Film Dayton Festival, May 14-16

Filmmaker Jennifer Sharp

This weekend brings the 2nd annual Film Dayton Festival. May 14-15-16, mostly at the Neon Movies, with additional events at the Little Art and Gilly's.

Schedule and ticket info at http://www.filmdayton.com

Yellow Springs connections include:

- Jennifer Sharp, who grew up in YS, graduated from YSHS, returns to her hometown from L.A. to present her feature film debut, the romantic comedy "I'm Through with White Girls,"

- The Sundog Film Festival, brainchild of YSHS media arts teacher Melina Elum, featuring the best of student media from throughout Southwest Ohio, is now part of the Film Dayton Festival.

- WYSO is hosting TWO awesome events - - Filmically Perfect LIVE! - WYSO's funny, irreverent film experts challenge us to argue with them about which movie is perfect, and which isn't, in an interactive live event. AND their "Screenless Screening" short audio documentary fest.

- Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar present TWO films at the festival - CONVENTION, the story of the epic effort to pull off the massive Democratic National Convention in Denver, and their film THE LAST TRUCK: CLOSING OF A GM PLANT.

PLUS film lovers may want to check out other awesome films:

- BURMA VJ - A deeply moving film and one of the very best documentaries of the last ten years. An Oscar nominee this year, BURMA VJ tells the story of young Burmese video journalists who dared document the protests by Buddhist Monks in Myanmar (Burma) against the brutal dictatorship. A suspense thriller, a great film and a profound statement on bearing witness. Special guest, all the way from Denmark, BURMA VJ producer Lise Lense-Møller.

- WINTER'S BONE - This year's Grand Prize Winner at Sundance. Opens in NYC and LA in June, but we've got it in May. This film has hardly played ANY film festivals, it's a very hot ticket. The distributor is from Dayton, he's rooting for his hometown and giving us a great catch.

- THE EXPLODING GIRL - Another hot indie feature, with rising star Zoe Kazan (REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, ME & ORSON WELLES, IT'S COMPLICATED), who won Best Actress for her work here at the Tribeca Film Festival. THE EXPLODING GIRL is a coming-of-age film about a young woman in Brooklyn. Coming out later this year, but see it here first. Directed by Kettering native Bradley Rust Gray, part of the exciting new "neo-realist" filmmaking movement in the U.S.

- BIG LENS FILM FESTIVAL - the newest and latest short films from the award winning WSU film program.

- INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILMS! DOCUMENTARIES! MIDNIGHT MOVIES! Skills workshops, So Much More!!!