sean Young ( you may remember her from “Blade Runner” and “No Way Out”) comes out guns blazing with her new role as Toni Albano. Young plays a mafia princess out for revenge against the crime family who murdered her father Anthony (Tony Lo Bianco).
“We hope this movie does for Sean Young what Pulp Fiction did for John Travolta,” Carpenter said. “She [Young] is giving, caring and one of the best, if not the best actor I ever worked with. This is the best film shoot I ever had.”
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