On Friday night October 12th at 6:45 pm  the Loew’s Theater on Journal Square in Jersey City will present  as a special attraction to the  the  Golden Door International Festival and not as  part of competiton, Writer/ Director Nancy Savoca’s movie,  “Union Square” starring Oscar winner Mira Sorvino and Emmy Winner and Two time Tony nominated actress Tammy Blanchard .

What makes this an extra special event is both Ms. Sorvino and Tammy Blanchard have roots in Hudson County,   Ms. Sorvino  daughter of Paul Sorvino is cousin to Bill Sorvino Executive Director of the GDIF.Ms. Blanchard   was born in Jersey City, raised in Bayonne and has family in the Hudson County area.

Bill Sorvino said “This is a great opportunity for Hudson County audiences to see two very talented actresses with Hudson County roots work side by side in a wonderful movie about sisters, by Writer/ Director Nancy Savoca.”

The post “Union Square” Starring Mira Sorvino and Tammy Blanchard -Actresses with Roots to Hudson County to be shown Friday Night Oct 12th at Jersey City’s Loew’s Theater. first appeared on River View Observer.

October brings chills and thrills and skies so bright you can see the stars and the nights will be especially starry when the Golden Door International Film Festival rolls out the red carpet at the Loewâ€s Jersey City movie palace for four fabulous days of films.

 The film festival kicks off Thurs, Oct. 11^th where stars, writers, directors and cinephiles will gather in the Loewâ€s art deco lobby for drinks and schmoozing and then take their seats in the beautifully restored theater to watch two new films, Pollination* starring Federico Castelluccio (The Sopranos); and Just Crazy Enough featuring Saturday Night Live alum Chris Kattan.  The following three days will be jam packed with screenings of features, documentaries and shorts and a closing night awards ceremony on Sun, Oct. 14^th.                

 Founder Bill Sorvino brings the film festival back to Jersey City for a second year and the response heâ€s received since last yearâ€s event has been huge, he says. This time around, Sorvino has added ore films to the marquee for a four-day smorgasbord of features, documentaries and shorts from Hollywood to Bollywood.

 “Last yearâ€s festival was very successful,” Sorvino says. “We had great feedback and I want to build on what we did last year. So this year the amount of fantastic films we have is over the top – one great film after another.” 

 Close to 50 films were chosen from hundreds of entries sent in from all over the world including Germany, Switzerland, India, South Africa and Australia. Local filmmakers also made the cut. This yearâ€s screenings include Alfred Thinks We’re Aliens; Carbon for Water; This Space Available; Not a Feather, but a Dot; A Dance with Andrea; Red Scare; The Senatorâ€s Daughter; and Surviving Family.

 (To view the full schedule and purchase tickets go to www.goldendoorfilmfestival.org.)

“Iâ€m trying to grow the festival to make it more prominent,” Sorvino says. “I couldnâ€t turn down these films, I just couldnâ€t.”

 Although most of the films will be screened at the beautiful Loewâ€s Jersey City, Sorvino expanded the screening venues to other Jersey City locales including the Brightside Tavern, Panepinto Galleries, Art House Productions and the Jersey City Free Public Libraryâ€s Five Corners Branch. Every night the screenings will be a red carpet event. At Friday nightâ€s screenings at the Loewâ€s, the stars will shine like supernovas with the showing of Union Square starring Academy Award winner Mira Sorvino and Emmy award winner Tammy Blanchard. (Union Square is a special festival attraction and not part of the competition.)

 Also on Friday nightâ€s bill is local filmmaker Mara Lesemannâ€s Surviving Family which features Vincent Pastore who played Sal Bonpensiero in The Sopranos. Lesemannâ€s film tells the story of a woman getting married in five days who returns home to her dysfunctional family in New Jersey to prepare for her nuptials. Lesemann shot many of the filmâ€s scenes in her very own Jersey City neighborhood: the Lucky 7 tavern on Coles Street, Satis Bistro on Washington Boulevard, Pecorraro Bakery on Newark Avenue, La Belle Boutique on Danforth Avenue and City Hall on Grove Street.

 “Shooting scenes in Jersey Cityâ€s City Hall was absolutely awesome,” Lesemann says. “We made up a New Jersey town called Byzantine and Vincent Pastore plays the mayor who helps this young couple get a marriage license. Jersey Cityâ€s Mayor Healy was nice enough to let us use his office and we shot a scene there at 3 in the morning. Debbie Harris who works for the cityâ€s cultural affairs department was our liaison and she was great.”

