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With a bevy of international offerings on the program every year, it seems like the Cinequest film festival has always aimed to make it a small world. But for its 14th annual outing March 314, Cinequest is offering the world, or at least a sizable portion of it, all within about six city blocks.
The San Josebased festival, which in previous years had offered screenings of its films at various venues around the valley, will be taking place entirely in downtown San Jose this year, at venues all within walking distance of each other.
Although festivalgoers might not need a map to get around this year, the festival's lineup remains as wide-ranging as ever. Cinequest, ranked among the top 10 of the world by the Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide, will as always feature the Maverick Competition, and its Emerging Mavericks & New Visions Competition. The festival also continues to offer unique perspectives from around the world with its Global Landscapes program, composed of the Latino Film Celebration, the Applied Materials Pacific Basin Showcase and, new for this year, Focus on Norway.
Many of the films featured in Global Landscapes will be receiving their U.S. or North American premieres, including United, a Norwegian film which will open the festival this year in a gala premiere party March 3.
Among the 15 films receiving world premieres at the festival this year will be The Conscientious Objector, a U.S.-made documentary that will screen at the festival's closing party on March 14.
This year's mavericks are screenwriters David and Janet Peoples (Unforgiven, Blade Runner, Twelve Monkeys), who will appear on March 12, and Kurt Miller, producer, director and entrepreneur known for his action sports films that he began creating with his father, Warren Miller. Kurt Miller will appear on March 11. A new honor is the Maverick Life award that will go to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at a special Cinequest fundraiser on a date to be announced.
For information, visit www.cinequest.org or call 408.295.FEST.
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