Published: July 06, 2007 09:44 am         

Annual film fest will screen 49 entries

BY RUTH RICE

RRICE@TRIBDEM.COM

Movies featuring everything from animation to horror will be screened at the second annual Johnstown Film and Wine Festival.

The festival will be held at Johnstown Flood Museum, 304 Washington St. in downtown Johnstown, on Thursday and Friday and at Heritage Discovery Center, 201 Sixth Ave. in the Cambria City section of Johnstown, on Saturday.

The only criteria for entries was that they be original short films of 30 minutes or less.

“We got more entries this year,” said Shelley Johansson, marketing manager for Johnstown Area Heritage Association, one of the sponsors of the festival. “Our entries from out of the area have increased as we’ve become better known this year.”

This year’s entries came from across the country and around the world as well as locally.

“We’re gratified and pleased at the number of Johnstown people,” Johansson said. “They’ve been enthusiastic and sent in great work.”

The first film festival last year had sellout crowds each evening.

“We were thrilled with the movies last year and the response of those who came to see them,” Johansson said.

More than 70 films were received this year, and 49 will be screened.

Johansson said so many films can be screened because many of them are only five minutes long and not the full 30 minutes allowed.

“We have a nice variety – animation, documentary, comedy and horror,” Johansson said. “They’re rated on cinematography, story and acting.”

The three-day film fest will feature the youth winners Friday night, and the three top winners will be screened Saturday.

The first-place winner, “The Counter” by Lauren Wagner, tells about desegregation in 1962 Alabama.

Wagner has worked in television and film for the past 12 years and lives in Los Angeles.

The second-place winner, “Crossing,” by Los Angeles filmmaker Riad Galayini, tells the story of Amanda and her little brother dealing with their mother’s death, their cat’s abandonment and their alcoholic father.

The third-place winner, “The Apologist” by New York Film Academy graduate Guy Shahar, is about a self-absorbed serial apologist who has said “I’m sorry” so many times he doesn’t know what the words mean anymore.

Cash awards were $300 for first place, $200 for second and $100 for third.

Johnstown native Tom Getty, 18, won the youth award and $100 for “The Jig by Racecar Backwards,” a music video spotlighting Racecar Backwards’ song “The Jig.”

Johansson said the youth category is for anyone 18 years old and younger.

The other youth entries were “Kyle and the Magic Cookie” and “The Super School.”

Samuel Weber, a senior at Cambria Heights High School, Patton, is the creator of “Kyle and the Magic Cookie,” which tells the story of Kyle, his magic cookie and a journey he’ll never forget.

Keegan Terek and Ryan Dabbs collaborated on “The Super School,” where Patrick’s first day includes meeting some very unique people.

The top-scoring film from the region was “Germanity,” the story of a sick German man grappling with cultural barriers, by Matt Fuller and Andy McNeil of Pittsburgh.

“They had some real creativity on a little budget,” Johansson said.

Thursday’s and Friday’s screenings will be divided into two blocks to make viewing easier.

Tickets for each block on Thursday and Friday will be $5 and will be sold at the door.

Tickets for Saturday’s screenings, which will include two wine tastings, will be $15 and will be available at the door and on the heritage association’s Web site at www.jaha.org.

The festival is a project of the Greater Johnstown/Cambria County Chamber of Commerce Community Leadership Initiative Class of 2006.



At the movies

What: Second annual Johnstown Film and Wine Festival.

When: 6 to 8 and 8 to 10 p.m. Thursday and Friday at Johnstown Flood Museum, 304 Washington St., downtown Johnstown; 8 p.m. Saturday at Heritage Discovery Center, 201 Sixth Ave. in Cambria City section of Johnstown.

Cost: $5 for each block of films Thursday and Friday; $15 for wine and films Saturday.

Information: 539-1889 or www.jaha.org.

     

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