Marblehead Festival of Arts Hosts Winter Film Festival

Marblehead Festival of Arts to Host Winter Film Festival 

To bring some warmth to a bitter cold night, come to the Winter Film Festival sponsored by the Marblehead Festival of Arts. Set for Thursday, February 16 at 7:30 pm, 11 films, ranging in length from two minutes to 14 minutes, will be screened at Marblehead Little Theatre, 12 School Street in Marblehead. There is no fee for this event, and refreshments will be served.

These works are intended to show the many ways that film and video can be used as an art form to inform and express. They are not commercial films of the sort that you can find in your standard multiplex. Although some of these works can certainly be enjoyed by children, not all of the films will be understood by them. Parents should review the lineup and decide if these films are all appropriate for their younger children.

These are the films, listed with their producers and running times, in the 2012 Winter Film Festival:  

• Damien Patrik:  Stalker  (2 minutes)

A man is stalked in downtown Denver … by himself. Patrik is an actor, writer, editor and film producer. 

• John Bonner:  The Impossible Journey  (7:11 minutes)

This personal documentary about one Marbleheader’s bike ride from Marblehead to Boston shows how, by persistence, courage and very observant drivers, it can be done!

• Jared Katsiane:   Howna and Manny   (10 minutes)

Two young women encounter each other outside the JFK Building while waiting for their parents to settle their immigration issues. Katsiane is a prolific maker of short films, one of which won an award as one of the year’s best New England short works.

• Matt Mamula:   Just About Famous   (14 minutes)

This is a hilarious documentary about a convention of celebrity lookalikes: Oprah, Kenny Rogers, Sarah Palin, Bill Clinton, George Bush—you’ll meet them all!

• Dan Masucci:   Beneath the Same Sky   (13 minutes)

A regular participant in the Film Festival, Masucci returns with an emotional story about the relationship between a father and his son. The boy is troubled by the absence of his mother, a soldier in the Middle East. 

• Jared Katsiane:   Fernando’s First Snow   (4 minutes)

This film is the Boston filmmaker’s affecting and poetic story in which a man recalls his first snow, when an elderly man helps him retrieve a scarf from a tree.

• Wendy Francisco:   God and Dog   (2 minutes)

The filmmaker offers a short animated music video about being loved by both the characters in the title.  Francisco, a Boson-born musician living in Colorado, also animated the film.

• Steve Baldwin:   Pie Heist   (7:16 minutes)

This former Beverly resident is a prolific filmmaker with many awards to his credit. His comedy deals with the lengths one man will go to evade his self-appointed dietician and appropriate his favorite sugary treat. 

• Dan Masucci:   Trampoline   (6 minutes)

This is a story of a father-daughter excursion that turns into an interior excursion for the father.

• Karen Aqua:   Twist of Fate   (8:40 minutes)

This award-winning Boston area animator and past Film Festival contributor has created an animated film about her bout with a serious illness.

• David Kartch:   Zen and the Art of Landscaping  (14 Minutes)

A young landscaper encounters more trouble on the inside of a suburban household than the exterior.  This is a Film Festival Legacy showing, first screened in 2001!

For more information, visit www.MarbleheadFestival.org.