Film festival set for Tull Family Theater
Event draws local, foreign entries
Carnegie Screenwriters, a local group dedicated to independent filmmaking, will hold its first film festival — with a distinctly international flavor — next weekend at the Tull Family Theater in Sewickley.
In addition to films produced in Western Pennsylvania, the festival will showcase films from Britain, Argentina, Russia, Iran and Singapore.
A total of 28 short films ranging from one minute to 20 minutes in length will be screened Aug. 27 in 90minute blocks with an intermission between each block.
“They include all genres: comedy, musical, family films, horror, animation and documentary,” said Wendy Grube, a Carnegie Screenwriters member who organized the festival.
Two locally produced films that will be shown are “Power Play,” written and directed by Kevin Hejna, and “Lightheaded,” written by Caroline Collins and directed by Steve Parys. Both films were entirely cast, crewed and shot in Western Pennsylvania.
“One thing that sets us apart is the festival included a script competition as well to focus on the writing component of filmmaking,” Ms. Grube said.
The three winning scripts will be read by local actors in a seated reading on Aug. 26. The scripts are “Hell to Pay: The Legend of Robert Johnson” by Giancarlo Fusi of Los Angeles; “DIG” by Robert Brian Taylor of Mt. Lebanon; and “The Badge, the Gun and Hangman’s Noose” by Edward Santiago of Austin, Texas.
Carnegie Screenwriters began several years ago when some students who were taking film-writing classes at Pittsburgh Filmmakers decided to meet regularly at the Carnegie Library in Oakland to work on their writing projects.
Today the group includes writers as well as filmmakers who meet on the third Saturday of each month at the Mt. Lebanon Public Library.
Ms. Grube said she was somewhat surprised to receive films from all over the world, considering that this is thegroup’s first festival.
She said Sewickley was very supportive of the festival, and Bryan Suydam, a Sewickley dentist, signed on early as a major sponsor.
Tickets can be purchased separately for the film screening and for the script readings with a filmmaker reception or for both events at www.brownpapertickets.com.