The Long Island International Film Expo will hold its 14th annual installment July 7-14 at Bellmore Movies in Bellmore New York. While critically acclaimed short and feature-length student and animated films will be shown the abundance of documentaries and foreign films will take the lead this year. “Eleven documentaries were released theatrically last year more than any other year to date and even our programming lends to the fact that this is the year of the documentary ” says Nassau County Film Office director Debra Markowitz. The Irish/Bosnian film As If I Am Not There will be the official opening night feature. Although a feature film and not a documentary this film realistically portrays the atrocities that occurred during the Bosnian/Serbian war. As If I Am Not There opened at the Toronto Film Festival and has won many awards at major film festivals worldwide. Documentaries to be screened cover subjects including how a community comes together to honor their wounded warriors; how Burmese citizens suffer adverse conditions in their native home; how a family has to collect cans to survive after the father becomes unemployed; and how a high school football team from Dearborn Michigan prepares for its big crosstown rivalry game during the last ten days of Ramadan. A psychologist shows how he uses trauma techniques to treat survivors of hurricane Katrina. Another documentary follows two MMA fighters in their training and daily lives while another documents the commemorating of mass graves in Poland many years after the Holocaust. Long Island Uncovered is a documentary film that takes an in-depth and behind-the-scenes look at the private lives of Long Island’s top tribute/cover band musicians. From the mid-life crisis based King of the Hamptons with cameos by Alec Baldwin Billy Joel and others to the history of John Muir the founder of the New York parks system there truly is something for everyone. Long Island International Film Expo www.longislandfilm.com
