This story originally appeared in The Centre County Gazette.
The Centre Film Festival is returning to Happy Valley for a sixth year with seven days full of movies from Monday, Nov. 11, through Sunday, Nov. 22, at State College’s State Theatre and Philipsburg’s Rowland Theatre.
The Centre Film Festival, the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau and other local partners and members of the community gathered in front of the State Theatre on Tuesday to kick off the 2024 festival by announcing the opening night lineup, plans to engage local businesses during the week of the festival and efforts to spread the annual film fest to other parts of Central Pennsylvania.
“We couldn’t be more excited about the amazing lineup of different films and independent media that we’ll be showing, the categories, collections, artists coming through and different events that you’ll be able to partake in throughout the week,” Pablo Lopez, a certified film commissioner and the film production manager for the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau said.
Opening night for the Centre Film Festival will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 11, at the State Theatre, featuring two award-winning international films. The night will start with the Sundance Short Film Grand Jury Prize winner “The Masterpiece,” directed by Àlex Lora, and will be followed by Adarf Shafran’s four-time Israeli Academy Award nominee, “Running on Sand.”
“What we’re doing this year is not very different than any other year,” said Pearl Gluck, co-founder of the festival, filmmaker and associate professor at Penn State’s Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications. “We’re bringing you global films with a local impact and local films with a global impact.”
“The Masterpiece” is a Spanish film following a wealthy couple who invites two immigrant scrap dealers to their mansion and find that the two strangers might have something more to offer that the couple may want. “Running on Sand” is an Israeli movie about an Eritrean refugee living in Israel who gets mistaken for a Nigerian soccer player while facing deportation. Both directors of the films will lead a discussion at the State Theatre after the screenings.
“That’s going to be an extremely interesting conversation,” Gluck said. “I think we see what’s happening here in State College. We’re becoming very much the destination for world conversations, and we’re going to reflect that right away.”
The lineup of films for the rest of the festival will be released on Tuesday, Oct. 15. Typically, the festival receives more than 700 submissions that are narrowed down to 100 projects by a juried selection committee.
The film festival this year is looking for opportunities to engage local businesses as the event attracts people from all over to Centre County. The new promotion, called the “Centre Film Festival Community Game,” is a scavenger hunt with the theme “We all play a part.” The program was designed to increase foot traffic, engagement and visibility for local businesses in the community.
“We wanted to reach out to local businesses and start uniting them together to explore with the Centre Film Festival what the community is able to do,” Michael DePiro, a producer and director from Altoona, said. “We are introducing the community game, which places a tile in local businesses and allows people who are visiting here for the festival to visit those businesses and explore what Happy Valley and State College has to offer.”
Each participating business will get an identifying tile to display leading up to and during the festival. Guests will then receive a booklet with the identifying tiles and their mission is to visit each participating business to match the tiles on display with the ones in the booklet. The completed booklets can then be submitted for a prize.
DePiro has been making films in Pennsylvania for the last 10 years and began working with the Centre Film Festival in May to look for opportunities to spread the film festival to other Central Pennsylvania communities. One of his first plans is to push the Centre Film Festival to Altoona with a special event at the historic Mishler Theatre on Wednesday, Oct. 30.
“We’re going to have a haunting at the Mishler Theatre,” DePiro unveiled. “’Night of the Living Dead,’ which was made in PA. — Pittsburgh, PA.”
The showing of “Night of the Living Dead” at Altoona’s Mishler Theatre the week before the festival aims to let other surrounding communities in on what’s happening in Happy Valley the week of the film festival.
A major theme of the Centre Film Festival over the years has been celebrating “Made in PA.” The festival has continuously highlighted local filmmakers, which is seen through the festival’s special Made in Pa. award. This year, the festival will even feature a film shot here in Centre County.
“We are also going to celebrate, literally, not only made in Pennsylvania films, but one made right here in our backyard by Mark Rappaport,” Gluck said. “It was shot here in his grandmother’s house. It’s called ‘Hippo,’ and it is opening at the Roxy in New York City the exact same week we’re bringing it here for you to see.”
In addition to the annual Made in PA Award, the Centre Film Festival is introducing a new award — the first ever Sports on Screen Award.
“This year, we’re inaugurating the Sports on Screen Award together with the committee that’s out of the Happy Vally Adventure Bureau for Sports and Entertainment,” Gluck remarked. “It’s one of their first projects to infuse the economy here as well, with and through film.”
HVAB has worked with the Centre Film Festival since its inception, and much of the festival’s success over the last six years has been made possible through community support. Philipsburg’s Rowland Theatre, the Downtown State College Improvement District and the Borough of State College are just a few of the local partners helping sustain the week-long event bringing film, community and culture to Centre County.
“This festival fosters meaningful community interactions, uniting diverse groups to celebrate the rich tapestry of film and culture. A vibrant art scene is essential for the health and vitality of our downtown, it creates a thriving environment for creativity and economic development,” Lee Anne Jeffries, the executive director of DSCID, said. “The film festival draws hundreds of visitors to our area providing a significant boost to our local hotels, restaurants and retailers, and aligns perfectly with our mission to cultivate a welcoming and dynamic destination where arts and creativity flourish, encouraging year-round engagement.”
Highlighting the festival’s growth and success, Gluck noted that the Centre Film Festival became an official IMBD certified film festival at last year’s event. The next goal is to become an Academy qualifying festival which Gluck pointed out is only possible after seven years. Ultimately, the festival aims to continue to bring the less mainstream movies to this local audience that loves and appreciates them.
“This is really such an important piece of arts,” State College Borough Manager Tom Fontaine said. “I encourage everybody to come out and join us during the week of the festival, but also year-round to see the great things going on with all of our partners, not only here at the State Theatre and downtown, but also in Philipsburg and Altoona and other parts of the region here.”
Around 100 films will be screened at the week-long festival from Monday, Nov. 11, through Sunday, Nov. 17. Lineup and ticket information for the Centre Film Festival can be found online at centrefilm.org. Tickets for students are always free with the festival’s Student Pass.
