Winslow Film Festival to mark opening of Winslow Theatre

Beginning Thursday, Oct. 24, the doors of the newly remodeled Winslow Theatre, formerly the Rialto, will be open for the first-ever Winslow International Film Festival.

The festival is serving as the Grand Opening of the Winslow Theatre and doors will open at 7:30 p.m. Thursday for patrons to tour the newly re-done theatre. At 8:30, the festival will get underway.

Jennifer Lee, a special effects artist from Los Angeles, is heading up the festival. She released a documentary in 1997 about Mary Colter, which is what brought her to Winslow.

“We decided to do the festival in Winslow because it seems such a great Grand Opening for the theatre,” she said.

The festival will consist of the showing of 25 independent films and two special screenings.

On Friday, Oct. 25, the feature film Vertical Limit will be shown beginning at 8:30 p.m., with a panel discussion about special effects used to create the mountains in the film. Lee, who worked on the project, will be part of the discussion.

On Saturday the feature film The Joy Luck Club will be shown with a question and answer session with the film’s editor Maysie Hoy. She will be discussing editing techniques used on that film and her other films.

The festival had over 50 entries and will give out awards in four categories (all that are named for Winslow-area features): The Rialto - Best Narrative Feature, The Route 66 - Best Documentary Feature, The Lindbergh - Best Documentary Short, and The Standin’ On The Corner - Best Narrative Short.

Lee explained that the festival is a place where “you can go to see a film that you wouldn’t see at the movies or on television.”

“They are films that reach out because the film makers are shooting and writing about something they believe in,” she added.

A few of the films that will be shown will feature a discussion following with the film’s makers. For a complete schedule of the festival, check out their website at:

www.winslowfilmfestival.org.