Long Island International Film Expo offers local films, more
Director Michael Scully stars with daughter Michayla in his film "Montauk77," playing at this year's LI International Film Expo. Credit: Island Long Productions
Catherine Curtin of “Stranger Things” and Chad L. Coleman of “The Walking Dead” are among the actors and filmmakers scheduled to appear at this year’s Long Island International Film Expo, which runs July 13-17 at the Bellmore Movies.
The 25th edition of the festival will be held in-person, but a version will also be available online with passes and individual tickets at a reduced rate.
The Expo is planning a closing night ceremony with numerous celebrity guests, including Kevin Brown, known to “30 Rock” fans as Dot Com, who will serve as host. Curtin is scheduled to receive the festival’s Excellence in Creative Achievement award. Producer Jeff Waxman (second and third “John Wick” films, “Don’t Look Up”) will accept the Excellence in Film & TV Award and Greg Cergol, the WNBC/4 Long Island reporter, will receive the Excellence in Newscasting Award.
Other guests announced by the festival include the actors Robert Clohessy ("Oz," "Blue Bloods"), Lukas Hassell (“The Blacklist”), Sal Rendino (“Billions”) and Abigail Hawk (“Blue Bloods”).
The Expo offers a mix of features and shorts, with more than 120 titles in all. Screenings are arranged in roughly two-hour blocks. Some blocks include a feature and shorts, while others are all-shorts compilations.
One film with a strong local tie is “Montauk77,” the debut feature from director Michael Scully and his 15-year-old daughter, Michayla, of Levittown. He plays a ride-share driver; she plays the teenager who hires him to take her to Montauk Point to scatter her mother’s ashes — though the girl’s real plan proves to be far more troubling. The film, written by the Scullys together and directed by Michael, was shot at nearly two dozen locations across Long Island and is scheduled for a digital and VOD release through Gravitas Ventures in August.
Other locally connected films include Colleen Callan’s “Hot Water on Long Island,” a feature documentary about three schools where students and staff are experiencing high rates of cancer and other illnesses. “UFO Club,” a comedy from writer-director Steven G. Tsapelas, about a nerdy high schooler who idolizes an eccentric UFO hunter, is the result of a script that won an Expo award last year. “Launch at Paradise,” a short film shot in Farmingdale and featuring Curtin (who plays Dustin Henderson's mom, Claudia, on "Stranger Things") in the cast, centers on a man’s attempt to live forever.
Among the many film blocks are the horror-themed “Scared for Your LIIFE,” a “Midnight Madness” compilation (which runs from 11:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. on July 16) and a program of sci-fi and neo-noirs titled “Retro Futurism.”
In-person tickets are $13-$15, day passes are $35-$45 and all-access Gold Passes are $99. Virtual tickets are $7 and passes are $30-$75. To purchase tickets and for more information go to longislandfilm.com.
