Reel Michigan to Bring Hollywood to Arts and Acts Festival

When Downtown Northville's long-running Art in the Sun Festival became the Arts and Acts festival last year, organizers promised a bigger and better festival. Live music and public theater were highlights.

Not only did last year's expanded format prove successful, but it has gotten even bigger.

This year's Arts and Acts festival will take place Friday, June 24 through Sunday, June 26 in Downtown Northville. Technically in its 23rd year, though second in its current incarnation, the 2011 Arts and Acts festival is marked by the addition of the Reel Michigan Film Festival. Reel Michigan is building on the success of last year's film festival with more films and a host of notable speakers and workshops.

The majority of Reel Michigan's events will take place on Saturday June 25th.

Detroit actor, singer, and spoken word artist Jimmy Doom is the Keynote Speaker. He is scheduled to host the film screenings, introducing the films and their filmmakers.

Doom recently appeared in the feature film Kill the Irishman.

Reel Michigan Director Lisa Meinzinger-Abraham said so many different types of films have been submitted that they will be divided into two groups. Family friendly films will be shown during the day. Films geared toward a more adult audience will be featured in the evening.

Screenings are scheduled to take place at .

Michigan success stories

In addition to the Michigan-made and -themed film screenings, several speakers and workshops are featured.

Tiren Jhames has over 30 years of acting experience. He will be sharing that experience at an actor's workshop the night of June 25th.

The workshop will be hosted at Genitti's and free to attend.

A veteran of a number of Hollywood productions with regular appearances on ABC's Detroit 187, Jhames will discuss pursuing a career in acting and how to become successful doing so.

On June 16, Academy Award winner Gary Schwartz will be hosting an animation workshop at the . Admission is $35.

Schwartz will be teaching his award-winning animation and filmmaking techniques. During the workshop, Schwartz and those in attendance will create the film trailer used for the festival.

Other guests include actor Gordon Michaels, who Meinzinger-Abraham said has recently been in a film with Sean Penn, and Satori Circus.

Satori Circus is a Michigan-based performance artist. His act usually features a combination of music, poetry, improv, acting, and dance, to name a few.

Meinzinger-Abraham said the guests are all Michigan residents, some who have brought their Hollywood success back home to continue working here.

"They're all very accomplished," said Meinzinger-Abraham. "It's nice to have them back here in Michigan."

Arts and Acts to feature much, much more

In addition to the Reel Michigan events, the Arts and Acts festival will feature music, fine arts and crafts, and theater.

Downtown's will also be featured. They will again be hosting their Sandbox Play Festival, a contest for local playwrights and their self-submitted ten minute plays.

The Sandbox Play Festival will be held June 26th.

Downtown will be closed to automobile traffic as the streets will be filled with artists exhibiting their work, food vendors, and live music.

The Arts and Acts festival is hosted and organized by the Northville Art House along with its charity partner, Forgotten Harvest.

Correction: Based on the information provided to us, Northville Patch erroneously reported the date for Gary Schwartz's workshop.