Muscatine Film Fest Unspools This Week
The curtains are parting and it’s time to unspool the flicks at the fourth annual Muscatine Independent Film Festival, Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 3-5 at the MIFF Theater at Muscatine Community College, Strahan Hall, 152 Colorado Ave.
Short films from around the globe are featured. The award categories include Best Short Film, Best Iowa Short Film, Viewer’s Choice, Murder/Mayhem (The infamous M&M Award), Best Comedy, LuckLove Pictures Best Local Film, Best Music Video, and Best Student Filmmaker.
“It’s great to have the event reaching its fourth year and continuing to grow and be supported by the local community and local and national, and even international, filmmakers,” said Chad Bishop, founder and organizer of the festival. “It started off as a way to show off films that my friends and I had done for public access and other venues and it grew from there. And now we’ve got films from moviemakers from all over the country and even Europe. We have one filmmaker from Rome, Italy. I don’t know if he’s going to attend, but it would be really cool if he did!”
The festival continues to grow in regard to the number of films screened as well as the number of awards given. Local judges will pick a Grand Jury Award which will be given at a 9:30 p.m. Saturday gathering at Boonie’s On The Avenue, 214 Iowa Ave. That’s one of two after-parties for the event, the first being at 9:30 Friday at the Yacky Shack, 163 Colorado Ave. In addition, a Best Comedy Award and film block are new for 2016 and the festival is hoping to include improvisational comedy and more interaction with audiences between films. Daily admission is $5. MIFF is directed by Bishop and Mike Ray.
“Nowadays people watch movies on their phones, or their tablets or computers, by themselves, and this is a nod back to getting people out to share the experience,” Bishop said. “It’s great for Muscatine and for local businesses and the local economy as well. It brings in both locals and out-of-towners.”
“I love it, I love working with local filmmakers and filmmakers from all over, and local businesses to make this a big event,” Bishop said. “We get to see all of these great movies and meet new people and see friends. It’s really a fun event.”
In addition, Bishop will get to see the reaction to one of his own films. “My movie ‘Adam’s Eve’ will be screening at the festival,” he said. “I worked on it all year, and it features a local cast, locations, even the Muscatine Academy of Music & Dance.”
You can check out two trailers for his films at https://youtu.be/BTuBPrC65Mo and https://youtu.be/3bPh0wsRIMo, as well as his Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/adamsevemovie/.
For more information on the festival, as well as a detailed schedule, see http://www.dreampostonline.com/MiffSchedule.html.
“We hope everyone comes out and has a great time, it’s going to be a really fun event and a great experience,” Bishop said.
