Award Winning Film About Broadway Baby Makes Manhattan Premiere At Chain NYC Film Festival

The Manhattan Premiere of the Award-Winning Short Documentary Film, Just a Broadway Baby: Mary Ellen Ashley will take place as part of The Chain NYC Film Festival on August 10th at 8:00pm. The festival, celebrating its 10th Anniversary will screen the film as part of its Women's Voices block of films. The film is directed by Patrick Riviere. 

The film follows the career and life of Mary Ellen Ashley (formerly Mary Ellen Glass) who made her Broadway debut at the age of five in An Innocent Voyage. She would follow that with a role that was created just for her in the original Broadway production of Annie Get Your Gun with Ethel Merman. Ashley grew up with the show and would go on to play all of the younger Oakley sisters and stay with the production for the entire run. But Broadway was not her only success. She was on radio, early Television, films, Las Vegas, her own club act and a plethora of Regional Theaters playing the most beloved leading ladies numerous times: Dolly Levi, Mame Dennis, Mama Rose...the list goes on. She would return to Broadway in the original production of Yentl starring Tovah Feldshuh. For eight decades she has graced the stage and screen and continues to work.

The film won "Best Picture" at its World Premiere at The Oregon Documentary Film Festival in January and has gone on to win "Best Documentary Short" at Upstate New York Film Festival and "Outstanding Short Documentary" at The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival. Riviere was awarded "Best Director of a Documentary Short" from The Vesuvius International Film Festival in Italy and an "Indie Soul Special Recognition Award" from The Boston International Film Festival (BIFF). The film was also a nominee for Best Documentary Film at Green Mountain International Film Festival, Texas Short Film Festival and Bergen International Film Festival of NJ. The film has also screened at Dam Short Film Festival and will celebrate its Southeast Premiere at the renowned 37th Annual Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF) in November. FLIFF is considered "one of the most important regional film festivals in the US." In addition, the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive (TOFT) at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts has invited the film to become a part of its permanent archive.

The Chain NYC Film Festival makes a special effort to curate each block of films by theme or genre. The collective voice of filmmakers from around the world rings out whether in escapist entertainment or heavier themes of the 'new normal' in a Covid society, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the continuing pursuit for equality in the LGBTQ community. In an effort to continue to highlight these important issues, the Chain will continue their tradition of hosting talk backs with the filmmakers which will be included in the screening blocks.

For more information on the film and the festival please visit http://www.chainfilmfestival.com/