Actor Robert Davi, who is premiering a documentary at the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival, will land by helicopter onto the red carpet today at 5 p.m. for a free outdoor celebration that kicks off the nine-day festival.
For the first time in its 12 year history, the festival will be held exclusively in Niagara Falls, with 300 films being shown on six screens at the Four Seasons Cinema on Military Road and Fourth Street, behind the Burlington Coat Factory.
The free outdoor event will feature live music by 90 West and be hosted by Brimstone, a professional wrestler, actor and comic book video game hero.
Attendees are coming in from all over the world, said Bill Cowell, founder of the 11-year-old festival.
The festival kicks off with the James Bond-style arrival by copter of Davi and a free red carpet event in the parking lot of the Four Seasons Cinema, 2429 Military Road, that includes filmmakers, celebrities, live music by 90 West and food vendors.
Davi, whose film credits include “The Goonies,” “Die Hard,” “License to Kill,” and “The Expendables 3,” will be present for the showing of his film at 7 p.m. In the film, called “Davi’s Way,” he documents his efforts to recreate Sinatra’s fabled “Main Event” concert in Madison Square Garden on Sinatra’s 100th birthday. The film will be followed by a question and answer session with Davi.
Cowell said that moving the film festival to the Four Seasons Cinema and its six screens, enabled him to offer nearly three times as many movies, and to include filmmakers from around the globe, including those coming in from the Phillipines, Thailand and China.
Those who will be trying to decide which films to see can visit the website where all the trailers are included with information about each film. There is also a master schedule online at www.thebnff.com.
Also: John Steppling of “Animal Factory,” “52 Pick-Up,” and “Age of Kali,” Nikki Moore of “Sorority Row,” “The Babymakers,” and “Crawlspace,” Catherine Oxenberg of “Watch Over Me,” “The Lair of the White Worm,” and “Dynasty,” and Holley Fain of “Grey’s Anatomy,” Gossip Girl,” and “The Astronaut Wives Club.”
Buffalo native Matt Wayne, now a stand up comic in New York City who has been featured at the Bridgetown Comedy Festival, the Laughing Skull Comedy Festival, Comedy Central and more, will also be attending the festival.
Tickets to any of the 300 films will be sold in two-hour blocks and cost from $10 to $13. Veterans, students and seniors will be able to purchase half-priced tickets.