Johnson City, an area with an abundance of different festivals and so influenced by the art of storytelling, has never had its own film festival – until now.
The city will hold its inaugural film festival this Friday and Saturday at a variety of locations in downtown Johnson City. Screenings will take place at The Willow Tree Coffeehouse, JRH Brewing and Main Street Theatre. They will begin at each location at 4 p.m. on Friday and 11 a.m. on Saturday. Ending times will vary based on location.
“We’ve got films from local film makers – Tri-Cities area, Knoxville area, Chattanooga – all the way out to filmmakers from California, Michigan; even international films from Turkey and other places coming in,” said Johnson City Film Festival Director Josh Mancuso.
Out of over 80 submissions, a little over 50 were accepted. These will include a variety of feature, short, documentary, student and local films.
Weekend passes are $10 for students and $20 for adults. For entry, a student ID may be required along with a pass. Friday single-day tickets are $10, and Saturday single-day tickets are $15. Children ages 12 and under get in for free.
Filmmaking workshops will be held on Saturday for ticket holders at no additional cost. Six of the workshops for adults will take place at Skillville in downtown Johnson City. These will include No-Budget Filmmaking, Fight! (How to Shoot and Action Scene), Screenwriting, LOL! (How to Shoot a Comedy Scene), Documentary Filmmaking and How to be a Working Actor.
ETSU Assistant Professor of Film and Brand Content and filmmaker David “Stokes” Piercy will teach how to shoot action and comedy scenes.
“The workshops are going to be practice-based; very hands-on,” Piercy said. “They’re going to be short. So, they’re not going to be – due to the length of the workshop – they’re not going to be extensive or comprehensive, but they’re meant to just give you a sampling; and they are also targeted to certain areas.”
Two additional workshops, one for kids at 10 a.m., and one for teens at noon, will be held at ETSU’s Warf Pickel Hall in the TV Studio Room 107B. These workshops are free, and no pre-registration is required. They will be taught by members of the RTVF student production club, Buc Films.
On Friday night, an after party will be held at Wild Wing Café starting at 10 p.m. People can enjoy food and a concert by Southern Rebellion. Special drink coupons and limited reserved seating will be given to filmmakers.
To end out the festival, the award-winning feature film and documentary “It All Begins with a Song” will be screened at Main Street Theatre at 7:30 p.m. This will be preceded by the showing of a student film called “Rudy’s Watches” directed by ETSU student Jordan Clark, which won the Audience Award at the Made In East Tennessee Student Film Festival held at ETSU.
After this special screening, there will be an award ceremony for all the other films submitted.
Piercy said that given the history and culture of the area, Johnson City and the Eastern Tennessee Region in general just seemed to beg for its own space; its own celebration of film.
“Tennessee is an interesting place,” Piercy said. “This area is so rich in culture, and history and storytelling is – I mean – it’s the fabric of the society here. I mean, it’s such a historical and cultural thing. Yet, when you look at media festivals; film festivals – they sort of start in Memphis. There’s quite a few in Nashville, and they stop in Knoxville. So, we have such a history, and it’s such a scenic place that we thought that we needed a place to celebrate this.”
Mancuso said the community of Johnson City offers many things, but film has not necessarily been one of them. By having a film festival here, he hopes this can change.
“I want people to walk away thinking, ‘Wow, this is something that can be done here; filmmaking can be done here,’” Mancuso said.
For more information, to see the film schedules for each location or to buy tickets, visit https://www.johnsoncityfilmfestival.com/
