PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
What Makes a Film Festival?
Planning for the third annual Black Bear Film Festival is well underway.
The posters are printed and being placed around town. The Painted Bears will soon be roaming the streets of Milford and Pike County. Volunteers are calling local and regional businesses asking for financial support as well as goods and services to make the Festival a success. And soon you’ll see T-shirts, caps and tote bags with the Black Bear logo on them being sold around town.
All these are important parts of making the annual Film Festival a success. But one of the most important jobs in planning a Film Festival is one done in the dark. Sceening films, hundreds of them, to find just the right ones to show at the Black Bear Film Festival.
Programming the content of the festival is the creative endeavor of Black Bear President Jerry Beaver and Board Members Rob Kaarto and Fred Buchholz. Their job is to find new, independent films to showcase during the weekend-long Festival. Beaver and Kaarto have traveled to a number of film festivals across the country scouting films to stimulate, challenge and tickle the hearts and minds of the film festivalgoers. In the spring the two were at the Talking Pictures Festival in Taos, New Mexico, where they watched dozens of independent and short films. The trip proved successful; several films seen there will be on the agenda for Black Bear come October. The team also checked out the films at the Newport Film Festival in Rhode Island a few weeks ago.
"Programming is a creative process to choose the films that appropriately define the Black Bear Film Festival. Judging the quality of filmmaking and the writing are steps in the journey of seeing a movie from beginning to end. Each filmmaker and writer has his or her own voice. Finding the voices that define the essence of Black Bear Film Festival is our job," said Beaver.
Watching movie after movie may not sound like a bad job. But Kaarto and Beaver have very specific ideas when it comes to getting films for Black Bear. They’re looking for films that will stimulate discussion, edgy films that make the viewer uncomfortable and get one to think, and artful films that show us the beauty and diversity of life in other parts of the world.
"You won’t see films that have run at the major multiplex at Black Bear," said Kaarto, Director of Programming. "We want films that generate talk, that make you feel, that stay with you after you leave the theater."
Kaarto and Beaver say that there are several things to consider when looking for films: commercialism, availability and cost. Many independent filmmakers don’t want to premiere their films at small Festivals like Black Bear because major studios won’t pick up the films if they’ve already been exposed to the public.
Fred Buchholz’s job is finding old classics to show at the Tri-State Drive-In. In years past, the Festival has screened Ed Wood’s "Plan 9 from Outer Space", "Ed
Wood" and "A Hard Day’s Night". Buccholz is also the expert when it comes to finding and researching historical films. Last year the Festival presented "The
Vanishing American", a classic based on the story by Zane Grey, a native of Pike County. The search is on again to find historical films for Black Bear. Word is out that the historical slot this year will be featuring a Hollywood supporting actor who lived in Milford!
This year the Black Bear Film Festival will be longer. Two extra days have been added and the Festival has been moved up to Columbus Day, October 10 – 14.
Close to 16 films will be screened at the Milford Theater and the Tri-States Theaters Drive-In in Westfall Township. Another dozen short and novel independent films will be shown at the Film Salon at the Borough Hall. Last year’s premiere of the Film Salon proved so successful it has become a permanent fixture at the Festival. Seminars and workshops will run there throughout the weekend. A special event at the Film Salon will be the world premiere of "Breathe", a short film written, produced, directed and acted by a group of Milford area talented high school students. Don’t miss it!
A new feature this year, the Sneak Preview will be screened Thursday, October 10. Kaarto and Beaver have already lined up the film and they say they won’t
share with the public what the film is. The film will remain a secret until the lights dim at the Milford Theater that Thursday night. The only hint about the film from the team: Come with an open mind!
If you’d like more information about the Black Bear Film Festival, or if you’d like to volunteer, sponsor or advertise for one of the biggest and most successful events of the year, contact the Black Bear Film Festival office at 570-409-0909. Black Bear Film Festival Inc is a not-for profit 501 (c)(3) corporation.
And don’t forget: watch for the Painted Bears to return to the streets of Milford and Pike County coming in August.
###
|
|
