Long Island International Film Expo returns to the big screen this week

For 26 years, the Long Island International Film Expo has united filmmakers, producers, actors and actresses — and of course, moviegoers — in the heart of Nassau County.

A great opportunity for people to network with professionals, learn about filmmaking, and watch some of this year’s best independent films, the expo — better known as LIIFE — returns to the Bellmore Movies and Showplace, at 222 Pettit Ave., on July 19.  The expo has a lot in store for film fanatics this year, said Debra Markowitz. She’s president of the Long Island Film & TV Foundation, and is a co-creator of LIIFE, along with Henry and Anne Stampfel, owners of the Bellmore Movies.

Aside from 131 films — both shorts and features — which will be screened during this year’s expo, there are also a variety of panels and discussions ticket-buyers can attend. In particular, panels on writing, legalities and liabilities, and a director’s point of view on auditions, which are almost always fully booked.

The audition panel includes more than a half-dozen working directors, listening to actors who book themselves for 10-minute slots to read monologues.

“There are people who directors have seen during these auditions, and they might call them a year later or sometimes even two years later and say, ‘Hey, I’m casting this project. You’re great for such and such,’” Markowitz, a Merrick native, explained. “It’s a great way for them to get their face out there and practice auditioning.”

LIIFE receives support from celebrities who frequently make appearances and speak at panels during the expo.

Lukas Hassel — an actor, screenwriter and filmmaker known for roles in television shows such as NBC’s “The Blacklist” — is again attending the expo. Hassel has worked with Markowitz in the past, speaking at previous expos about what LIIFE does for independent filmmakers.

“Filmmaking is hard,” he said last year. “It’s one thing if you have a studio backing you with $200 million and celebrity actors. But independent filmmaking is really hard. It’s all about reaching out to your colleagues, to your friends, to your community. This festival — the Long Island International Film Expo — is an example of how important it is to build a community.”

Various venues have hosted LIIFE since its inception, including Hofstra University, Nassau Community College, and even Malverne Cinema on Hempstead Avenue. For the past 15 years — with the exception of 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic — Bellmore Movies has been the festival’s home.

First opened in 1915, Bellmore Movies and Showplace boasts a single screen with a stage, proving a cozy venue for filmmakers to interact with audiences during post-screening Q-and-As. Directly north of the Bellmore Long Island Rail Road station, film buffs travel in from New York City and other parts of the island just to attend.

LIIFE also receives support each year from Nassau County, to the point its financial sponsorship makes the expo possible.

The film festival attracts everyone, from students, to successful filmmakers, and to people who are just getting started.

“You have people who have really made it in the industry, who maybe do their own projects and lots of shows,” Markowitz said, “but you also have people who are just starting out, who maybe haven’t made a film yet. They can sit in the panels and ask all kinds of questions.

“So we kind of make the place you know, for filmmakers big and small — to really come and be a film community. That’s what I really think we do better than pretty much anybody else.”

And even though the 2023 expo is just around the corner, Markowitz said the Film & TV Foundation is already hard at work, planning the next one.

“I can’t believe we’ve been around for 26 years, and everything we’ve gone through and the changes that we’ve made,” Markowitz said. “It’s an all-volunteer staff, which is a big-time commitment and work commitment. It feels great to be able to get it done.”