Miranda Flack, Campus Carrier Entertainment Editor
The Rome International Film Festival (RIFF) is a popular cultural event held each year in downtown Rome. The event is held at Rome’s historic DeSoto Theater Sept. 4-7. RIFF shows independent films but will also include workshops in various aspects of filmmaking for those interested. RIFF has been held here for 11 years.
Senior lecturer of music Harry Musselwhite is an honorary executive director of the festival.
“I was executive director of RIFF, and I stepped down to focus more on my own film producing, writing and directing,” Musselwhite said.
The festival features a variety of film genres. Both Musselwhite and current executive producer Ryan Simmons are excited for this year’s lineup.
“There is a wide variety of film, as befits a great film festival. Some highlights for me personally are Alexis Boling film ‘Movement and Location’ which screens Friday at 5 p.m., and Seth Ingram’s great Georgia made documentary ‘Blind Tiger: The Legend of Bell Tree Smith’, which screens Saturday at 5 p.m.,” Musselwhite said.
Musselwhite also helped produce and act in “Blind Tiger: The Legend of Bell Tree Smith.”
“We have an amazing lineup of films for this year’s festival. Our Opening Night film, ‘No Ordinary Hero’ is a film 100 percent in ASL (American Sign Language). The actors and director of the film are all personally deaf, which I think brings a lot of heart and realness to their performances,” Simmons said. “We’ve partnered with the Georgia School for the Deaf in Cave Springs and through that partnership we have provided free admission for their students to come a watch a film in a theater in their language.”
Simmons also said the festival features a great number of shorter films.
“One of my favorite blocks is our Saturday morning cartoons block at 11 a.m. on Saturday. This block is full of Pixar quality short films that are sure to appeal to kids of all ages,” Simmons said.
Berry associate professor of anthropology and sociology Brian C. Campbell produced, co-wrote and researched for a film which will be in RIFF. The film is “The Night the Blackbirds Fell,” and it will be shown at 10 a.m. on Friday. It is described as a mystery with graphic novel-style animation and wildlife shots.
In addition to a vast library of films, the festival will offer workshops that are free to the public. They are held Friday and Saturday of the festival at 1 p.m. in the DeSoto Theater.
“T.R. Boyce, Jr. will be leading a workshop on Friday on the different roles of the crew of a film set,” Simmons said. “He’ll be breaking down the different roles and responsibilities, how to get started in those roles and how to make a successful career in filmmaking.”
Saturday’s workshop is with screenwriter Shawn Telford.
“Shawn will be breaking down the key components to a great screenplay, the necessary mechanics and how to have a successful career as a screenwriter,” Simmons said.
Musselwhite and Simmons recommend that students interested in film should consider attending.
Musselwhite said attendees can look forward to “thought provoking films, both feature length and shorts that are well done and that portray more than cookie cutter plots and ideas. This is what draws me and thousands of film lovers across the world to film festivals.”
“No other opportunity, besides being on a film set itself, gives attendees a taste of the culture and inner workings of the film industry than a film festival,” Simmons said. “Beyond getting a chance to see great films that are typically more creative and have more heart than stereotypical Hollywood movies, RIFF also offers attendees the chance to meet and talk with the filmmakers themselves.”
RIFF costs $25 for a Friday or Saturday day pass, and $15 for a Sunday day pass.