Five years ago we had a crazy idea…and that idea has grown into a one-of-a-kind festival that prioritizes filmmakers and education. There have been many times over the past five years when we’ve questioned how long our little festival was going to survive. After powering through what felt like an endless string of venue and staff changes, we’re glad to say our festival has finally found a home! We plan to return to the Verizon Wireless Center after a successful first year. Our makeshift theaters were fun and charming, but everyone loved having the screenings at the same venue, and the Performing Arts Center was a great venue for our Presentation of Awards. Here are a few other highlights from the 2017 event.
The festival began at Kato Ballroom with a music video premiere and panel discussion. Local production company True Facade Pictures created the video for The Last Revel’s Engine Trouble. The video just made it onto The Current’s list for hot Minnesota Music Videos this Month. The premiere was followed by a concert to kick off the festival.
We bought a button maker. Even though we probably spent too much time scrambling to make these at the last minute…they sold well and we had so much fun creating them! A few of our creations are pictured above.
We had our VIP Party on the 7th floor of the Profinium Building. You won’t find a better view of Mankato.
This year we hosted two filmmaker panels and one standing talk. South Central College professor Amy Magnus moderated one of the panels (pictured above) in which most of the filmmakers were from Minnesota.
Najwa’s catered our Presentation of Awards, which was held at Mankato’s new Performing Arts Center. It’s always great to hear from our award winners—a few were able to join us in person, and a few others sent video messages. Judges Nick and Amanda Hauman presented the awards, including additional recognition granted by our audience jury.
We also screened about a hundred short and feature films from all over the world. They were awesome.
More photos from the event are available on our facebook page. A huge thank you to everyone who volunteered during the event and to everyone who attended. See you all next year!
