Gen Art Closing Night

Tuesday night saw the closing of the 9th annual Gen Art Film Festival and the screening of Greg Lombardo’s Knots. The pretty basic story of the lives of three men living in New York is largely covered ground and many of the elements have been seen before. The film also could have used some editing in the script stage as well as in the cutting room, but the performances are mainly top-notch and the pic contains several genuinely hysterical moments. John Stamos should be especially singled out for showing the comedic talent that has largely gone unnoticed (by adults, at least) in vehicles such as TV’s Full House. The rest of the cast includes Scott Cohen (TV’s Gilmore Girls), Annabeth Gish (Shag, TV’s The West Wing), Paulina Porizkova (Anna) and Tara Reid (American Pie, Van Wilder). I do loves me some Annabeth Gish!

After the screening Gen Art announced the winners of their juried and audience awards. Brian Dannelly picked up the $10,000 prize for the Acura grand jury prize for his opening night film Saved! while Brian Herzlinger, Jonn Gunn, and Brett Winn nabbed the audience award for their film ">My Date with Drew. Jessica Weigmann’s award-winning student film Gardening Tips for Housewives picked up the shorts jury prize (and $5,000 from Acura) while Rob Meltzer grabbed the audience award for his short I Am Stamos.
The after party was held at NYC club Crobar on the West side of Manhattan. While the space is nice (and the bartender was absolutely the most stunning woman in the joint), the DJ’s were annoying as hell. Now, anyone out there who knows me is well aware that I like a good party. My rule for a good party? Keep it simple, stupid. For my Gen Art after parties I want the following three things: Music, booze and people. This party had DJ’s that seemed to think they ought to be part of the act, in turns playing instruments and talking (WAY too much) to the crowd. To be blunt: Shut up and spin, boys.

Pix from top to bottom: Party entertainment, the Hamptons International Film Festival’s Kim Jackson and Tricia Abate, and Knots star Paulina Porizkova.