The biggest night in Hollywood -Oscar night -is coming to Athens in the form of a dinner benefit complete with its own red carpet.
Oscar Night in Athens 2005 begins 6 p.m. Sunday at The Dairy Barn Southeastern Ohio Art Center, 8000 Dairy Lane. The event will include a five-course dinner catered by The Blue Gator and the Academy Awards broadcast on six big screen TVs.
All proceeds from ticket sales go towards the funding of the Athens International Film and Video Festival, which is April
29 -May 5 this year, said co-chairperson of Friends of the Festival Kelee Riesbeck.
We had this event last year and raised about $5
000 Riesbeck said. This year we're hoping to double it.
Because of its growing popularity, Oscar Night in Athens has moved from the Dairy Barn's upstairs room to its main gallery, where it can accommodate more people, Riesbeck said.
She said that the idea for the Oscar Night in Athens was born two years ago when one of the caterers suggested she should move her Oscar night party to a bigger venue because of its popularity. Riesbeck said that after some consideration, she and her friends decided to organize an event that would be enjoyable and would raise awareness of the film festival.
We want to make our film festival the Sundance of Appalachia Riesbeck said.
The group, now known as Friends of the Festival, approached Ruth Bradley, Director of the Athens International Film and Video Festival, and offered their idea for a fun dinner benefit where any money raised would go towards the festival, said fellow co-chairperson of Friends of the Festival Andrea Gibson.
We went to Ruth Bradley and said
'We'd love to help you out. Could you use this (Oscar Night in Athens)?' Gibson said.
With the proceeds from the dinner, Friends of the Festival hopes to expand the festival's notoriety and to attract people from all over Ohio and parts of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky, Gibson said.
I think that for Ohio we have a pretty good film festival
said Gibson, Some of the big film festivals (Tribeca and Sundance) are so big business.
There will be a raffle for a trip for two to the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival in New York
City sponsored by Hocking Hills Travel. There will also be a contest to see who can correctly predict the outcome of the most categories. The winner of the contest will receive two free Magic Video rentals a week for an entire year and one free Avalanche pizza every week for a year.
I anticipate it'll be a real fun time
Bradley said.
Tickets are $50 and available at Little Professor Book Center, 65 S. Court St. According to a promotional poster, attire should be formal
semi-formal
or funky.
17
Archives
