The 18th annual Syracuse International Film Festival is about to get underway, and fans actually have films to see in person this year after going all virtual in 2020 due to the pandemic. In fact, the overall theme is “Return to your love of film.” Film Festival President John Ginty says they wanted to curate an experience for audiences.
“It was important to us not just to have films on the screen. While of course that’s the most important part of our film festival, showcasing the talent of these filmmakers, It was also important to us to be able to create an environment where [people can come, enjoy filmmakers who talk about what they do.”
For example, on Friday, Emmy nominee and writer for Fear the Walking Dead Nick Bernardone will conduct a writers workshop, air shows he wrote, and hang out for a Q and A. Master short-form filmmaker and SU alumnus Bryan Buckley will talk about his decades-long career on Saturday.
Ginty says the process of procuring films didn’t change; they tapped into their vast network of filmmakers and used an online service.
“The interesting part really came when, seeing what types of films were going to be submitted because of the nature of 2020 and not being able to do things on a normal scale in production and having to be very creative about how you make films.”
So, he says their biggest worry was if there would be enough films submitted, and what the quality would be.
“Much to our surprise, excellent, excellent films. If you know what you’re looking for, you can see some of them have smaller casts, limited locations. But all of that really adds to the ingenuity and creativity that these filmmakers have.”
Ginty says if online, pre-sale tickets are any indication, audience interest is exceeding his expectations. The festival begins tomorrow/Friday and runs through Sunday at three locations: Shemin Auditorium in the Shaffer art building at SU and The Redhouse theatre downtown. The program and ticket information is at syracusefilmfest.com.
