Get Interactive With The Independent Film Channel at the 20th Independent Feature Film Market in New York City, September 18-25.

NEW YORK--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Sept. 17, 1998-- Log on to IFC's Web Site for Continuous Coverage; ifctv.com, the Official Site of the IFFM, Invites Visitors to: - On-Line - Exclusive Chats Live from the IFP Gotham Awards - Contest -- 20 Greatest Independent Films of the 20th Century

Contest - Exclusive Coverage of IFFM Events -- Including the Gotham Awards,

Opening Night Screening of Blood, Guts, Bullets & Octane, and

Interviews With the People Who Make Indie Films

It's the place where fledgling filmmakers cut their teeth and where indie veterans show their cutting-edge work. The Independent Feature Film Market (IFFM) turns 20 this year and for eight days this September, all indie eyes will be watching New York's Angelika Film Center where a staggering 399 film projects will be on display. More than 2,500 industry professionals are expected to descend on Gotham, hungry to discover the next Quentin Tarantino or Kevin Smith - and The Independent Film Channel is your exclusive ticket there.

The Independent Film Channel will be providing on-air coverage of the IFFM and all that goes with it. Tune into IFC throughout October to see exclusive footage of goings-on at the Market, and interviews with honorees at the 1998 Gotham Awards (including Sidney Lumet, Pi director Darren Aronofsky, and event host Stanley Tucci).

For those with an insatiable appetite for IFFM info, surf to ifctv.com, the official web site of the IFFM. This comprehensive site will cover all the action with news, profiles, interviews and an exclusive on-line chat live from this year's Gotham Awards - the indie-event of the season. Also roving the Market scene will be IFC's Gonzo Poet, waxing eloquent on how the aspiring amateurs at the IFFM can turn "pro." And if you want something for nothing, don't miss ifctv.com's "20 Greatest Independent Films of the 20th Century" Contest. Loggers-on are invited to makes their picks for the greatest indie films of all time. By simply e-mailing IFC their three favorite independent films (http://www.ifctv.com/events/iffm/main_contest.html), participants will get a chance to win a seven-video set of groundbreaking independent films, including such past IFFM stand-outs as Kevin Smith's Clerks and Edward Burns' The Brothers McMullen.

"One of the greatest showplaces for today's indie filmmakers is the Independent Feature Film Market, where they can be acknowledged for their ability and meet with those individuals who can distribute their work," comments President of Bravo Networks, Kathleen Dore, who sits on the IFP/East Board. "Since its inception, The Independent Film Channel has been dedicated to ensuring the creation of the best in independent film. Our ongoing participation at and coverage of the IFFM is an extension of our commitment to helping to develop up-and-coming filmmakers,"

In addition to its extensive web coverage and its sponsorship of the Market, The Independent Film Channel is sending a few of its own to sit on several discussion panels at the IFFM. Among those participating is George Lentz, Director, Film Acquisitions, IFC, who will disucss the short film genre: "Taking Shorts Seriously: Who's Buying Now?" Says Lentz, "Short films are to features what short stories are to novels: they're tied to one another in terms of the medium and yet remain separate and distinct art forms. For my money, the short film --- a good short film --- is infinitely more difficult to acheive than a good feature. And nine times out of 10, the most interesting things being done in the world of indie film are going on in the area of short filmmaking. They are without question my favorite part of every film festival, and in the case of the IFFM, we tend to license more shorts from here than any other festival or market." Highlights of ifctv.com's Continuing Coverage of the IFFM include: 1998 IFP Gotham Awards

On Wednesday, September 23, IFC heads to NYC's Chelsea Piers for the star-studded Gotham Awards, the Independent Feature Project's annual gala honoring the best and the brightest of indie film. Stanley Tucci (Big Night) emcees this year's ceremony, which pays tribute to such independent film legends as Frances McDormand, while also fete-ing new stars on the indie block like Darren Aronofsky (director of Pi and winner of the 1998 Open Palm Award), and Slam co-stars Saul Williams and Sonja Sohn. In addition to providing full on-line coverage of the Gothams at ifctv.com, IFC has announced that it will sponsor film tributes to each winner throughout the night. IFC's sister network, Bravo, will proudly sponsor the presentation of the Lifetime Acheivement Award to his years' honoree, accalimed director Sidney Lumet.

In addition to the long list of winners and presenters at the 1998 Gothams, IFC will be bringing its own indie star to the party - Hallie Eisenberg, the 6-year-old child actor, who has become known for her tongue-in-cheek persona, Christie, the hot new indie director on IFC who ladles out acting tips to the likes of Matt Damon, Lili Taylor and Ed Norton. IFC2000

Can't wait to find out all there is to know about the winners of IFC's national student film competition, IFC2000? Then check out ifctv.com! After months of review, the final jury has chosen four winning films from more than 300 submissions. $15,000 in cash will be awarded, and the winning films will be screened during the IFFM at the Angelika Film Center on Saturday, September 19. Winners include film students from Columbia University, University of Illinois at Chicago, San Francisco State University, and North Carolina School of the Arts. All winning films will also be screened in Los Angeles on Sunday, September 30, and will air on IFC in December.

IFC2000, designed to provide emerging film students with the opportunity to win cash prizes and gain national exposure for their work, will be administered annually, and is open to students enrolled in film degree programs at American universities. ifctv.com also features information on how to get involved in next year's IFC2000 competition. Exclusive Interviews

ifctv.com has tracked down some of the key players who are involved in this year's IFFM, and serves them up on the web with exclusive on-line interview. Among those who will being giving ifctv.com the inside scoop on the indie film scene are: Hallie Eisenberg, star of IFC's "Christie" campaign; director Darren Aronofsky (Pi), who will receive the Open Palm Award (awarded to a first-time New York filmmaker) at the 1998 Gothams, and Peter Broderick, President of Next Wave Films, who will discuss Next Wave's and IFC Films' involvement in Joe Carnahan's Blood, Guts, Bullets & Octane, which was picked up for distribution this year by Lions Gate Films and is the IFFM's Opening Night (presented on Friday, September 18 at 6:30PM at the Village East Cinema).

The Independent Feature Project is a non-profit membership organization of filmmakers, festival programmers, distributors, and other industry professionals dedicated to the support, promotion, and production of American independent films. As the country's largest association of independent filmmakers, the IFP works to facilitate production outside the established system by promoting relationships between American filmmakers and potential domestic and overseas partners.

The Independent Film Channel (IFC), managed and operated by Bravo Cable Network, is the first channel dedicated to independent film presented 24 hours a day, uncut and commercial-free. IFC, which launched on September 1, 1994, has the most extensive independent film library on television, with titles from Miramax, Sony Classics, October and Fine Line. IFC's Advisory Board is comprised of Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, Tim Robbins, Joel and Ethan Coen, Martha Coolidge, Jim Jarmusch, Spike Lee, Steven Soderbergh, Ed Saxon and Jodie Foster. The Independent Film Channel, reaching 15 million homes on a full-time basis is the most widely distributed channel dedicated to independent film on television.