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Christine Lahti to Receive Michigan Filmmaker Award at TC Film Festival

Oscar-Winning Director and Actress to Receive Award During Festival's Opening Ceremony; Festival Board, Former Michigan Governor Among Presenters

Traverse City, Mich. (July 26, 2007) - Christine Lahti, Oscar-winning director and Best Supporting Actress nominee, will be presented with the 2007 Michigan Filmmaker Award at the third annual Traverse City Film Festival.

The festival's board of directors, including Michael Moore, Doug Stanton, John Robert Williams, Larry Charles and Terry George, along with former Michigan Governor William Milliken and Michigan Film Office Director Janet Lockwood, will bestow the award at the festival's opening ceremony on Tuesday, July 31. The ceremony will take place in front of the State Theatre at 3 p.m., followed by a ticketed V.I.P. reception at Federico Design Jewelers.

"Christine was a natural choice for our second Michigan Filmmaker Award," said festival founder and Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Moore. "Her body of work and numerous awards proves she's one of the most talented people working in show business, both in front of and behind the camera. We are honored to have her join us at the festival."

Born in Birmingham, Michigan, and raised in suburban Detroit, Lahti won an Oscar in 1995 for directing the Best Live Action Short Film, "Lieberman in Love," in which she also starred. She was also nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for "Swing Shift," and has starred in many films, including "Miss Firecracker," "Running on Empty," "Housekeeping," and the Emmy Award-winning "The Executioner's Song."

She is best known for her role as ambitious surgeon Dr. Kathryn Austin on "Chicago Hope," for which she won both Emmy and Golden Globe Awards in 1998. Lahti has also starred in such hit shows as "Jack & Bobby" and "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip."

The opening ceremony is free to the public and will officially kick off the festival, which runs July 31-Aug. 5. Tickets to the V.I.P. reception are $50. Reception and other festival tickets are available online, by phone at 231-922-0234, or from 12-8 p.m every day at the Main Box Office and Festival Store at 300 East Front St. in Radio Center, downtown Traverse City.

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