Live from your public media studios wrva presents Keystone addition Arts of public affairs program that goes beyond the headlines to address issues in north eastern and Central Pennsylvania This is Keystone addition Arts and now Erika Funke welcome to Keystone Edition Arts where we roll out the red carpet for you and our guests every time but especially now as we celebrate the world of film festivals Paul is our has the big picture the venice film festival which started in 1932 is recognized as the first reoccurring festival and reflected a belief that film should be considered an art form alongside theater and music today film festivals have a range of formats from short or long form films two documentary only nor those focused on specific topics organizers often include panel discussions so the audience can learn more about process and ted events in the region include black scranton projects film festival any stroudsburg universities latino films series the loser in county historical society is holding its first festival in may I will include locally made short films the festival also highlight the the contributions of lyman how and early 20th century filmmaker in the wyoming badly with a display of his original film posters the goals of these festivals half similarities show films that might not be seen anywhere else create opportunities for the audience just see or hear someone who looks like them or has a similar story and to share new ideas for Keystone Edition Arts I'm Paul mazar we know the phrase not in my backyard yes in our backyard 30 years ago in june There was a groundbreaking ceremony out among the meadows and trees in wayne county for what said to be the largest private film collection in the world and the architects tell us by many standards the most important It's the celeste bartels film preservation center with holdings of nearly 40000 films that make up the collection of the museum of modern art taking the online tour We see all the complex technology in place there to preserve these individual works and we recognize immediately the treasure that our collective film heritage is so as we talk now with our guests about film festivals it's against this backdrop It's a reminder that these festivals are helping to keep movies alive to in a very real way by celebrating the art form in a public way screening films for viewers eager to celebrate the medium they love We welcome ronnie harvey The general manager film booker and social media coordinator for the wyoming county cultural center dietrich theater in town on kanak part of his job is planning and coordinating the seasonal film festivals which have become events not only for the town but for the region at large jack wilcox as a filmmaker originally from upstate new york His first feature film as writer director producer was hunting lands a slow burn drama that uses very little in the way of dialogue and that's the imagery of the snowy north Tell the tale He's organizer of the northeast Pennsylvania film festival which wdia is a co-sponsor of dan kimbro is an educator and content creator who's worked in diversity education and dicey issues for 25 years or so dci he runs park multimedia content creation and media services company and he's the artistic director of the taking up space film festival presented by scranton fringe for on a cold cohen is executive director of the black bear film festival in millford in pike county She also coordinates black bear screenwriters collective a table read group that meets monthly veronica is a published writer poet and an adjunct professor of composition and effective speech at sussex county community college Welcome to you all And welcome veronica black bear is the oldest film festival in our circle here Tell us about before you get to the festival about the rich film history of millford itself it's so interesting Erika Thank you for having me Yeah Hollywood We think of hollywood in terms california but originally in the silent film area the east coast was your hollywood and millford itself was hosted too many many filmmakers who who came to millford to shoot like vw griffin and the milk for theater was actually a silent film theater and that's where we hold are festival each year at the millford theater in melbourne and so the black bear Tell us about its name and what your vision is its multilayered right Well it is We do like to to provide an experience with film that you won't get in the mainstream theaters obviously we also try to provide some educational opportunities like the screenwriting collective and also we like to bring our community in and try to shine a light on those nonprofits in the area like the columns museum with we actually have showed a film last year on our opening night of short silent film that was created by the museum and still 24 years you've been at this Yes you've been that's a that's over two decades So you are there now No no no the festival collectively and what is it a mix of films from outside submissions you have students it's it's a whole range of of only accept from local national and international filmmakers and We just had a great students along last year it was something that I wanted to bring back because people really love watching the students films and now I really wanted to be a part of our saline each year so I have somebody particularly in a younger person a college student trying to cure rate that and make sure we get a decent amount submissions from students and you've had some of hollywood personalities stars in fact as your special guests it and john dileo has often told us about his wonderful experiences in sort