Geneva Film Festival opens Thursday

The 9th annual Geneva Film Festival is this weekend, giving residents a chance to watch a variety of films they might otherwise never get to see.

The festival features an eclectic mix of films from a variety of countries and genres, including short films and feature length films.

"We have narrative films, student films, documentaries and musical short films," said Kelsey Rankin, the Geneva Film Festival's communications chairwoman. "These are films that attendees won't be able to see in theaters or online."

The festival has grown so much in popularity over the past few years the festival is now showing more films at more locations throughout the community.

Many people come from all over to see these films, and to attend the festival, which has grown in popularity and status in the independent film festival community since it began in 2007, she said.

This year's festival starts at 7 p.m. Thursday with showings at Playhouse 38, 524 W. State St., and at the Unitarian Church, 110 S. Second St.

The festival continues throughout the weekend, and ends with a wrap party at 8 p.m. Saturday at Wildwood Restaurant, where attendees can mingle with a variety of filmmakers.

In addition to the films and the wrap party, there will be a special behind-the-scenes breakfast at 9 a.m. Saturday where guests can listen to filmmakers answer questions and talk about their films.

To take part in the festival, independent filmmakers from all over the world submit their works to the Geneva Film Festival, Rankin said.

Once submissions close, a panel judges films from each of the categories, and the films are scored on a variety of criteria, such as the quality of editing, acting and storytelling, as well as originality.

"We select the top scoring films from each genre to show in the festival, and generally choose films that will appeal to a wide audience," she said. "Often, filmmakers apply to a circuit of festivals around the country or even around the world, and will travel with their film. That's another highlight of the Geneva Film Festival - every year we have a handful of filmmakers in attendance and our patrons get the chance to meet them, and hear about the behind-the-scenes process of how the films came to fruition."

The fest began as one of seven major annual events sponsored by the Geneva Cultural Art Commission, she said.

Last year, there were more than 1,000 attendees, which was a 100 percent increase over 2014 attendance numbers, Rankin said.

Rankin said she invites everyone to come experience the festival, and to see what impact these independent films have on them.

"These films do a lot of different things to different people," she said. "I think they expose us to all different perspectives of the human experience.

"Since we have several different genres of film that we show at the festival, there are films that will inspire, films that educate us about parts of the world we may never see ourselves, and films that will open our eyes to new situations, new perspectives, untold struggles and triumphs of others in this world. There are films that entertain, and invite us to be imaginative and to look inside ourselves, and reflect on our own lives, our own relationships, and our own values."

Tickets for the festival are $10 per screening block.

Patrons are encouraged to choose which films they want to see ahead of time and to purchase tickets online in advance to secure their seats.

For information visit genevafilmfestival.org.