St. Lawrence International Film Festival to Offer Filmmaker Workshop (Free to College Students!) on Sunday

'Here Alone' Filmmakers Discuss How to Make a 'Champagne Movie on a Beer Budget' in Workshop at SUNY Canton on Sept. 4

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Director/Producer Rod Blackhurst poses with “Here Alone” stars Gina Piersanti (left) and Lucy Walters (right). He and his fellow filmmakers will host a workshop at SUNY Canton on Sunday.

CANTON, NY (08/30/2016)(readMedia)-- The St. Lawrence International Film Festival will offer a workshop featuring the up-and-coming filmmakers behind "Here Alone" Sunday, Sept. 4, hosted by festival signature sponsor SUNY Canton.

Titled "A Writer, a Producer and a Director Walk into a Bar: How to Make a Champagne Movie on a Beer Budget," the filmmaker workshop will offer an in-depth look at the process-from script to screen-that led to the production of the award-winning thriller, "Here Alone."

Join director Rod Blackhurst (who also directed the upcoming Netflix documentary "Amanda Knox"), writer David Ebeltoft and producer Noah Lang as they reveal all that it took to bring their vision to life-filming entirely in and around Corning, N.Y.

The workshop will begin at 2 p.m. in SUNY Canton's Kingston Theater. General admission tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door. To reserve tickets, visit stlawrencefilm.com/ticketing.

Students enrolled at one of the four Associated Colleges of the St. Lawrence Valley can attend the workshop for free. For college students, there will be an educational screening of the film immediately preceding the open workshop. The screening will begin at noon in the Kingston Theater. Students can register to attend the screening and workshop for free online, at stlawrencefilm.com/filmmaker-workshop.

After premiering at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival, "Here Alone" won the coveted Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature. The dramatic horror film follows Ann, a woman in her late twenties struggling to exist alone in the woods, after a mysterious epidemic decimates society. The bleak and convention-defying genre film tells the story of survival and emotional redemption, set in a post-apocalyptic landscape. "Here Alone" stars Lucy Walters, Adam David Thompson, Gina Piersanti and Shane West.

Just months after its award-winning Tribeca premiere, "Here Alone" was picked up by Vertical Entertainment, and is set for a worldwide release in 2017. North Country audiences will get a chance to view the post-apocalyptic thriller months before its general release. To learn more, visit herealonefilm.com.

The filmmaker workshop will cap off an exciting weekend for the St. Lawrence International Film Festival. The organization will host a gala fundraiser the night before, on Saturday, Sept. 3, at SUNY Potsdam's Performing Arts Center. Hosted by film and television star Mark Valley ("CSI"), the gala fundraiser will kick off at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 3, with the exclusive screening of "Here Alone" and an audience Q&A with the filmmakers, followed by a reception featuring live music, hors d'oeuvres and cocktails.

Gala fundraiser tickets are $50 each, available online now at stlawrencefilm.com/ticketing. SLIFF is also currently running a double-date discount, with four-packs of tickets going for $40 each, so bring your friends and enjoy a night out while supporting the arts!

The SLIFF gala fundraiser and filmmaker workshop wouldn't be possible without the support of the signature sponsors, SUNY Canton and St. Lawrence University.

Additional sponsors include: A Wholesome Glow, Clarkson University, Community Bank, N.A., Elks Lodge of Potsdam, Guide Boat Realty, Northern Lights Energy, SeaComm Federal Credit Union, St. Lawrence Health System and the Village of Canton.

Mountain Lake PBS is an official media sponsor of the St. Lawrence International Film Festival.

About SUNY Canton

SUNY Canton is Northern New York's premier college for career-driven bachelor's degrees, associate degrees and professional certificate programs. The college delivers quality hands-on programs in engineering technology, health, management and public service and recently received number one rankings in library resources, library services and tutoring services in the SUNY Student Opinion Survey. The college's faculty members are noted for their professional real-world experience in addition to outstanding academic credentials. SUNY Canton OnLine offers hundreds of flexible and convenient courses as well as ten exclusively online bachelor's degrees. The college's 15 athletic teams compete as members of the NCAA Division III. To learn more, visit canton.edu.

About the St. Lawrence International Film Festival

Founded in 2015 to celebrate the best films and filmmakers in the world, while attracting new visitors to the beauty of the St. Lawrence River Valley region in the U.S. and Canada, the St. Lawrence International Film Festival continues to contribute to the cultural and economic development of this very special place. This year's exclusive gala will support the festival's ambitious goal of creating a year-round institution that feeds the annual festival-one that educates and inspires filmmakers of all stripes, and enriches the community in which it resides. For more information, visit stlawrencefilm.com.

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