of having that stage conversation with them we do have a great legacy like you said we've been going for 24 years and yes we had many stars like jean alexander on she was just there and twenty eighteen And of course the pandemic kind of put visits from stars bu a damper oo we'll see what happens This year Ok we'll come back to you for that And welce ronnie ibu a damper oo blacbear is a ral festal althougclose Highway new york That's ulya withhe dietricfilm feivals in tonannick owhat yove beendoing and w yore to view the ly r having m Erika wewe startedoie lm festiva 20 yearsago 2003 a it a y get pple to films t atointu movie theater we showthe regulao films the animated films and we saw a kind of empty space anthere was not a lot in our area in the way of ving them those voices those new ideas so i originally started it h gone too for festivals one ea season three wesapceecause the demand is there People want to see them we actuallyave people coming to e festival period They set it to make sure they get to see every ngle movie I can't en get that showings an evening are somee showing so someone could esumably do that Do they come from how what's the circumference I mean we have had people from philadelphia new york city We have a lot of people that i've tually been coming fr new york city Not because they don g access to these movies because they do buno in the that we do with the you know they can come and watch six movies and one day they stay fothe weekend Enjoy the town have dinne You knowand they do everything And you have told us on art ene on wpi radio that you in choosing the film's because that's on yourhoulders that yourt choose films that sometimes challenge sometimes will enterta and delight the audiences So wh's that you have a formula How do you do it It's I'm so some sometimes it's luck honestly But I I want to make sure th each that there is a lot of representation happening within those twenty one films that it's not just romantic comedies or it's not just you know action films I want to make sure that we arehowing things across the stet swath of different ideas of different cultures of different you know people around the world and what i've learned is that the customers really appreciate that we just recently had a movie which is an action movie are which is not ever play in a film somethingd festival although I would have told you a few years back but they loved it Now they've asking us for more indian bollywood films So that's how it works and you listen Yes and just one more thing People should know that ton cannick and dietrich theater It's just it's a communitwarm situation it's not like going too It's not like going to a big city because you talk about new york and people coming fm philadelphia You do How you are hospitable and you have wonderful popcorn I know that you try phia Thanks running zach we are wondfully pleased to say that wdia is a co-sponsor of the northeast Pennsylvania film festival but we know that you were at the festival have been working What this will so why Why are you putting your energy why you walking working so hard to estaish a festival like your concept of what you're ing there In In NorthEastern Pennsylvania what's at stake I mean that's a tough question Maybe a little masochism but I don't know Definitely I feel like the connection of film is pretty solid for most people it's an art form that's giving you more than it takes to sit down and watch So in that sense it's it's it's very fun to be able to look rough all of these independent films smaller films things that a lot of people are never gonna see if you don't put them into a festival so we have the luxury of being e of the places thagets to do that Another thing would be that were kind of submission only so we don't ask anything to come forward we just do whoever wants to submit and right now the major submissions come in through film freeway so you know we get to look at what we get to look at based on filmmakers that want to apply and you also being all having an epa northeast Pennsylvania and the title you do are paying attention to those regional filmmakers who do submit right You're going to have a shock I mean it's showing this year we actually made a more concerted effort to try to make that a bigger part of the festival and so we actually put together awards for and we have specific blocks for shorts and kind of geared a little bit more towards a consideration for four films from the region including including and you know not limited to we also have a local filmmaker contest which is the mystery box challenge which makes it so that you know anybody skill level doesn't matter It's just one day you're given a kind of set of parameters to work with and then and then you make a film you submit it and there's a chance to win the best a first for that specifically and and be a part of the festival that gives you something a little bit more of a contest to join instead of it being doesn't have to be a labor of love of a script that you don forever and ever So that's great It gets people out there So that was wonderful that's part of our saturday night program this year to so it'll be the last up on saturday and it's totally worth making it and the majority of the filmmakers will be there See you ask questions and have fun You yourself or a film makers so you would be sympathetic and understand what wouldn't you agree about what it means to be chosen to be part of a film festival like nepa film festival Yeah it's uh it's certainly an honorable anytime a film festival chooses you some of the times you don't you're not entirely certain why your film got chosen