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June 30, 2009

Fourth annual film, wine fest set July 8-11

Anonymous The Tribune-Democrat Tue Jun 30, 2009, 02:31 PM EDT

BY RUTH RICE

RRICE@TRIBDEM.COM

Short films will have top billing at the fourth annual Johnstown Film and Wine Festival.

The festival will be held at 6:30 p.m. July 8-10 at the Johnstown Flood Museum, 304 Washington St. in downtown Johnstown, and at 7:30 p.m. July 11 at the Heritage Discovery Center, 201 Sixth Ave. in the Cambria City section of Johnstown.

Shelley Johansson, director of communications and marketing at Johnstown Area Heritage Association, which sponsors the festival, is seeing more entries every year.

“We’ve noticed that films by local people, the number of films submitted and the quality of films submitted have all increased,” Johansson said. “The festival is an inspiration to filmmakers. They can afford to do more with today’s technology. We’ve enjoyed watching it happen and want to take the next step to facilitate that.”

That next step is “So You Wanna Make Pictures,” a panel discussion on the filmmaking process, which will be held at 4:30 p.m. July 11 at the discovery center’s education center.

“This is for those who want to know how to get started or are interested in the whole filmmaking process,” Johannson said. “We have a nice range of people on the panel who are all volunteers.”

Before the discussion, films by panel members will be shown from 2:30 to 4:30, including “Out of the Ground” by Andy McAllister, a 47-minute documentary on the coal mining heritage of southwestern Pennsylvania. The film premiered at the discovery center April 30.

Other panelists will be Bob Rutkowski, owner of The Magic Lantern, a filmmaking company in Pittsburgh; Ebensburg native Kev Stock, a film student at Ohio University of Film; and Will Zavala, a professor at Pittsburgh Filmmakers.

The festival will culminate on July 11, when the top entries and winners’ films are shown in the courtyard at the discovery center beginning at dusk, after a wine tasting.

This year’s winners are:

First place: “Rooftop” by P.J. Maynard, a southwestern Pennsylvania native now living in Glendale, Calif.

Second place: “The Wishing Bone” by Stock, who won the viewer’s choice award in a previous festival.

Third place: “John Dunn’s Last Run” by Johnstown native Ryan Dixon, who now lives in Los Angeles.

Youth award: Abby and Helen Stern, sisters who are students at Westmont Hilltop Middle School, have tied as winners of the award.

Abby, 13, made “Wasabi, the Sushi Bandit,” and Helen, 10, made “Mysteriously Gone.” Both are claymation films.

Tickets for July 11 are available in the gift shops of the flood museum and the discovery center.

The festival’s screenings will kick off July 8 with “My Tale of Two Cities,” a feature-length film by “St. Elmo’s Fire” screenwriter and Pittsburgh native Carl Kurlander.

“This film isn’t in the competition, but Kurlander has been wanting to show it in Johnstown,” Johansson said.

“He interviews people about Pittsburgh. It’s been well received.”

The film’s soundtrack was composed by Johnstown native Carol Lee Espy and her husband, Jim Dispirito, who is a former member of the band Rusted Root.

Screenings for July 9 at the flood museum will have a horror theme, while screenings for July 10 will include romances, dramas and documentaries.

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