Community Corner
$5 Albany FilmFest Returns With a Bang on Saturday
The event features more than 30 films to be screened at the Albany Community Center, guest judges, Q&A sessions and much more. Click the "Keep me posted" button below this story for FilmFest updates.
The Oscars may be over, but Albany has its own event featuring notable films from near and far happening this Saturday at the .
For just $5, attendees will be treated to dozens of screenings on March 3, as well as question-and-answer sessions with filmmakers and, yes, free popcorn. See the full program in the PDF attached to this story.
At the end of the night, a panel of judges will award cash prizes and other gifts to the winning filmmakers.
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It's the second year for the Albany FilmFest, brought to you in an all-volunteer effort from the city's , the city of Albany and , the city's public access station. (Miss last year's event? Read about it here on Albany Patch.)
The event drew several hundred people and capacity-crowds last year.
Find out what's happening in Albanywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
[Editor's Note: Albany Patch has been a proud event sponsor both years. See more festival sponsors here.]
Committee members and judges screened nearly 100 films from around the country to create this year's program, said one of the event's organizers, Naomi Luck Sigal.
Festival selections, which include animations, documentaries and narrative films, range in length from several minutes to around half an hour.
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
In addition to the program, organizers have put together special features throughout the day.
Guest filmmaker Geefwee Boedoe will show his Academy Award-nominated new animation, "Bought Some Cheese," based on his daughter’s story "about a mouse on a mission."
Two filmmakers who graduated from , Hoku Uchiyama ("Rose") and Waylon Bacon ("Help Wanted"), will share their films at 3 p.m., and participate in a Q&A session afterward.
"We're hoping students making films now will be intrigued by what they have to say and be encouraged," said Sigal.
To finish the night, attendees will get to watch judge Les Blank's The Maestro: King of the Cowboy Artists, about Albany artist Maestro Gaxiola. Blank, who , is a renowned American documentary-maker famous for his portraits of American traditional musicians, as well as his Werner Herzog documentary Burden of Dreams.
Sigal said, though film submissions came in from around the country, the event's theme is "Your Own Private Albany."
"The event offers a different creative outlet for people," she said. "It really is a great community event. I think it encourages creativity and I especially want to encourage kids to be able to express themselves through film and video, and see that people can do it. We have a good time in the end."
THREE FILMS WITH ALBANY TIES MAKE THE CUT
Sigal said organizers aimed to keep as many films from Albany in the program as possible.
The 2012 local offerings include teen Kayla Nachtsheim's "Urban Beekeeping in the Bay Area" at about 12:20 p.m.; Colin Johnson's "A Creation Story" (shot at ) scheduled for roughly 1 p.m.; and teen Aiden Magarian's "Gone," slated for the early evening.
(See the full schedule as a PDF here.)
As noted above, Albany High alumni filmmakers will screen two films at 3 p.m.
And, just before the Maestro Gaxiola "finale bonus," organizers will show two films that were audience favorites from Albany directors last year: Ari Sigal's "I Love You, Houseplant," and Nico Chavez's "Lego Invisible Spy."
Sigal (mother of Ari) said Albany city staff welcomed the festival to its community-building offerings, and were "very gracious to work with." Being in a small city, she added, helped make the event possible.
"Albany gives you the opportunity to have an outlet for your creativity," she said. "We really hope that next year more Albany citizens, and Albany schools, will get behind it and want to make films. If they can send us their ideas for next year, that would be great."
THE DETAILS
WHEN: Saturday, March 3, noon to 8 p.m.
WHERE:
COST: $5, with "in-and-out" privileges throughout the day
GET IN TOUCH: Email organizers at filmfest@albanyca.org.
Organizers have put out a call for event-day volunteers. about how to find out if opportunities are still available.
Films will be shown after the event on the city's public access station, . See all of last year's films .
Learn more on the Albany FilmFest website. Get an update when we write about the FilmFest on Albany Patch by clicking the "Keep me posted" button below.
If there's something in this article you think , or if something else is amiss, call editor Emilie Raguso at 510-459-8325 or email her at albany@patch.com.