Del Vecchio, left, with Joyce Dewitt and DeStefano, at the
first festival in 2013
MIDDLETOWN – There will be no fifth year of the Hoboken International Film Festival being held in Middletown.
Mayor Joseph DeStefano said on Tuesday the City decided not to renew the contract for a fifth year with festival founder Kenneth Del Vecchio.
The mayor cited “declining value and declining attendance” among the reasons for not renewing the contract. The city will take the Paramount Theater in “another direction,” DeStefano said.
Del Vecchio sees the situation differently. He said it was he who told the city that if they would not honor the current terms next year, he would look for another venue. In fact, Del Vecchio called the city’s decision “a mammoth blunder.” He said DeStefano wanted him to accept terms that were less than he had previously and he rejected them.
Del Vecchio is not worried about finding a new home for his festival. “I have a lot of suitors waiting for me to relocated,” he said. They include communities in Orange, Rockland and Bergen counties, he said.
The festival has been held annually from the end of May through the first week in June and has drawn some top name actors and actresses as well as filmmakers, producers and other artists.
Del Vecchio has also filmed some of his own movies in Middletown.