Lesemann has had several screenings of Surviving Family and says thereâ€s something special about screening her film in Jersey City. A former banker, Lesemann sees her film career as a risk worth taking and bankrolled the movie with her own savings.

“Iâ€m not going to live forever and I want to do things that are important to me,” Lesemann says. “Iâ€m very proud of the film. Iâ€ve written and produced several shorts before this, wrote another screenplay and this one I wrote with the intention of it being produced.”

Linden resident Sam Borowski directed and co-wrote Pollination* which will be featured at the Opening Night Gala.  This live action short co-written by Borowski and Lisa Buffington, who once worked as Borowskiâ€s assistant, tells the story of the relationships between people and their plants and stars Federico Castelluccio who played hitman Furio on The Sopranos.  

 In August, Borowski premiered Pollination* at the Holly Shorts Festival in Hollywood where many short films go on to be nominated for Academy Awards, Borowski says.

 “Federico got nominated for best actor which was great and qualifying for an Oscar in the live action category would be amazing, but itâ€s more of an amazing feeling to write stories that touch peopleâ€s lives,” Borowski says.

At last yearâ€s festival Borowskiâ€s film Nightclub earned five awards including best picture, best director, best actress for Academy-Award winner Sally Kellerman (M*A*S*H) and best actor for the late Ernest Borgnine (Marty, McHaleâ€s Navy). Since its screening at Golden Door, Borowski says heâ€s now in talks with a major studio and Nightclub will be released later this year.

 As a result of Nightclubâ€s screening last year at the Golden Door International Film Festival, Borowski says heâ€s booked several jobs by networking and making new contacts.

 “The festival is out of this world,” Borowski says. “For any filmmaker or actor this is the place to be. Itâ€s absolutely one of the best networking experiences Iâ€ve had at a festival.”

 If you go:

Thurs, Oct. 11- Sun, Oct. 14

The Golden Door International Film Festival

Jersey City

Tickets $10 at the door (additional surcharge when purchased online)

Film screenings shown at Loewâ€s Jersey City; Brightside Tavern; Panepinto Galleries; Art House Productions; and Jersey City Free Public Library/Five Corners Branch

For screenings schedule and tickets: www.goldendoorfilmfestival.org

 

 

 

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At the Angelika Film Center, Mercer and Houston Streets, Greenwich Village. Running time: 1 hour 20 minutes.

Tammy Blanchard (The Good Shepherd,  “Of Two Minds-  Money Ball  ) appears on the big screen July 13th in a role opposite Mira Sorvino in Nancy Savocaâ€s independent film “Union Square.”

Blanchard plays Jenny, Sorvino’s reserved, estranged, repressed young sister who has spent much of her time trying to distance her self from her tumultouous upbringing which includes her  sister Lucy played by Sorvino.  Arriving  from the Bronx on the verge of a nervous breakdown at Thanksgiving time Lucy’s unexpected visit to Jenny’s  Union Square apartment in New York City forces Jenny to face her past and reveal some secrets of her own.

Blanchard fresh off  her Tony nominated role as Heddy La Rue in Broadway’s hit musical “How to Succeed (her second nomination having been nominated back in 2005 for Gypsy)  said the film “Union Square” was filmed in less than two weeks-16 hour days  and shot in sequence – with a limited budget. “Having  all us actors work  under such strict and rigid time constaints, Nancy (Savoca)  forced some excellent acting from the cast and for a while I thought I was going crazy. I lived with this part waking up and going to sleep with it.  Lucy (Sorvino’s character) was getting to me and making me feel anxious and uptight about her coming back into my life”. I asked Nancy “Is this real? ”

Critics have found Blanchard’s performance very real giving the Emmy Award wining actress much praise for  her role as Jenny in Union Square.

Blanchard is next to star in Woody Allenâ€s yet-to-be-made film alongside Cate Blanchett and Alec Baldwin.

Union Square  Stars: Mira Sorvino (Lucy), Tammy Blanchard (Jenny), Mike Doyle (Bill), Michael Rispoli (Nick), Daphne Rubin-Vega (Sara) and Patti LuPone (Lucia).

Written by Nancy Savoca and Mary Tobler

Mary Tobler; director of photography, Lisa Leone; edited by Jennifer Lee; music by Madeleine Peyroux; production design by Sarah Frank; costumes by Liz Prince; produced by Richard Guay and Neda Armian; released by Dada Films.

For more information on Union Square or to find a theater near you, visit www.theunionsquaremovie.com.

The post Actresses Tammy Blanchard and Mira Sorvino’s Movie “Union Square” Opens July 13th at New York City’s Angelika Theater first appeared on River View Observer.