"Reach for Me" premieres at Sedona Film Fest Tuesday Cinema Series on Feb. 9

Academy Award nominee Seymour Cassel will be in Sedona to host film festival event

Sedona, AZ - (January 28, 2010) - It’s never too late to live, to laugh, to love. That is the message in the heartwarming and uplifting new film “Reach For Me” starring Academy Award nominees Seymour Cassel and Alfre Woodard. The award-winning film that has been inspiring audiences all around the nation premieres in Sedona on Tuesday, Feb. 9. There will be two screenings of the film at 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. at Harkins Sedona Six Theatres.

The film is being presented by the Sedona International Film Festival in this one-night-only special engagement as part of its popular Second Tuesday Cinema Series.

The star of the film, Academy Award nominee Seymour Cassel will be in Sedona for this special premiere event along with the producer of the film Charlene Blaine-Schulenburg.

“This is such a coup for our festival and our audience to have an Oscar-nominated actor here to present the film and host the Q&A discussions,” said film festival director Patrick Schweiss. “The film is moving and life-affirming and sure to touch the hearts of all who are lucky enough to see it.”

Dying is hell, at least for Alvin (Seymour Cassel), a terminally ill widower confined to his hospice bed with nothing to chew on but bitter memories. Old and wonderfully irascible, he correspondingly makes life hell for everyone else around him. Alvin just wants some peace and quiet in his last days.

His wish, however, is not granted when a young, vibrant and ironically full of life Kevin becomes Alvin's hospice roommate. Through this "odd couple" relationship, Alvin learns that it’s not the minutes in our life, it’s the moments in your life that matter.

The world observed from his hospice bed provides the final proving ground where Alvin learns to make the most of the time he has, and discover the love he never knew was so close at hand. This is a heartwarming, uplifting, and very funny story of living life to its fullest.

Actor-turned-director LeVar Burton explores the age-old quandary of how we greet our final days – and who will be there with us at the end.  A stirring, life-affirming drama, the excellent ensemble cast includes Cassel, Alfre Woodard, Adrienne Barbeau, Johnny Whitworth and Lacey Chabert in beautifully crafted performances refreshingly free of false sentimentality. 

Academy Award nominee Alfre Woodard stars in “Reach For Me”, a stirring, life-affirming drama that explores the age-old quandary of how we greet our final days – and who will be there with us at the end.

Veteran actor Seymour Cassel — who will be in Sedona to host the screenings of “Reach for Me” — was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in John Cassavetes’ Faces (1968). After studying at the American Theatre Wing and the Actor’s Studio, Cassel’s early career was tied to Cassavetes, who is widely considered the first great independent film director.  Cassel made his debut in Cassavetes’ Shadows (1959), and he and Cassavetes co-starred in Too Late Blues (1961), The Webster Boy (1962), and the Don Siegel directed, The Killers (1964).  In 1971, Cassel starred as one of the title characters in Cassavetes’ film Minnie and Moskowitz.

Cassel’s work is popular around the globe, most recently having been honored at the Oldenburg International Film Festival in Germany and the Off Plus Camera Film Festival in Krakow, Poland.  He has appeared in over 170 films over the course of his career, and from his work with Robert Redford in Indecent Proposal (1993), to Burt Reynolds and Richard Dreyfuss in The Crew (2000), to Nicolas Cage in both Honeymoon in Vegas (1992) and It Could Happen to You (1994), to Warren Beatty in Dick Tracy (1990), through his many years of work with John Cassavetes, Cassel has worked with many of the all-time greats.

Cassel is prized by indie directors for two things: his positive nature, and his (perhaps) facetious declaration that he’d make any indie script he liked for the price of a plane ticket.  Cassel goes into projects with the feeling “I’m gonna have a good time in what I’m doing.  I entertain myself when I perform.  If I do that, then I can see the other performers enjoying my character.”

Cassel will be joined in Sedona by the film’s producer, Charlene Blaine-Schulenburg, who also has a role in the film.  In 2000, She formed her own production company, AMediaVision Productions, Inc., where she specializes in acquiring story rights, research and script writing. She is developing and producing dozens of true-life, inspirational stories.

“This is the perfect star-studded way for us to head into our 16th annual film festival,” said Schweiss. “Having a star of Mr. Cassel’s caliber here truly kicks off our festival celebration in style. And the film is truly moving, as are many of the films in our festival lineup, so it sets a very nice tone.”

The title sponsor for the event is Ambaya Gold. The lodging host sponsor is Amara Hotel, Restaurant and Spa. The series is also made possible by a grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts and National Endowment for the Arts, the City of Sedona and the Sedona Community Foundation.

“Reach for Me” will be shown at Harkins Sedona Six Theatres on Tuesday, Feb. 9 at 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $10, or $8 for Film Sedona members, and will be available starting at 3:00 p.m. that day in the Harkins lobby. Cash or checks only. Film Sedona members can purchase tickets in advance at the Sedona International Film Festival office, 1785 W. Hwy. 89A, Suite 2B, or by calling 282-1177. For more information, visit: www.SedonaFilmFestival.com.