In The News
February 2008It’s Showtime!
by Kelli AndersonSay the words “film festival” and we may soon add “Naperville” to our associative list of Sundance and Cannes. The Naperville Independent Film Festival, scheduled to debut on September 24-27, is certain to be a lot of fun (think black tie and red carpet). But for independent filmmakers, it promises to be a lot more.
Thanks to the passion and vision of its filmmaking cofounders, Gary Pradel and Edmond and Glessna Coisson, the Naperville Independent Film Festival will not only provide a cultural treat rarely experienced by most Americans, but also a particularly unique feature seldom experienced by most amateur filmmakers—constructive feedback.
When Glessna Coisson first jokingly suggested the notion of a film festival in Naperville to friends a little over a year ago, the idea elicited some skeptical laughter. Six months later, when it came up again, the idea no longer seemed outrageous—especially to new acquaintance and fellow-amateur filmmaker, Gary Pradel. “It’s been a huge snowball that’s taken off,” says Glessna. “Everyone’s on board and excited.”
What started out as a dream for three people has now grown to group of 130—with no end in sight—as volunteers, filmmakers, screen writers, film enthusiasts and businesses line up to lend a hand at what promises to be an amazing community experience for all involved. And that includes children.
Given Naperville’s special attraction to all-things-family, the film festival will be family- friendly, showcasing short films, features and documentaries appropriately rated and created by local filmmakers of all ages.There will be something for everyone from its opening big-party event to its family matinee day where children learn how films are made and get their pictures taken with favorite characters.
However, as the cofounders of the festival know from experience, these events seldom offer more than awards to a lucky few, while the rest of the filmmaking applicants are left to wonder where they went wrong. But not this time.
“The goal is to help filmmakers in Naperville hone their art, to have a venue to show their films and to learn and meet other filmmakers,” says Gary Pradel, chairman of the festival. “This will happen through two panels of judges—one will assign awards and the other will look at films that want a critique and give them feedback. It’s an unusual thing because usually when you enter a film you either hear that you won or you didn’t, but there’s no explanation of why. That’s what’s going to make us a little bit different.”
With panels made up of experts on every- thing from lighting to writing and directing, the 125 entries not making the final cut for the festival’s show case will still receive expert advice to help them to learn and grow in their art. “That’s what we’re here for,” says Edmond Coisson, an experienced screenwriter and filmmaker. “Our mission is for filmmakers to come back next year and to be even more successful.”
For more information about attending festival events, volunteering, sponsoring or submitting film entries, go to http://www.naperfilm.org.
www.naperfilm.org