and uh and I feel like that That first one I mean hopefully i'm not really sure we don't really get to look into see how many of these films that we've selected have been selected in other places So some of them maybe not ever And then in the case of a few films that might be one of their few festival exception so it's really it's fantastic to be a part of that and especially when it comes to the short films because short films are oddly the type of films that maybe we'll go to one festival two festivals maybe a bunch of festivals would still audience wise There's a possibility that less than 100 people might see that film So if you're a collector of rare thing is going to a short film black might be worth your time That's what I'd just tell us about the venue the waverley cleaning houses a place to have a festival so far this year will be hathaway really community house which is it's great because we actually get to have two sets of screens going So we have short films in one room as well as the v a I don't know entirely what we ended up calling this kind of break breakout rooms for v a now completely cohen thanks Well what do we know who knows what you do Channels and have some work workshops two and a half ago workshops ever again So the v a workshops which fantastic and those go in between short blocks for both days and then there's also a v a short film competition That's right So another student dish again Veronica championing young young filmmakers thanks since act We'll be back down It's wonderful to to have you here and we're curious and maybe everybody is taking up space Tell us about the name and and and why did this festival come so so taking up space is part of borne out in scranton fringe festival carlos an eye for a while he was trying to figure out a way to focus on bypass storytellers in some way shape or form so last year Kind of like what he did to film festival and so they were like it's yours run with it You know it'll be on the fringes banner coming up the name I had a couple to choose from But they were all senator on the idea that I wanted one of the festival itself to be a place for bipac film favored have their own space to have their own showcase of things and so taking up space and that making the most since forward and the idea that we are in fact taking up space we really is at sea It's for biopunk filmmakers the content doesn't have to be by huck focus and so remind people who are black independent back indigenous per hour persons color and so the notion being that yes they can enter any film festival knows things that this is one where we're curating all of these stories that are coming from narratives of underrepresented individuals into that the idea being that if you come to the festival content the topic maybe which you would normally see but the filmmakers themselves happen to me from underrepresented groups who may not have the or other things that other filmmakers doings and that's what taking up space is trying to fill that gap there so and so you find that in the storytelling that you all are involved you're all involved with sharing stories with us in this form that this is that it's showing the having you with we've used the word lens through a different legs and so you know last year's best option winner was story was about two individuals and and one was army that those stories about suicide but it was told through this lens of a backpack filmmaking so there was some elements that you may not see culturally or the peanut with the background coming into play Those are things that you may not see in a normal store short story on the other ones There was one that was dealing with a family who the daughter father to show up in the father was sort of an absent father and that's much apps and bit busy but that's the story that we've heard a loud but when you put it through bipac meant and that the father was just had to work to support this family so always couldn't show up to be a different places and so when you look at it that way The meaning because culturally you're looking at a different culture that we normally see it and not that most vulnerable whitewash but the idea being that this is a story that's the same story and trope that you've numerous times but when you change the filmmaker or the writing room or those who are producing it The context changes Why is this person missing or why did this happen isn't what we and we want to give space to that and you are someone who is involved in producing media for commercial clients as well Doing work like this and you know the power then of the images that we see every day online in our phones everywhere and so that giving in festival like this A chance to be seen Does that then give them maybe perhaps an entree into other places and open more doors It's all about representation notion of being that you would hear a film festival where it's only for bypassed filmmakers yes you may have one another festivals somewhere but this is sort of literally your peer group you're really sort of competing in entering into your peer group but a lot of times those films because of the lens that they're coming from Judges clinton's where's all of our judges are bypass judges and so there's some elements that may sort of gone by the wayside with judges who may not understand culturally or see those things whereas we're trying and really sort of understand we had a long form documentary that dealt with urban renewal back in the 70s and things of that nature which it's a story we've heard a lot but it was these people There's a scene where this woman was standing in a parking lot that used to be