Palm Beach County Hosting 3 Major Festivals

“Cuba” by Vincent Versace, recipient of the prestigious FOTOmentor Award at the Palm Beach Photographic Centre’s FOTOfusion 2019.

(PRESS RELEASE)_(Palm Beach County, FL – November 26, 2018) Palm Beach County will live up to its well-earned title as “Florida’s Cultural Capital” early next year with a trio of major festivals, all starting three days in a row.

Sunday, January 20 – the opening of the 29th annual Donald M. Ephraim Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival featuring dozens of award-winning movies from around the world.

Monday, January 21 – The start of the 15th annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival in Delray Beach, featuring four Pulitzer Prize winners including Special Guest Poet Sharon Olds.

Tuesday, January 22 – Launch of the 24th annual FOTOfusion, hosted by the Palm Beach Photographic Centre in downtown West Palm Beach, honoring Vincent Versace, the internationally recognized pioneer in the art and science of digital photography

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The Donald M. Ephraim Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival
January 20 – February 12, 2019

The 29th annual Donald M. Ephraim Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival will present dozens of memorable movies at various movie theaters throughout Palm Beach County, including the AMC CityPlace in West Palm Beach, the Cinemark 14 in Boynton Beach, Cinepolis Shoppes in Jupiter, and the Cobb Theatres in Palm Beach Gardens. Awards Day is on February 10 with a matinee and awards presentation at the AMC CityPlace in West Palm Beach. New in 2019, the festival continues for two afternoons at AMC City Place with matinee son  Feb. 11-12. The festival is presented by the Mandel Jewish Community Center of the Palm Beaches, which has locations in Boynton Beach and Palm Beach Gardens.

The Donald M. Ephraim Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival strives to bring to South Florida the finest examples of cinema from around the world. Founded in 1990 the festival continues to grow and evolve as it continues to expand the selection of narrative features, short films and documentaries to reflect the tastes and needs of its audience. For more information, please visit www.PBJFF.org.

Palm Beach Poetry Festival
January 21-26, 2019

The 15th annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival will be held at Old School Square in Delray Beach. Special Guest Poet will be Sharon Olds, the author of 11 books of poetry and winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Another Pulitzer Prize winner, Tyehimba Jess, will be the Festival’s first Poet At Large. 

Nine distinguished poets will lead poetry-writing workshops at the Festival: Ellen Bass, Laure-Anne Bosselaar, Stuart Dischell, Aracelis Girmay, Campbell McGrath, Mathew Olzmann, Gregory Pardlo, Chase Twichell  and Eleanor Wilner, with individual conferences offered by nationally acclaimed poets: Lorna Knowles Blake, Sally Bliumis-Dunn and Nickole Brown. Next January’s poets include four Pulitzer Prize winners, two Chancellors of the Academy of American Poets, and winners of numerous awards, accolades and prizes for their poems and their teaching, who will be featured at numerous ticketed public events, including readings, talks, interviews, panel discussions and more.

Held at Old School Square in Delray Beach, the 15th annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival will feature 13 top poets at numerous ticketed public events, including readings, talks, interviews, panel discussions and more. Nine workshops will be offered for which applications are required. For more information, please visit https://www.palmbeachpoetryfestival.org.

Palm Beach Photographic Centre’s FOTOfusion
January 22-26, 2019

FOTOfusion, the popular cultural festival “where creativity and technology fuse,” attracts hundreds of professional and hobbyist photographers to West Palm Beach for five days of workshops, lectures, panel discussions, multimedia presentations, portfolio reviews, hands-on computer classes, demonstrations, and photo shoots taught by more than 60 world renowned photographers, digital imaging artists and picture editors.

The festival’s 2019 FOTOmentor Award will be presented to Vincent Versace, a founding Nikon Ambassador who has been hailed as “one of the top photography artists and visual storytellers of this era.” He is a recipient of the Computerworld Smithsonian Award in Media Arts & Entertainment and the Shellenberg fine art award. His work is part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of American History, and he has been published in numerous national newspapers and magazines.

The Palm Beach Photographic Centre is a non-profit organization dedicated to enriching life through the photographic arts. Located at the downtown City Center municipal complex at 415 Clematis Street in downtown West Palm Beach, the Photo Centre’s hours are 10 am to 6 pm. Monday through Thursday; 10 am to 5 pm on Friday and Saturday; closed Sunday. For more information, please call 561.253.2600 or visit www.workshop.org or www.fotofusion.org. All donations are greatly appreciated at www.workshop.org/contrib.  ​