— — As the organizers of the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival get set for the event’s fourth year, the festival spotlight has inched yet farther away from either Buffalo or Niagara and crept closer to a spot in between the two municipalities.

North Tonawanda’s Riviera Theatre will once again host several days’ worth of events during the festival, including the closing awards ceremony. But the party will spill to the other side of the canal for the first time this year, as well.

The Tonawanda Castle will host a three-day Film Market and Expo from April 23-25 during which local vendors can display and sell their film-related wares and services. The castle will host the festival’s closing ceremony after-party at 9 p.m. April 25, following the awards ceremony at 7 p.m. at the Riv.

“When Bill (Cowell, festival founder) came to us in the early planning stages, his vision was to try and build this area, the Tonawanda area, up,” said Linda Crist, the Tonawanda Castle’s director of sales and marketing, about the castle’s involvement in this year’s festival. “He thought that our building would be perfect for filmmakers who wanted to show their films. We thought it was a good win-win situation.”

The fact that festival events have increasingly come to the Tonawandas is no accident, Cowell said. Last year’s opening ceremony was held at the Riv and featured a 1950s recreation of “American Graffiti” and an appearance by “Graffiti” star Cindy Williams. Cowell said he wanted to do even more in the Twin Cities this time around.

“It’s a beautiful area. We miss out on a lot of the entertainment stuff that happens in the Buffalo region,” he said. “I’m from NT. I want to see us keep this going.”

The festival kicks off Friday with a series of screenings at the Market Arcade in Buffalo, including a showing of “Adventures of a Teenage Dragonslayer,” which features Buffalo native Wendie Malick. The Market Arcade will host events daily through April 22, with the festivities moving to the Twin Cities for the festival’s final weekend.

In all, 140 films were accepted out of more than 500 submissions, which is five times the number of submissions received during the festival’s inaugural year, Cowell said. Many of the filmmakers involved with the submitted projects will attend the festival, he said, including two Indian directors of Bollywood films.

“The filmmakers have just quadrupled in attendance,” he said. “Only a few of the filmmakers aren’t coming here. It’s going to be an incredible show.”

To help with the expected increase in attendees, Cowell has enlisted the help of the Hyatt in Buffalo and Snyder Tours, which will offer guests tours of Buffalo and Niagara Falls.

Among the panelists to speak during the festival are Dick Delson, a PR man who has represented more than 90 Academy Award-winning films, including “Rocky,” “Chicago” and the “Lord of the Rings” series.

He will speak Monday during a seminar on film advertising and promotion. He’s also representing “The Contractor’s Routine,” a Russian film that’s based in San Francisco and is about a carpenter who struggles to control his internal turmoil, which manifests itself in the form of an alter ego.

“It’s a very noir piece,” Delson said of “Routine,” which screens at 9 p.m. Friday. “It’s just an excellent film.”

Golden Globe-winning Italian director Andrea Lodovichetti will also appear at the festival. His “Fragile, The Devil & Under My Garden” will screen at 6 p.m. Sunday at the Market Arcade and 7 p.m. April 23 at the Riv. In addition, he’ll host a panel discussion at 6 p.m. April 21 about making short films.

Other stars who have films showing during the festival have been extended invitations, Cowell said, including Jenny McCarthy, Jim Carrey, Carmen Electra, Diora Baird and Richard Dreyfuss, who has previously appeared at the festival.

“If they come, they come,” Cowell said.

Regardless of whether those stars turn out, the festival should be a good time, according to Mark and Christine Bonn. Mark, a North Tonawanda native, and Christine, originally of Grand Island, are returning from Los Angeles to screen their World War II documentary “Wings of Silver: The Vi Cowden Story” at 9 p.m. April 23 at the Riv. They’ve appeared at about a half-dozen other film festivals in recent months and are struck by what Cowell’s festival offers in comparison.

“We’ve been around the festival circuit three times now, and what he does is impressive,” Mark Bonn said. “Buffalo needs a good festival like this.”

Delson agreed.

“Bill’s a close friend of mine,” he said. “He does a fantastic job with that festival.”

All of the work, Cowell said, is for the betterment of the community.

“More and more people are expressing how much they like this festival and this area,” Cowell said. “Our little Webster Street strip and the Canal Fest strip is a really unique area. We need to incorporate that to keep it growing.”