Films chosen for event show a range, official says

Fifty films will be shown as part of the festival.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR PENNSYLVANIA BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Don't expect big Hollywood productions with happy endings at this year's Harry M. Warner Festival of Short Film and Video.
"It's like a box of chocolates without the directions. You are going to open it up and sample things you've never sampled before," said Alison McNeal, one of the organizers and a professor of literature at Slippery Rock University.
In its second year, the festival has more than doubled its entries with 165 films in four categories. They run the spectrum in content and subject matter with some high-quality films, McNeal said.
The seven-member selection committee, headed by Jon Shumway, SRU assistant professor of digital media, has chosen the top 50 films to be shown this week on campus and at the Scottish Rite Cathedral in New Castle.
"If you come with a predetermined set of expectations, chances are they aren't going to be met," Shumway said.
Several short films
Short films in the narrative style, animation, documentary and experimental were accepted. Shumway said most submissions fell under narrative and that will be the bulk of those shown at the festival.
"These works, in some cases, are quite challenging," he said. "The festival is really going to provide a vast array of films. We want to entertain, enlighten and educate, but we also want to challenge people."
Shumway said different people can expect to be challenged in different ways. For some, it may be a challenge to their beliefs and others it may be the structure of the films.
McNeal said she really didn't know what to expect when she attended her first film festival, but has since come to look at film festivals as trade shows.
"You are getting to see unknown filmmakers with raw talent," she said. "It's like a smorgasbord of wonderful food."
cioffi@vindy.com