A two-hour trip to the theatre usually costs over $20.00, before snacks. But this weekend, an entire day in the theatre won’t cost a thing. There won’t be any Hollywood stars or grand special effects, but there will be stories and a chance at seeing that girl from Biology on the big screen.
The Progeny Film Festival started three years ago to give amateur filmmakers a chance to get their work seen by the public.
According to the festival’s website, “We hope that we can strengthen the film community and help build excitement around those who are already involved and for those who would like to get involved in filmmaking no matter what major they’re in.”
The festival will take place this Saturday at the Lyric. Doors open at 10:30 a.m. and the festival runs until about 5:30 p.m., with one 40 minute break for lunch.
The festival gets several entries from Tech students, but also gets a lot of involvement from the community, which has grown since the festival started.
“We also now get entries from high school students, students at other schools and even alumni who live elsewhere now. I think it was all Tech students entering when it started,” said Katie Pehowski, a junior communication major and lead event coordinator for the festival.
All of the movies are short films ranging from about two to 20 minutes in length. Pehowski estimates that about half of the movies in the festival are from Tech students.
The genres of film are extremely varied, ranging from drama and comedy to mockumentaries, zombie films and music videos. Most of the films are done on digital cameras, but this year one Charlie Chaplin spoof was actually shot on film.
“Tim Leaton, the winner from last year, has a documentary about his mission trip to Uganda. Jeremiah Lewis (an alumnus), who won best sound last year, has a zombie film that was shot in Texas. Uni5ied productions has a Charlie Chaplin spoof, which was made on real film,” Pehowski said.
Kimberly Cline, a senior graphic design major heard about the event from a teacher and decided to enter her film “Dead Flag Blues” into the festival.
“It was the first film I’ve ever made and my teacher told me about (the festival) and I thought I’d give it a try,” Cline said.
Cline said her film is “a bunch of shots of Christiansburg and Roanoke.”
The event offers “something different” for the Blacksburg community to do this weekend, said Michael Pastor, General Manager at The Lyric.
This year, the festival also has a special guest film and speaker. Paul Harrill, who will be joining the ranks of VT faculty this fall, will be showing his Sundance Film Festival Jury Prize winning short film “Gina, An Actress Age 29” followed by a question and answer period.
“I’m very excited about Paul. I met him while he was interviewing for the teaching position he will start in the fall. I think he will blend well at Tech and be a great inspiration to the students,” Pehowski said.
The festival often attracts hundreds of student and members of the local community.
“Last year we had about 250 people attend and many of them were from the community,” Pehowski said.
Cline is excited about the festival, but also a little bit nervous.
“I have no idea (what to expect). I’m excited to go Saturday, I don’t like to be there when (my movie) is watched but I’m going to be there anyway,” she said.
Thy Lyric Theatre is proud to hold the event and believes that it fits in well with their ideals.
“It fits in line with the company theme. We’re a company that is not for profit and we’re trying to bring art to the community,” Pastor said.
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