It's the biggest thing to hit Paducah since the '37 flood! The fourth annual River's Edge International Film Festival kicks off Thursday, August 14, bringing four days of 40 quality independent films from around the world right to our Downtown river's edge doorstep!
For just $5 per film or a $50 all-you-can-view and all-you-can-party weekend pass, you can fill your eyes and ears with documentary, animation, feature, short and experimental films from the US, Germany, Ireland, South Korea and several other international cities.
The complete schedule and locations — films are shown at Maiden Alley Cinema, Market House Theatre and Yeiser Art Center — are listed at riversedgefilmfestival.com. In fact, you can even rate and recommend films throughout the festival and make selections to create your own online calendar! Genius!
Here are some highlights:
Thursday, August 14 The fun starts Thursday at 6 p.m., with the showing of Bunny Chow (right), Beyond the Call and two separate shorts programs. Tonight's a great time to buy the weekend or individual movie passes, along with sharing refreshments with the filmmakers, festival sponsors and film lovers. Movies continue into the evening.
Friday, August 15 On Friday, The Promise of New York (right), The Life Penalty and another shorts program begins at 12:30 p.m., followed by Crazy, More Shoes, Quality Time, Dolphins, Gan Eden, Salt Creek County, Yeast and several other shorts, right up until midnight. The screenings are staggered so that there's time to get from one venue to another.
Saturday, August 16Saturday is jam-packed as well, including many of the films from Friday as well as Vaccine-Nation, Intruders, Empire and other shorts. Movies start again at 12:30 p.m., with the last showing at 8:30 p.m. And don't miss Meet the Filmmakers party for weekend pass holders, sponsors and invited guests. An impromptu after-party downtown pub crawl is likely.
Sunday, August 17
Head back for more at 12:30 p.m. again Sunday and catch the films you missed the previous two days, along with other great shorts. The Best of the Fest awards ceremony begins at 6:30 p.m., followed by the local film showcase — called Born and Raised — at 8:30 p.m. This is an event favorite, full of filmmaker participation and commentary.
Film Festival Back Story
The River's Edge International Film Festival was created by friends Paul Lorenz, Nathan Brown and Jason Turner. Paul and Nathan are on the board of the Paducah Film Society and Jason used to work at Maiden Alley Cinema.
The three partnered with a film festival consulting agency and, voilá, the film festival was born. Each January, a call goes out inviting filmmakers to submit pieces for consideration. Then for many Monday nights in a row, a six-member selection committee in Paducah(see sidebar) gathers to view and select their favorites.Some pieces are as short as two minutes, while others are feature length. "We don't watch every one until the end," Paul says. "If a movie isn't going anywhere, someone will put up a hand and we'll move on to the next one. It's a crap shoot. But we'll often get jewels and think, how lucky are we?"
Film Festival, Take 40!
This year, the committee whittled the 140 submissions down to 40. Members looked for good ideas, compelling stories, technical consistency, a general relevance that makes the film necessary to see and whether the film is artistic, historic, political or newsworthy.
The filmmakers pay anywhere from $25 to $55 to submit their films. The proceeds cover the cost of the event and benefit the Paducah Film Society.
"The festival is growing by reputation more than anything," Paul says. "We continue to get better films, and that is key to a successful festival and longevity in a very competitive arena.
"We still don't know what we're doing," Paul adds with a laugh. "But there's a freshness to our festival. There's no pretense. If you make a good movie, we'll show it."
