The 60-plus films have poured into The News for weeks, arriving in padded envelopes, by cardboard mailers, through Priority Mail.

They've come with postmarks from as far away as Germany, Australia, Italy and Spain. Nearly 10 are from the home of Hollywood.

Buffalo Niagara Film Festival When: Today through April 25 in the Market Arcade Film and Arts Centre, 639 Main St., and the Riviera Theatre, 67 Webster St., North Tonawanda.

Tickets: $10 general, $8 students and seniors. Packages are available.

Some show up with slick promotional material; others a sentence or two on an otherwise blank sheet of paper. They're almost all from unheralded filmmakers, including students, and featuring unknown casts.

They're also less than half the number being screened at the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival that opens today and runs through April 25 at the downtown Market Arcade Film and Arts Centre, and the Riviera Theatre in North Tonawanda. At press time, 31 features, 27 documentaries, 78 short films and nine music videos were chosen by the screening committee to be shown, making this year's fourth Buffalo Niagara Film Festival the biggest yet.

The smorgasbord of films holds the promise of making the trip to the movie theater a memorable experience, while offering the possibility of seeing the launch of a talented new cinematic career.

Not all of the films are complete unknowns.

Williamsville native Wendie Malick co-stars in "Adventures of a Teenage Dragonslayer"; veteran Hollywood actor Richard Dreyfuss narrates the baseball documentary "Signs of The Time"; Stephen Lang, fresh from his role in "Avatar," Nicki Aycox and Jordan Belfi star in the post-World War II drama "Christina"; and Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey make appearances in the provocative documentary, "Autism: Made in the U.S.A."

"Picture Man: The Poetry of Photographer Milton Rogovin" is a 20-minute film celebrating the photography and poetry of Buffalo's internationally renowned artist, who recently turned 100.

"We want to get these filmmakers noticed. They have a lot of trust in us as directors of the film festival to get the word out to others, and a chance for them to get known," said Bill Cowell, the festival's founder and president.

"It's really why they trust the festival circuit. There have been several award-winning films that started here first and went on to win major awards and get distribution, which is ultimately where the filmmakers get really noticed and make their money."

Malick, who has a competing engagement that kept her from attending this year's festival, said film festivals are opening a lot of doors for filmmakers, even as the availability of low-cost technology is in some ways making it harder to squeeze through.

"More and more people are making films on such an incredibly low budget. Of course, that also means far greater competition to get your little movies made, and distributed," Malick said in a telephone interview.

"But with the advent of being able to do so much of this online, it at least gives you a possibility, and then you hope word of mouth, and luck and timing all sort of play into it."

Malick said she enjoyed playing a middle school vice principal in "Adventures of a Teenage Dragonslayer," which makes its North America premiere the festival's opening feature presentation at 7 tonight in the Market Arcade.

"It was fun, and a lot of time if you have some free time and have a chance to work with some friends or people whose work you've enjoyed, then you just go for it, and this was one of those things. Sometimes these little indies can be lots of fun," Malick said.

"It's a very odd thing when you've never seen something that you've did. I hope you enjoy it. I'd like to know how it is," she laughed.

Malick, a former Golden Globe nominee and Emmy Award nominee with a dizzying array of film and television credits, isn't dependent on film festivals to make a name for herself. But for first-time filmmaker Todd Giglio, 41, a Fredonia State College graduate who grew up in upstate New York and now lives in White Plains, festivals offer the opportunity to get noticed. This is the eighth film festival Giglio's 2009 film, "Drawing with Chalk," has been entered in.

"Festivals give you a chance to meet one-on-one with an audience, and typically audiences at film festivals will look at a film like this — a true-to-life drama — as something they can relate to," Giglio said. "Since there is no name attached to the film, they have no preconceived notion of what to expect."

Giglio directed and co-wrote the film with friend Chris Springer, who served as producer. The autobiographical story, after their failed acting attempts and later, as rock musicians, shows them married to sisters and creatively unfulfilled.

"The two of us sat around one day and wondered what happened to the last 20 years," Gigolo said. "We determined that by the time we reached 40 we were going to make the film."

He hopes it won't be his last.

"If someone else believes we can make a movie and funds it — because there is no way in hell my wife will let me do this again — then we have a bunch of ideas for where to go for our next project," Giglio said.

The festival is also presenting a number of works by fledgling filmmakers who grew up in Western New York.

Local filmmaker Jason Aupperle, 29, has a political satire, "Bravo Sierra," entered. The film is set in a fictitious country where rebels battle imperialist forces for control of the country's resources. The 93-minute film features local musicians David and Kristin Gilmet and Kent Weber, and was shot in Buffalo, Letchworth State Park and Detroit.

Aupperle rented a screen at the Market Arcade for one night to screen it in front of friends and family, but he thinks the festival's audience response will be a truer measure of how the film is perceived.

"The biggest thing for me is to get an audience that doesn't know me at all. I want to see the audience respond, and what they play off of, so I'll know my strengths and weaknesses for future endeavors," Aupperle said.

Nick Farago, who was born and raised in Niagara Falls and now lives in San Francisco, has entered his short film, "This Must Be the Place." Maggie Sargent, formerly of Lockport and now living in Los Angeles, has "Divorcing God." Roy Vongtama, 36, an oncologist and actor who grew up in Orchard Park and graduated from Canisius High School and the University at Buffalo School of Medicine, will be offering his short film, "Juche Rules."

"Oh man, it's incredible," said Vongtama, who now lives in Beverly Hills, about having a local screening. "Buffalo has always been really good to me."

The film, Vongtama's first, is about two journalists put in a frightening situation while on a bus in North Korea.

"I've always wanted to make films that have a great story and an an underlying message. The message in the film for me is that everyone has a choice to make, and they're often made in the moment," Vongtama said.

Christina Parisi, 32, grew up in Amherst and also lives in Los Angeles. She's trying to raise financing for her fourth film, "Rhythm of Causality," to turn it into a feature-length film. While she struggles to make films, she works as a freelance script analyst and waitress.

"I can't even tell you how excited I am. The majority of my family are all in New York, and they're all coming out for it. I'm really excited to show my grandparents my film on a big screen," Parisi said.

Parisi said festivals have helped bring her films exposure.

"The problem for many independent features is that it's very difficult to get distribution. Festivals are a wonderful avenue to get them seen, and out into theaters. That's invaluable."

Buffalo Niagara Film Festival

When: Today through April 25 in the Market Arcade Film and Arts Centre, 639 Main St.,

and the Riviera Theatre, 67 Webster St., North Tonawanda.

Tickets: $10 general, $8 students and seniors. Packages are available.

For more information, go to www.buffaloniagarafilmfestival.com

For detailed information on films, go to "festival information," click on "films" and then on the movie icon.

Of note: The festival will be holding the Filmmakers Market & Expo next Friday to April 25 in the Tonawanda Castle (69 Delaware St.), near the Riviera Theatre.

A closing awards ceremony will be at 7 p.m. April 25 at the Riviera Theatre, following the 5 p.m. screening of "Christina" at the Riviera Theatre. An awards party will start at 9 p.m. at the Tonawanda Castle.

Film panels will be held at 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday in the Market Arcade. Monday, "Publicizing and Marketing Film" with Dick Delson; Tuesday, "Composers Perspective for Filmmakers" with Eric Cadesky, Nick Dyer and Carl Zittrer; Wednesday, interactive Q&A on the short film with Andrea Lodovichetti; Thursday, "Native Americans in Films" with Joanne Shenendoah and Douglas George.

msommer@buffnews.com