Independent films from nearly twenty countries will be in the spotlight at the 24th Stony Brook Film Festival from Thursday, July 18 to Saturday, July 27. Produced by Staller Center for the Arts at Stony Brook University, the Festival lifts off with the New York premiere of Balloon, a German film based on the true story of two families who escaped East Germany on their homemade hot air balloon, and closes with another New York premiere of the French film Lola & Her Brothers.