West Liberty hosts the 1st New Strand Film Festival

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By Melissa Regennitter, Muscatine Journal | Friday, May 2, 2008 11:33 AM CDT | () comments

West Liberty, Iowa — Independent films from all over the world will be featured in West Liberty, population 3,000, this weekend.

The occasion is the first New Strand Film Festival, which organizers hope to make a yearly event in the small Muscatine County city.

“This has been a true community project and has grown a little bigger than Todd (Leach) and I had envisioned for the first year. It’s all because the community came together and showed that they wanted this festival,” said co-director Janette McMahon, who is organizing the event along with Leach, the owner of West Liberty’s historic New Strand Theater.

McMahon, 35, who has been director of the West Liberty Public Library for 13 years, said the idea originated with a patron who often came to the library and talked about culture and films.

After two years of research, a film festival committee invited independent filmmakers to submit full-length movies and short films to be judged and then shown during the festival, which continues through Sunday.

“The movies come from independent filmmakers from all over the world. The range is from 15-year-olds to professional companies,” McMahon said. “We’ve previewed 100 percent of what will be shown, and they are wonderful and high-quality.”

Full-day passes are $5 and will allow visitors access to any movies shown on a given day.

Today

From 10 a.m. to noon, a series of short videos will play, including the 20-minute narrative comedy, “The Girl Who Could Run 600 Miles Per Hour,” and the nine-minute “End of the Sawdust Trail,” a modern silent movie about a clown’s retirement.

Vendors, including craft tables and artists, will be available along East 3rd Street. There also will be food service from 13 restaurants offering Mexican, American and Chinese cuisine.

The afternoon will include more short films as well as three documentaries.

“The documentaries raise issues from terrorism to what to do with electronic waste,” McMahon said. “The variety of films brings something for everyone, from claymation to live acting to anime.”

Also, there will be live music, including the West Liberty School Jazz Band and a bluegrass group.

Kids day

Sunday will provide fun for both the young and those who are out for a family-friendly good time. Adventure, documentaries and drama will offer a fresh experience for all ages.

The festival kicks off at noon with movies and short clips and wraps up in the evening with the feature drama, “Alondra Smiles.”

“It’s about teen issues, labeling and racism, immigration and identity. It has won other film festivals,” McMahon said.

A block of 15 minutes has been set aside for toddler-oriented films.

People also will be able to meet Brian Shoop, who directed “Treasure Blind,” a movie about an amateur treasure hunter who stumbles upon a Civil War map.

“It is a great adventure story and features a 10-year-old blind actor,” McMahon said.

The films are high-quality, yet unpolished, unlike what one would expect with a studio movie, McMahon said.

“The children’s full features are absolutely phenomenal. It will be a learning experience and a unique time,” she added.

Awards

Viewers will have the opportunity to vote for the Audience Choice film. Committee members have already chosen winners for the New Strand Film Festival Awards through a system by which they assigned points. Festival awards will be recognized throughout the event, and the Audience Choice ballots will be counted after the festival is over.

Leach said many volunteers have made the event possible, and he hopes to see guests from all around Iowa — and even farther away — in attendance.

Although it’s been a long time since the more than 200 seats in the Strand have been filled, he wouldn’t mind it happening this weekend.

“It wouldn’t be a bad thing at all if it sold out,” he said.

(The Muscatine Journal is a Lee Enterprises newspaper.)

Melissa Regennitter can be contacted at (563) 262-0526 or mregennitter@muscatinejournal.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.

IF YOU GO

What: New Strand Film Festival

Where: The New Strand Theater, 113 W. 3rd St., West Liberty, Iowa. Vendors and entertainment also will be available in the blocks surrounding the theater.

When: Today and Sunday

Cost: $5 for each all-day movie pass

More information: Call the theater at (319) 627-2014 for advance tickets. To view directions or a schedule of events, go to newstrandfilmfestival.org on the Web.