Above all else, film festivals can provide audience members and filmmakers the chance to come together and give one another a connection through a piece of art.
The Athena Cinema will feature the Athens International Film and Video Festival April 13-19 and will give attendees the chance to come together through art.
The festival will start with a screening of the Oscar-nominated Bullhead at 4:30 p.m. Friday and end with This is Not a Film at 10 p.m. April 19.
The event is made possible through sponsors that include the Athena Cinema, the College of Fine Arts, the Ohio Art Council, the Academy Foundation, Arts for Ohio University, and the Erlewine Design program.
“I hope people see some great films that make them think, feel, cry, connect, laugh, giggle, and go ‘huh?’ in ways they normally don't do when they watch movies,” said Ruth Bradley, director of the festival and the Athens Center of Film and Video.
All competition films at the Athena Cinema, starting before 6 p.m., are free, while feature films that start before 6 p.m., are matinee price, or $5. All shows after that are $6.50 for adults and $5.50 for children and senior citizens.
“It's quite an honor, actually, that this work that I put so much time and effort into is getting some recognition,” said Shay Willard, an MFA second-year film student whose student film Male Ferndom is in the festival. “I'm excited to see people's reactions, and I'm happy that more folks will get to see the film.”
The festival, since it began in 1978, has been presenting independent films from across the world. The competition process involves a prescreening committee — comprised of artists, students, and community activists — that watches the films and determines which ones to screen to the public.
Cash prizes are rewarded in four categories: documentary, experimental, narrative, and animation. The awards are announced on the final day of the festival.
And even though many of the films being presented this weekend have been shown in other festivals, the opportunity to screen their films in Athens is a special one for OU graduates.
“The fact that it is the Athens International Film and Video Festival in the town where I attended to the School of Film at Ohio University and I have so many good memories, gives to the occasion a special flavor,” said Damiano Cinque, an MFA student whose film The Decapitated Chicken will be shown during the festival.
The theater will also offer a “save for six-show pass” that will be available as of April 18 that will offer any six screenings for $30. It will not, however, guarantee a ticket if late to a sold-out show.
While supplies last, students currently enrolled with a valid student ID are also eligible to free tickets to shows at the Athena Cinema. Only a limited number of student tickets will be offered, however.
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