Roll film: CINEviews Film Festival ready for action

By Casey Gillis

Published: November 6, 2008

The fourth annual CINEviews Film Festival kicks off next weekend with special guest Paul Fitzgerald, an actor/screenwriter/director and E.C. Glass High School graduate.

The festival, held at Riverviews Artspace, begins with a gala at 6 p.m. Nov. 14 to honor Fitzgerald.

The program — an “Inside the Actor’s Studio”-type sit-down called “The Three Faces of Paul: A Conversation with Paul Fitzgerald” — is at 7:30 p.m., and a showing of his 2006 film, “Forgiven,” follows at 9 p.m.

Last year’s festival opened with a similar event honoring another triple threat, Mike White.

“The crowd really seemed to enjoy it very much,” says Andy MacCallum, festival co-chairman. “It went very well. Paul is such an engaging person, and we think he’ll do a great job.”

Fitzgerald has been pursuing his big-screen dreams since graduating from Glass in 1989. He went on to earn degrees from both Northwestern University and the Old Globe/University of San Diego Drama School and guest-starred on series like “Will & Grace,” “The West Wing” and all three versions of “Law & Order.”

More recently, you may have seen him as Richard Henry Lee in the HBO miniseries “John Adams” or in roles last month on the CBS series “Without A Trace” and “Eleventh Hour.”

Fitzgerald’s first time behind the camera came in 2006 with “Forgiven,” which he wrote, directed and starred in as a small town district attorney whose run for Senate is put in jeopardy by an old case. He shot the film over 18 days in Wilmington, and it was later accepted into the Sundance Film Festival.

CINEviews’ theme this year is “Virginia is for Film Makers,” and will feature six full-length and five short films, which will be shown on Saturday and Sunday. Four are documentaries.

One of the short films, “Swing Vote,” was directed by Heritage High School graduate Rebecca Pelletier. It’s about two best friends who, disillusioned with the results of the 2004 election, set out to swing the 2008 election their way by creating an underground organization.

Another festival highlight is a Saturday workshop, “The Challenges of Creating Period on Film,” which will be led by Fitzgerald and David Crank, the Emmy-winning art director of “John Adams.” It is scheduled for 1:30 p.m., and a screening of the series’ second episode will follow at 3 p.m.

Tickets to the gala are $60 and must be purchased in advance.

All screenings and other events will be held at Riverviews Artspace. For a full schedule and more information, visit http://www.riverviews.net.