There’s still time to submit a film to be screened during The LAVA Center’s fourth annual film festival, celebrating the filmmaking talent of Massachusetts residents.
Filmmakers can submit film and video projects of any length, genre and theme, so long as they are original creative projects as opposed to a recorded event. The deadline to submit is Sunday, Aug. 11, in advance of the festival, to be held from Oct. 11 to Oct. 13.
“It’s been a really cool event. It’s been really different every year,” said Vanessa Query, manager of The LAVA center. “Although [there is] a similar thread tying them all together, which is that it’s local filmmakers. … It’s people who have a passion for filmmaking, video-making as a form, wanting to tell a story or make art in this way.”
Yonah Sadeh won Best Documentary Film at last year’s festival for his documentary project on the refugee resettlement efforts of Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts, based in Pittsfield.
“I got into film at a very young age,” Sadeh explained. “I was growing up in the age of the first Apple laptops becoming more consumer-available and [so was] iMovie, which was pre-loaded onto all of those computers. And so I, from an early age, was using my parents’ MacBook and iMovie to make little home videos, and I think I was really struck by that kind of form of storytelling.”
Query emphasized that the festival was created to celebrate local filmmakers with experiences such as these, regardless of their level of formal experience.
“[The festival] is a lot of amateur filmmakers, student filmmakers and youth filmmakers, and there’s such a range of material and experience, which is what I love about it,” Query said. “I feel like it’s a really great opportunity to showcase all filmmaking talent, regardless of experience.”
This year, Sadeh submitted a short narrative film he created for his senior thesis in college titled “Subnivean,” a term referring to the space between terrain and layers of snow, where small animals will often hibernate.
The film explores grief as its protagonist returns to his hometown to care for the farm his late father left behind.
“The film … delves into his journey of grief and loss as he tries to process and mourn his father’s death,” Sadeh explained. “With the backdrop of taking care of his farm and really struggling with the cold, cold winter, and the anxiety and depression that comes with that. But … it’s a really hopeful film.”
Father-daughter filmmaking duo Gyuri Kepes and Samarah Hasan-Kepes, 12, also participated in last year’s film festival, creating a stop-motion animated film called “The Saga of the Golden Potty.” Kepes teaches multimedia production at Landmark College, but made his directorial debut at The LAVA Center’s festival.
“It was kind of the brainchild of several laughter-filled sessions during the pandemic with my parents and myself and my daughter — just an opportunity for us to bond during a time of isolation,” Kepes recounted. “The idea, initially, was to flip the story of ‘The Three Little Pigs’ on its head, where the protagonist was the wolf and the antagonist was the pig. From that idea, it morphed into something more political.”
The father-daughter duo submitted another film this year, titled “Magica Mystica,” in which a character played by Samarah has telekinesis.
“We had a fantastic time at the festival,” Kepes added. “It was really inviting, and of course I went with my family because it was produced as a family project, and it was inviting to all ages and all talent levels. … It was a great opportunity to get exposure for beginner filmmakers. … It was just really humbling to be in that space with such passionate filmmakers.”
Pioneer Valley filmmakers can reach out to The LAVA Center at info@lavacenter.org to get a code to submit their film for free. Filmmakers under the age of 18 can also submit for free. All others must pay an $11 submission fee.
Those interested in submitting a film can visit filmfreeway.com/LAVAFilmFestival.
