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Long Island International Film Expo: What's playing this year

newsday.com 1 day ago
Simon Elias and Nathalie Rangel in "Colibirí" written and directed...
Simon Elias and Nathalie Rangel in "Colibirí" written and directed by East Meadow's David Salazar and Francisco Salazar. Credit: La Cuarta Production

Homegrown filmmaking will be on display at this year’s Long Island International Film Expo, the 27th edition of a festival that showcases local cinema alongside movies from further afield and overseas.

The Expo, known to regulars as LIIFE, runs July 9 through 14 at its long-standing home, the Bellmore Movies at 222 Pettit Ave.

Among the features with roots on Long Island is the opening-night selection, “Colibiri,” a drama about a young Colombian couple by East Meadow’s writing-directing siblings David and Francisco Salazar. A supernatural thriller from writer-director Maria Capp, “The Lady of the Lake: The Legend of Lake Ronkonkoma,” follows a high school graduate whose summer home is haunted by family problems and strange occurrences. Candice T. Cain, a filmmaker from New Hyde Park, contributes “Royal Runaways,” a romcom about a prince who dodges his duties by hiding out as a handyman in a winery.

“Scared for Your LIIFE,” the horror-themed festival-within-a-festival, returns with a combination of short films and one hourlong feature, “Screamwalkers,” a 1990s homage shot on analog video. The fourth annual “Midnight Madness” program offers a collection of bizarre shorts — one lasting just 60 seconds — and a special-edition pin as your reward for attending. In the closing-day feature, “Scrap,” writer-director Vivian Kerr and Broadway’s Anthony Rapp (“Rent”) play estranged siblings trying to reconnect.

Also scheduled throughout the festival are filmmakers’ panels, a screenplay reading and a trivia contest.

Expo programs typically run in two-hour blocks comprising a feature and one or more shorts. Tickets for individual blocks are $17; passes are $65-$100. To purchase tickets and to see the full schedule, go to longislandfilm.com.

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