your house and it was taken by the government in the story of urban renewal and all you hear it through this lands it really changes and it's not just sort of a documentary or sort of a news piece of this happened at this point in time No this these people's from a storyteller who understands sort of anguish in what they've gone through And that really does change the outcome of that film in the long run And so again we want those we filmmakers to tell him Their stories but be accurately judged by people who may understand or have a background that really gets that dope elevate an increase that representation and so your sense then is sending a call for submissions at all Yeah so everyone anyone that we would love to see more local ones in the long run but this is a this is only the second you're starting right now but we've got we its opening filmmaker and film freeway as well And so it's actually live today if you would like to enter please do But buddy buddy hoping to anyone in the u s that would make investments so wonderful Well all of you Then we have four and maybe they're more hiding we heard summit in the intro for film festivals in a relatively small geographic area How do you see your individual festivals fitting into the mosaic that is celebrating movies right here in a festival setting in our midst Ronnie Well mine is different than everyone else is in the sense that I do have some small studio support behind mine obviously by films are not driven by you know films filmmakers of a local or submission style But that that's what would would differentiate hours from theirs but it fits in the landscape because we are now able to at one point we planned on just having a screen dedicated just two independent films at the at the dietrich and what happened is we realized that with the way we do our we were able to get between 80 and 90 films per year which we would never have been able to do if we had just dedicated one film to one screen so we are able to get out all of these two to the public which benefits us and And it might happen that you have films produced by bipod filmmaker Absolutely So when are not one that u s base but it's one of those ones that you were right Normally would never show up but as a bollywood film like it's an amazing story but normally in the us would never be scenes watts northeast Pennsylvania No offense middle of nowhere No I was there and being shown for an audience that's local That hasn't happened a lot of places answering the call correct and the audience 10 people it's 10 more than what if Jack What do you think about it I mean zip up film as far as nepa goes I I think that the while our are opening night on friday is kind of like a filmmaker reception for the filmmakers that are coming in to see it as well as a you know a speaking engagement with with josh fox who directed gasland gasoline too and he's showing a little something Feature length good but But so we have that going so a little bit of it ends up being the sort of thing where you have you have something bigger that you're able to open the weekend we kind of had that off saturday and sunday to the rest of the things that were submission only and selected and and be able to you know you can go through like I said with to from literally films from one minute long We have one one minute long film all the way to two hours in 10 minutes which is worth it have a documentary about a man building about doesn't sound enthralling but it is And I'll take your word zach and we we have a sense of your contribution Yeah And one of the things that's nice about taking spaces that it's sort of fits in the fringe format as well And so the idea being that you can come to the fringe festival and weird last three days is what I think we're going with so you can still be a part of the festival but we've put all of our short films into you'll see all of the short films You can be done and then go on to the rest of the fringe festival as well And so it fits that format so that it's in scranton films sort of help us sponsored as well Gets the reach out the word out there a little more as wealth locally too so good Good And veronica How about little more as wealth locally too so good place in the mosaic we curie and we said except submissions so I think that we try to appeal to a wide audience although you know each year's going to have its different flavor based on what we're seeing out there and what's being submitted so this year we'll see what happens You know we're an hour plans are underway and we'll join you in october right Yes you will Ok we'll continue this conversation on facebook and youtube after the tv broadcast so please join us there We want to thank each of you veronica dan zach our dear friend ronnie from ton cannick all of you in the audience for watching and there's more information on this topic on our web site w v a dawg Keystone Keystone Edition Arts and we want to just ask you to remember that we have this little tease of a film that's going to be screened at the nepa festival zach And it's thoughts from pulitzer prize winning playwright jason miller in the new documentary scranton's championship season produced by cannon fire films and scranton films The best quality or directly to get the best That's and we want to argue from the delegate to the actors and everyone as a career I mean it's a collective calamity right as you say that with it people I work with an autocratic distance I had nothing to do with may look at the best on me because I don't trust you I'll go to work at which say what secure our I feel secure and that's what I tried to do you know a motivate and