Reel Stuff Film Festival

 

Reel Stuff Film Festival of Aviation takes off again in Dayton   March 12-15 screenings spotlight Oscar winning actor, German producer and stunt pilot among twelve filmmakers presenting cinematic celebrations of flight (Dayton, OH – January 21, 2009) The National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) will host its Second Annual Reel Stuff Film Festival of Aviation on March 12-15, 2009 in Dayton, Ohio.  Reel Stuff screenings held at various theatre venues throughout the four-day festival will celebrate the diverse and colorful world of aviation as depicted through invited Hollywood studio productions and independent documentaries.    The NAHF is a Congressionally chartered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to honoring America's outstanding air and space pioneers.   Reel Stuff's presenting sponsor is NetJets, with additional support from Airmail Greetings, ThinkTV, and a grant from the Gates Frontiers Fund. Reel Stuff is open to the public, with all ticket and merchandise proceeds benefiting the Dayton-based NAHF Learning Center and its education programs.   Invited projects to be screened are thirteen documentary, classic and contemporary theatrical releases cinematically celebrating the people, wonder and joy of flight. Ten films will be introduced by an actor, director, producer, aerial coordinator or cinematographer associated with its production. Cinema historians will introduce the additional three, each one a Hollywood classic projected in their original 35mm film format. All presenters will field questions from the audience after each screening.    Among Reel Stuff's presenters are Cliff Robertson and Clay Lacy/The Pilot, Catherine Wyler/Memphis Belle, Nikolai Mullerschoen/The Red Baron, and Steve Hinton/Always. Robertson, who both starred and directed The Pilot, is an Academy Award-winning actor, pilot and 2006 enshrinee of the National Aviation Hall of Fame. Aerial cinematographer Clay Lacy and aerial coordinator Steve Hinton, both also pilots, are each nominees for enshrinement into the Hall of Fame.   Additional Reel Stuff Film Festival presenters and projects include Jeffrey Roth/The Wonder of it All, Paul Glenshaw/Barnstorming, John Ellis/Steve Canyon, Richard Hoerle/Captain Eddie, James Farmer/Twelve O'clock High and Strategic Air Command, Cliff & Cathy Fleming/We Were Soldiers, and Rocco DeVilliers/The Fly Boys.   Ron Kaplan, NAHF executive director and founding director of Reel Stuff, pointed out the diversity of films slated for this year's event. "Our subjects cover everything from barnstorming the Midwest in homemade biplanes to landing on the lunar surface," said Kaplan, pointing out that 2009 marks the 40th anniversary since Hall of Fame enshrinee Neil Armstrong first stepped foot on the moon.    "Among our original film screenings in Dayton's historic Victoria Theater is the Cold War classic, Strategic Air Command, starring Jimmy Stewart, who happens to also be a true-life aviation hero and one of our incoming Hall of Fame enshrinees this July," explained Kaplan.   Catherine Wyler, daughter of Oscar-winning director, William Wyler, will screen both the 1944 documentary of her late father's, the Memphis Belle, and the 1990 Warner Brothers action-drama of the same name, which she co-produced.   Kaplan also points out that Reel Stuff has gone "international" in only its second year, boasting the first major North American public screening of Der Rote Baron (The Red Baron), a German-funded and produced film released in Europe in 2008. The powerful big-screen account of the life of legendary WWI ace, Baron von Richtofen, will be introduced by its producer and writer, Nikolai Mullerschoen.   "As patron's told us after last year's inaugural festival, Reel Stuff is as close to behind-the-scenes as one can get without actually being on the set," said Kaplan. "Thanks to Reel Stuff's presenting sponsor, NetJets, a grant from the Gates Frontiers Fund, and support from Airmail Greetings and ThinkTV, our PBS television affiliate, the Hall of Fame is privileged to bring cinema fans together with filmmakers and pilots that work behind and in front of the camera, and all to benefit a great cause."    Reel Stuff Film Festival admission to each movie is $10 per person, including the presentations and Q&A sessions. Full Festival Ticket Packages are available by advance purchase and feature thirteen tickets for just $95, a $35 savings. Tickets are transferable and may be used for admission to any screening. A complete schedule of Reel Stuff showtimes and locations, special reception events, presenters' bios, sponsors and other festival details are available on www.reelstufffilmfest.com. Ticket packages and merchandise can be ordered online or by calling the NAHF at (937) 256-0944 x11.      # # # EDITORS NOTE-       To schedule interviews, obtain photos of Reel Stuff staff or participants, etc, contact: Ron Kaplan, Executive Director            National Aviation Hall of Fame Dayton, Ohio                                        rkaplan@nationalaviation.org    O: (937) 256-0944 x16  C: (937) 212-8847