WAVERLY, Pennsylvania — For more than a century, the Waverly Community House has been hosting programs and events all about encouraging and celebrating culture and the arts, so filmmakers here in northeastern Pennsylvania think it is the perfect backdrop for the Northeast Pennsylvania Film Festival, a 3-day event that welcomes and showcases other filmmakers from all over the world. The organizers of the event are filmmakers themselves, so they know from personal experience how special this weekend will be.
"It's a great celebration of storytelling and the arts in the area. It highlights the local filmmakers, and then we have filmmakers regionally and sometimes nationally who come in, so that celebration of the art of filmmaking, as well as the gathering of filmmakers and how they engage with the audience as you're watching their films, is really fantastic," said Tony Susi, Northeast Pennsylvania Film Festival.
The Northeast Pennsylvania Film Festival will be more than just screenings. There will also be workshops, Q and A's, and a lot of networking, which organizers say adds to the level of excitement for aspiring filmmakers here in NEPA.
"There's a really great filmmaking community here, and sometimes we fly under the radar, and it's great that people can support us, watch our movies, share our movies, and come to these events," said Desiree Zielinski, Northeast Pennsylvania Film Festival.
Some of the films being shown this weekend, especially the shorts, will only screen at a handful of festivals like this one.
"Sort of an exclusive thing, you're not going to see it, sometimes they won't even put it on YouTube or Vimeo, it'll be only here at these film festivals and there's only a couple they'll be at, so that's really a special experience," Susi said.
And while organizers are excited to showcase and celebrate the local filmmakers this weekend, there will be filmmakers from other parts of Pennsylvania, and even some national and international ones, too.
"It's a great melting pot of variety of work that you're just going to get a lot of things. It's a lot to take in but you won't get it anywhere else like this so that's fantastic," said Susi.
The festival starts Friday, April 12, at 6 p.m. with an opening reception. Features start Saturday morning at 10:45 and Sunday morning at 11. On both weekend days, features and shorts will play all day long.
You can find a full schedule and pricing for tickets by clicking here.
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