Willsboro - Award-winning novelist Russell Banks will introduce Affliction, the Academy Award-winning film based on his best-selling novel. He will also answer audience questions afterwards. The movie will be shown at 8:00 PM on Saturday, December 6th at the theater in the Willsboro Central School. Tickets are $5 for adults and $2 for children under 18.

Nick Nolte stars as a small-town sheriff who investigates a possible murder while attempting to reconcile with his abusive, alcoholic father. James Coburn won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for this role. Nick Nolte was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor and he won both the National Society of Film Critics and the New York Film Critics Awards. The movie also stars Sissy Spacek, Willem Dafoe, and Mary Beth Hurt. The film is rated R for violence and language.
The Village Voice called this movie "an American classic" and Salon.com said it was "an uncommonly powerful film." Film critic Roger Ebert wrote “Nolte and Coburn are magnificent" and the San Francisco Chronicle said "Nolte has never been better" while Variety thought “Coburn steals the show."

Champlain Valley Film Society president Bruce Stephan says “We are both delighted and honored to have Russell Banks introducing one of our shows. This is an amazing film and hearing Russell’s perspective will make this a very memorable evening.”

Russell Banks is the author of 11 novels and 5 collections of short stories. His works have received numerous prizes and awards and been translated into 20 languages. His novels include Continental Drift, Rule of the Bone, Cloudsplitter, and recently The Reserve. His novel The Sweet Hereafter was also filmed, and won Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Mr. Banks lives in Keene and Saratoga Springs, NY, with his wife, the poet Chase Twitchell.