FESTIVAL
“There’s action, there’s drama, there’s comedy. It just runs the gamut.”
Animation, horror and science fiction also will be among the genres represented. While admission is free, themes of some of the films are mature and may not be suitable for children.
Everyone in the audience will be given a card to mark his or her choice for best film and best actor or actress. Those votes, along with those from all the other venues, will be sent to Mason for counting.
The library, 2951 S. 21st Drive, will screen the films beginning at 7:30 p.m.
This marks the first time the library — for that matter, any place in the Yuma area — has been a festival venue.
“Part of our mission is also entertainment,” said Brian Franssen, the library’s information services manager. “By bringing something like this to the library, we’re offering something a little different.”
Franssen and Summers have been coordinating with Mason to be bring the festival to Yuma, and the library has gotten help promoting Friday’s screening from Thursday at the Theatre, Arizona Western College’s foreign film series.
Mason said the city’s very name — perhaps enhanced by notoriety gained from such references as the title of “3:10 to Yuma” — simply resonated with him in his search for new and far-flung places for a festival intended to expose worldwide audiences to short filmmaking.
Before the festival, he said, “I didn’t know where Yuma was on the map. And he still hasn’t seen the city for himself.
But that’s not to say Mason hasn’t been around. A one-time actor in his native Australia, he went on a backpacking stint through Thailand, the Middle East and Europe before ending up in New York City, where he lives today.
“I started auditioning, and I auditioned in a few plays and I did a few short films. I just liked the energy back then of the filmmakers.”
He decided he wanted to create a film festival, so he began collecting submissions for the inaugural festival in 1998, screened on the side of a truck on Mulberry Street in New York for an audience Mason estimates numbered 300.
The festival moved to the city’s famed Union Square Park, and some prominent names in Hollywood were recruited as judges, but, says Mason, the event still lacked a following.
“People still didn’t know the name of it,” said Mason, adding, “It was always a bit of a letdown to me.”
But then the festival of 2001 got unexpected attention through that year’s terrorist attacks in New York. Union Square Park had become a rallying point for people grieving the victims in the days leading up to the festival slated for Sept. 23.
“I was approached by someone from the New York city parks department who asked me, ‘Do any of the films in the festival show anyone falling out of a window?’ I said no, and he said, ‘We want you to make sure you go ahead with the festival.’”
International news media already in New York because of the attacks gave exposure to the festival. “It was a case of being in the right place at the wrong time,” he said, but he believes that year’s festival, in its own way, helped mourners in the park and around the city move on from 9/11.
The next year the number of film entries for the festival doubled to about 500, he said, and he got the idea of sharing the film with audiences beyond New York. In 2004, DVDs of the finalists were distributed to seven U.S. cities serving as additional venues for the event.
Also that year, the festival discontinued the use of celebrity judges, instead selecting winners through vote by the public, Mason said.
Through promotion, the festival recruited 72 theaters, libraries and other sites across the United States as venues in 2005, and the following year Mason went to Europe looking
Director: Angel Gomez Hernandez Country: Spain Synopsis: A divorced mother is obsessed with the idea that her exhusband is plotting to take her baby away from her.
Director Stephen Ward Country: United States Synopsis: Left alone in a mansion after the forgetful owner goes on vacation, a plumber contacts his high school crush, knowing she’s been a gold digger.”
Director: Ben Price Country: United Kingdom Synopsis: A prisoner working as a barber for the Nazis in World War II fears each haircut could be the last.
Director: Ignacio Redondo Country: Spain Synopsis: About to close a $10 million business deal and go on a date with beautiful girl, David figures today will be the best day of his life. Not quite.
Director: Pavel Gumennikov Country: Latvia Synopsis: A young man who lost both his legs in a childhood accident comes to the rescue of the girl he loves who is victimized by villains.
Directors: Rana Kazkaz and Anas Khalaf Country: Syria Synopsis: On a Mediterranean shore, a Syrian father’s decision to give his daughter a better life puts her in danger of losing it.
Director: Marta Savina Country: Italy Synopsis: In 1965 Sicily, Franca is being forced to marry her rapist to avoid becoming a pariah in her traditionalist community. But she rebels against the established custom.
Director: Fabio Friedli Country: Switzerland Synopsis: Love, war and the myriad states of humanity and the world are condensed into a visual summation that’s a treat for the eyes.
Director: Gega Khmaladze Country: Georgia Synopsis: With the end of the world fast approaching, an aging magician realizes one last feat of magic is required of him.
for more cities to host the films.
This year’s films will be screened at more than 150 sites in the United States, plus locations in Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Australia, India, South Africa, Mexico and Argentina.
“You get great venues and great films, you get the public (to attend) — they just come together on six continents, and it’s all magic.”
The number of film entries submitted for the
festival has grown to more than 1,600 submitted from about 75 countries for this year’s event. The finalists are chosen, Mason said, not only for their quality but their broad appeal.
“I think this is the strongest year we’ve ever had,” Mason said. “We had 1,600 instead of 800 (previously), so it has to be. Two years ago, we had two films (in the festival) nominated for Oscars, with one winning. And this is stronger than that year.”