Sometimes something comes along that just can’t wait for the festival. Or the community may even ask for a specific screening. In these instances,The Black Bear Film Festival organizers swing into action during the “non-festival” months. A forum which brings less-known or not-yet-released independent films to the local community year-round, the Black Bear Film Festival’s “Film Screening and Preview Series” holds true to its promise of quality innovative independent films.

Stay tuned later in the year for more like the world premiere of John Sayles’ “Sunshine State”.

Film Festival Organizers Bring Ultra Sneak Preview to Milford

As part of the Black Bear Film Festival’s salute to the Pear Blossom festival, one of the best American Films to be released this year was screened in Milford two months before its formal release to the general public.

On Friday, April 26, 2002 at the Milford Theatre, the newest John Sayles, Sunshine State - starring Eddie Falco (The Sopranos), Timothy Hutton, Angela Bassett, Jane Alexander, Ralph Waite (The Waltons), Alan King and Mary Steenburgen – was ours for a night.

This comedy/drama focuses on generations of town’s people who find modern world encroaching on their once isolated lives. Although set in one of Florida’s resort islands, the effect of veracious real estate development on the individual people of this little community is not that unlike Milford. Some of the characters are up in arms, some embrace the promise of a better life, and some are just grabbing for a fistful of cash, love retribution or just a little piece of mind.

If the plot of Sunshine State doesn’t have you running to the movie house, its director moniker alone should. John Sayles, the 6’ 4"’ Renaissance man, is already a legend in the film world. Sayles is "a much admired modern - day maverick", producer John Pierce insists in his insider’s book on independent cinema. A maverick who just so happened to be awarded a MacArthur Foundation genius grant. A genius who’s now working on a screenplay for Ron Howard’s next epic, "Alamo". He’s also a novelist, a short-story writer and a former factory worker. Other Sayles work you should check out at your video store: Lone Star, The Secret of Roan Inish, City of Hope, eight Men Out, Matewan, and The Brother from another planet.

In this newest film by John Sayles, "Sunshine State" is a story that could take place in any community grappling with a heavy past, an uncertain present and a foggy future. Here is what promises to be a modern classic. And thanks to the Black Bear Film Festival, Milford saw it first.