So when Early says, "I think this is going to be the best festival to date," it’s time to take notice.

"Imagine hosting the world premiere of a film about a favorite Rehoboth landmark, filmed on location, and produced by a Delaware-based filmmaker," she enthused. "You could not ask for a more perfect opening night for this event and I anticipate it will be a sell out, so people should not delay purchasing tickets."

As you read this, more than 1,200 volunteers are toiling away to put the finishing touches on the 2004 Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival. The staff, which includes Early and first-time festival programmer David Gold, is also logging in overtime.

The opening night festivities this year begin at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, November 10, at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center. For the $20 ticket, guests may think they took a wrong turn and are strolling the boards. "Opening Night will feature a Funland theme art auction with six original pieces of artwork created specifically for this event," Early said. Works will include original art created specifically for this event by Andrew Criss, Pamela Bounds-Seemans, Lee Wayne Mills, Roy Boucher, Julie Baxendell, and Fred Chase.

The evening will conclude with a screening of the Wilmington-based Teleduction’s premiere of Nothing Beats Fun, its Funland documentary.

Special events will mark the festival throughout its four-day screenings, including "Live in the Lounge," featuring several spirit tasting events hosted by the festival’s beverage sponsors.

"Speaking of beverage sponsors, we will be screening American Beer which is a documentary touring 38 breweries in 40 days," Early said. "Included in this film are two of the beers distributed by our Beverage Sponsors, Yuengling and Dogfish Head."

The festival will also feature From Sea to Shining Screen, the Student Film Group’s first production, a documentary about the history of the Rehoboth Beach Film Society. The film was written, edited, produced, directed and scored by area high school and college students who have been meeting throughout the year to complete the project.

But what would a film festival be without the films? Gold has assembled a total of 87 films from 29 countries for the event, reflecting the best in independent and international filmmaking today.

For those who are exhausted by merely reading the possibilities, Early assures, "Chair massage services will be available for those marathon film buffs."

For those who have attended the Festival in years past, there will be some slight alterations, based on the feedback from film-goers. "We are striving to make sure that tickets are available for both members and non-members, so please familiarize yourself with ticket sale policies,"

Early said. "Don’t listen to rumors about everything being sold out. Yes, we will have screening sell-outs but we will have plenty of films to see. Last year we had 38 sell-outs out of 242 screenings so there were a lot more films to see than films you were unable to see."

The extravaganza will conclude on Sunday, November 14, at 8:30 p.m., with the Closing Night Party, to be held in the Big Tent, located behind the Movies at Midway.

Early added, "Volunteers are key to the Festival’s success. For every four-hour work shift completed, a volunteer receives a complimentary movie pass. I guarantee volunteers will have a great time being involved with the minute-to-minute, behind the scenes operations of the festival."

Volunteers are still being accepted. If anyone is interested, they are urged to call the Film Society at 302-645-9095, or email sue@rehobothfilm.com.

GLBT Films
For seven years, the producers of The Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival have made every effort in its steps to screen films that are as diverse as its hometown’s population. The 2004 Independent Film Festival is no exception. The GLBT community has helped shape Rehoboth Beach into the cultural landmark it is today.

The 2004 Film Festival has incorporated many films appealing to the population, giving voice and awareness in its mission to break through the communal walls that are sometimes constructed. Sue Early, executive director of the Rehoboth Beach Film Society, said, "This event is important to the GLBT for several reasons. The festival brings to this community films which are not typically available in mainstream theaters and definitely not in non-metropolitan areas. People’s prejudices tend to be based on fear of the unknown, unfounded stereotypes, and misperceptions."

"GLBT films help to increase people’s awareness about the GLBT community. The use of comedy helps to point out how ludicrous some misperceptions can be in a humorous manner," Early said.

She added. "This festival is important to the entire community as it provides opportunities for people to see films they may have not had access to or might not have chosen to see if not for this event. This event can be educational, conscious-raising, inspirational, and a bonding experience for people of all different walks of life."

Here is a look at the slate of GLBT-themed films for the 2004 Festival.

Bear Cub (Cachorro), directed by Miguel Albaledjo. Expanding a short film Albaledjo filmed in 1996, Cub is the story of Pedro, a gay dentist living in Madrid, who enjoys his sexually active, carefree lifestyle. Things get a little "harrier" when his hippie sister lands in jail, saddling him with his 9-year-old nephew and causing him to put his sex life on paws, er...pause. Reminiscent of the smashing About A Boy (albeit with a lot more body hair than Hugh Grant could ever muster), Cub shows a man who must come to terms with the responsibility of parenthood. Bear Cub is Miguel Albaladejo’s sixth feature film. Already well known to film lovers in Spain and beyond, he has added to his growing reputation by creating a film portraying gay men without clichés of melodrama or camp. Instead, his story is a sentimental education of adults who learn to care for children, and children who unknowingly teach their adults.

