Winter Film Awards Will Honor Elsie Martinez-Ginsberg as 2017 Patron of the Cinema

Native New Yorker Elsie Martinez-Ginsberg, founder of both TwitchTwitch Productions and the Macabre Faire Film Festival, will be honored with the 2017 Patron of the Cinema Award at the 6th annual Winter Film Awards Indie Film Festival.

The Festival concludes with a glittering event to be held on Saturday, March 4th, 2017 in the EMPIRE Room at Club 230 Fifth.

The WFA Board of Directors is pleased to honor Ms. Martinez-Ginsberg, who has and continues to demonstrate her unparalleled passion for the independent cinema and through a unique and varied career that has continually been tempered by life's trials.

"I began to compile a list of potential 2017 recipients and had an epiphany. I knew without any doubt, that Elsie Martinez-Ginsberg should receive the award this year," exclaimed Board Member and Curator of the award, Joseph B. Mauceri. "Elsie is a cancer survivor. Throughout her battle, which would leave many of us daunted and drained, she continues to amaze me. Her passion for the cinema, the filmmakers, the genre, and the multiple fantastic events she creates would confound the best of us. If you do not know Elsie Martinez-Ginsberg, you need to. And I would ask you join us at our awards ceremony on March 4th, if for no other reason, to celebrate a truly amazingly talented and selfless member of our industry."

Born in Coney Island, NY and raised in Brooklyn, Elsie Martinez-Ginsberg attended Connecticut State University. She relocated to Venice Beach CA in 1992, where she ventured into screenplay writing. In 2002 she returned to her hometown of New York. In 2006, Ms. Martinez-Ginsberg fought her first bout with Stage II Breast Cancer. As the disease went into remission in 2007, she decided to celebrate by building her first haunted attraction in her backyard. Her love of the genre led to her BECOMING the CEO of TwitchTwitch Productions in 2008. Ms. Martinez-Ginsberg began to write macabre tales for the stage, including Living Dead Mafia that was performed throughout Long Island NY, from 2009-2011, and she directed and co-produced the play The Dinner Party. Beginning in 2011, Martinez-Ginsberg produced, starred in, wrote and directed several shorts and features, including Being the Deadfather (2011), Worldly Possessions (2014), and 2017's House of Afflictions, to name just a few. Her passion for the cinema, local filmmakers, and genre films lead her to found the Macabre Faire Film Festival (www.macabrefairefilmfest.com) in 2012. The Long Island Newsday called the Macabre Faire Film Festival "Sundance with Fangs." As a result of the success of the festivAl Martinez-Ginsberg has been able to build other events around the festival, such as the NY Horror Show, Haunt Faire, Immortal Con, and several other genre-based events.

In 2014 Martinez-Ginsberg's cancer returned, and she continues her fight today as it has become Metastatic Stage IV Breast Cancer. She continues her chemotherapy every 2 weeks, but that does not stop her from pursuing her passion; she recently completed the 2017 Macabre Faire Film Festival, a three-day event with more than 70 films from around the world.

For more information on Elsie Martinez-Ginsberg, go to IMDb: www.imdb.com/name/nm4741216, Facebook: www.facebook.com/lcmacabre, TwitchTwitch Productions: www.twitchtwitchproductions.com, and Macabre Faire Film Festival: www.macabrefairefilmfest.com.

Winter Film Awards Is New York City. Like the city itself, we showcase the eclectic diversity and excitement of the independent arts world. Winter Film Awards is proudly one of the Top 10 Best Reviewed Festivals on FilmFreeway.

The rapidly growing Winter Film Awards Indie Film Festival (winterfilmawards.com/wfa2017), now in its sixth year, is a dynamic and exciting event in the heart of the City. Winter Film Awards showcases films from emerging filmmakers from around the world in all genres with a special emphasis on highlighting the work of women and minority filmmakers. The Festival runs February 23-March 4 2017 in New York City.

Among the 88 Official Selections to be screened at Cinema Village in the heart of Greenwich Village (22 East 12th Street, New York, NY 10003), is a diverse mixture of 11 Animated films, 8 Documentaries, 11 Feature narratives, 10 Horror films, 12 Music Videos, 24 Narrative shorts and 7 Web series, including 12 student films and 33 first-time filmmakers. Filmmakers come from 30 countries; 42% of the films were created by women, 35% were created by people of color. Visit www.WinterFilmAwards.com for schedules, tickets and details!

Winter Film Awards is an all-volunteer, minority- and women-owned registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 2011 in New York City by a group of filmmakers and enthusiasts. The program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.