Film festival debuts today
By ERIN SCHATTAUER

Today's screening is from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Barrow-Civic Theatre in Franklin.

Roll out the red carpet!

Area filmmakers will have the chance to showcase their works this weekend at the first ever Venango Digital Film Association Film Festival.

The festival will feature a variety of short films, mostly documentaries, by filmmakers from the area and as far away as Pittsburgh.

The festival takes place over a two-day period.

Today's screening is from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Barrow-Civic Theatre in Franklin, and Saturday's screening will be from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Latonia Theater in Oil City.

A reception will be held following Saturday's screening at the Latonia for filmmakers and anyone interested in filmmaking.

The film festival is part of a larger arts revitalization movement taking place in Oil City's downtown.

"We think it's important that filmmakers get their work exposed. That's what this is about," said Joann Wheeler, the city's downtown arts revitalization coordinator.

Impressed by this year's entries, Wheeler said she and the rest of the group, known as the Venango Digital Film Association, are already planning on hosting another festival next year.

"There are some really high quality films," Wheeler said.

Submissions were received from eight western Pennsylvania filmmakers. Twelve films were submitted but not all will be shown during the festival. The ones that weren't selected will run in a loop Saturday in the lobby of the Latonia Theater.

Films touch on a variety of topics from mental health matters to gender differences to regional films, one focusing on oil history and another about a Pittsburgh diner and its impact on the community.

All but one of the films are documentaries.

Parents should be aware this is a film festival aimed at adults, Wheeler warned.

Audience members will have the chance to vote for their favorite films, and the filmmakers that receive the most votes will be awarded cash prizes - $300 for first place, $200 for second and $100 for third.

Admission is $5.

Wheeler hopes the film festival and other art initiatives will appeal to local and out-of-town artists.

"The whole reason for building an artist community is to make this an attractive place to be and to draw people to the area," she said.

Like the film festival, which was the brainchild of a former Franklin filmmaker, Wheeler encourages more people to run with their ideas.

Already she has been approached about establishing a quilters' guild, a potters' studio and a darkroom.

"It's hard to keep up with all the ideas that are coming at us from the community," Wheeler said. "The idea is to pursue as many of these ideas as possible."

As for the film festival, Wheeler said it wouldn't have been possible without the input of a few key individuals -committee chairman Troy Wood; Linda Henderson, co-owner of the Latonia Theater; Marty Callaghan, a documentary filmmaker from Clarion; the Oil Region Alliance and members of the film committee.