My Mother Likes Women (A Mi Madre Le Gustan Las Mujeres), directed by Ines Paris and Daniela Fejerman. Winner of awards at the Verzaubert and Torino Gay and Lesbian Film Festivals and Audience Award Winner of the Miami Hispanic Film Festival, Mother details a family’s coming to grips when its matriarch introduces them to her younger, female lover. The siblings all react quite differently to the news: Sol, the musician, uses the news as muse; Jimena rages with her husband as she questions her own beliefs; and Elvira, already unhinged and perpetually hard-up for cash, freaks when she discovers that the young woman is a direct beneficiary to her mom’s dough. This fast-paced comedy is in the same vein as the beloved Pedro Almodõvar, as each of the daughter’s suspicions, doubts, fears and hopes come crashing together.

Saints & Sinners, directed by Abigail Honor. Edward and Vincent have been in a committed relationship for more than seven years and wish to make their union legitimate. The trouble is, both are devout Catholics who want nothing short of a formal affair, complete with a wedding, a priest and Communion. This documentary details their life leading up to the big day, if they can have it. With the topic of gay marriage stirring debate nationwide, Saints & Sinners takes a level, even-keeled approach to their dilemma. From the peeks into their monogamous, spiritual lives with them and their families, to their hopes of having The New York Times recognize their nuptials on its pages, Saints shows the determination and downfall in the name of love. Director Honor and leads Edward and Vincent will be at the screenings for a question and answer session following the film.

Touch Of Pink, direacted by Ian Iqbal Rashid. With a subtle wink to the Doris Day/Cary Grant flick A Touch of Mink, Pink focuses on Alim, a gay Muslim man living in London who gets visited by the spirit of his cinematic icon, Cary Grant (played by a charming Kyle MacLauchlan). On the eve of his cousin’s wedding, Alim’s devout mother drops by to the uncloseted young man’s apartment, which he shares with his partner Giles. Grant gossips on his past loves, shares his on-screen tribulations and dispenses wisdom to Alim in exactly how to hide the relationship from his nosy mother. His fumbling attempts to conceal the truth run the risk of him to choose between the love of his life and the love of his mother. Director Rashid adds the same buoyant energy he used in his earlier East is East and demonstrate how love is not something you should take for Grant-ed.

Sugar, directed by John Palmer. Part of the festival’s Shock Cinema section, Sugar is based on the acclaimed writings of writer/filmmaker Bruce LaBruce and follows the life of Cliff, a suburban teen itching to spread his gay wings. In his travels, he hooks up with Butch, a crack-addicted street hustler. Cliff lives with patient, understanding mom, who is busy keeping tabs on Cookie, his hyperactive sis. As part of his 18th birthday, Cookie gives Cliff a bottle of vodka, a joint, and instructions on getting laid, which leads him into the path of Butch. The two strike a strange friendship, but both have much to risk with their companionship. With supporting roles from veteran actor Maury Chaykin (Love and Death on Long Island) and Sarah Polley (Go, The Sweet Hereafter), Sugar is both a brutal and compassionate tale of young love as only La Bruce (The Raspberry Reich, Skin Game, Slam!!) could tell it.

Dorian Blues, directed by Tennyson Bardwell. This Best Feature audience award winner from the Los Angeles Outfest, the Cinequest San Jose Film Festival and the Lake Placid Film Festival, Blues stars Michael McMillan as the geeky, titular teen who is taunted at high school and neglected by his family. On the dawn of his departure for college, Dorian begins to stand his ground by throwing open his closet doors to his ultra-conservative pop and star athlete brother. The film marks the debut from (straight) filmmaker Bardwell and proves that finding, and accepting, one’s true identity goes far beyond class, politics or sexuality.

Producing Adults (Lapsia ja aikuisia), directed by Aleksi Salmenpera. Fresh from its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival, Adults is a Finnish darma-comedy that originated as a film school project and evolved into a rich tale of relationships. Venla, stuck in her job at a fertility clinic, is faced with the concept of childbirth on a daily basis, only to return to a boyfriend that wants nothing to do with offspring. She enlists a female doctor at the office to help her in her urge to reproduce, and finds herself dealing with heretofore untapped emotions. Director Salmenpera has said that the English translation of the film’s title means: "the success of a marriage is not in producing children, but in the children producing adults." But, whatever the language, the film resonates with the universal dilemma of having to balance societal expectations with life’s dealings.

Round Trip (Al Ha’ Kav), directed by Shahar Rozen. Frustrated with her life, Nurit, a 40-year-old bus driver, decides to take a break from her perpetually unemployed husband. She packs up her two kids and leaves the small northern town for a new start in a neglected Tel Aviv neighborhood. There, she falls into a relationship with Mushidi, the Nigerian nanny she’s hired to watch her children. The relationship forces Nurit to a crossroads between her newfound sexuality and her maternal obligations, as her suspicious husband threatens to use them as pawns in his game.