The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Film Festival brings art, prestige to village
HAMILTON, N.Y. » SBE’s Hamilton International Film Festival officially reached its 10th anniversary milestone on Sunday, July 29, as the weeklong festivities concluded with a final screening of short films.
Grant and Todd Slater of Slater Brothers Entertainment established the event in 2008 as away of celebrating both cinema and their hometown. “Wewere really excited about reaching our tenth year, so it was nice to see the community respond so well to our lineup, and the visiting filmmakers were terrific,” said Grant Slater.
Throughout the seven- day event, this small village in Central New York was host to filmmakers from France, the United Kingdom, Canada, and several areas of the United States. London-based filmmaker Paul Rodriguez received audience praise for his two short comedy sketches, “Curse Words” and “Perfect Baby.” The Slater brothers recognized
Rodriguez’s charming sense of humor and passion for his craft with the “Strong as Heck” Hammer Award. This honor is granted yearly to a filmmaker who embodies the spirit of Adam Heck, a festival board member and dear friend of the Slater brothers who passed away in 2016. Rodriguez accepted this award with \ appreciation for how the Slater brothers and the entire village of Hamilton made him feel so welcome during his stay.
Also receiving audience praise was Los Angelesbased director Marc Fusco (Saving Private Ryan, My Uncle Raphael), who screened his feature length film, “The Samuel Project.” NYC-based filmmaker Rick Hamilton also was applauded for his touching drama, “Seeing Glory,” which chronicled the story of a woman struggling with her partner’s progressive memory loss. Rick Hamilton, now a third-year veteran of the festival, commended the Slater brothers for their diverse programming.
“Hamilton is a super place on an average day, but the buzz in the village is really unique when filmmakers and fans arrive from just about every corner of the world,” Grant Slater said. “It’s a great deal of work putting this festival together. We are coordinating travel, designing brochures, reviewing films, and planning post-screening parties, but at the end of the day it is a great deal of fun.”
Although thrilled with the success of this year’s festival, the Slater brothers are looking to the future and for opportunities to grow the event they began a decade ago. “When Film Freeway, the world’s largest film submission platform representing over 6000 festivals worldwide recognizes you as a ‘Top 100 Best Reviewed Festival’, we knew we had a good formula, but we are always looking to take it to another level. I think, next year, music will play a significant role between screenings,” Grant Slater said.