The Longest Continuously-Running Film Festival in Northeast Pennsylvania

Schedule Of Events

Oct 18,2024

Tickets for Opening Night Silver and Black Gala Reception

6:00pm - Silver and Black Gala Reception

7:30pm - Burying the Hatchet - The Tom Quick Story

Documentary

Produced by Sean Strub, Written and Directed by Christopher King, Associate Producer, Daniel Strongwalker Thomas

For more than 200 years, the Borough of Milford, a small county seat in northeast Pennsylvania, venerated Tom Quick Jr., who was in 1733 the first white child born in the region. Quick was famous for having murdered Delaware (Lenni Lenape) Indians in the upper Delaware River Valley, after having witnessed his father’s death at the hands of the Lenape.

In the decades following, Tom Quick became part of local lore, lionized in books, articles, songs and on stage. In 1889, an eight-foot zinc obelisk monument was erected in Milford in his honor. Over time, the monument increasingly became a point of deep conflict and re-evaluation, especially in recent years.

Oct 19,2024

11:00 am - Main Stage Features 376m

11:00am - Tim Stead, Magician With Wood

Documentary 1:29m

Directed by Beatrix Wood
Award-winning screenwriter and director, Beatrix Wood, of Scotland designed a touching documentary on Tim Stead, a legend of our time in his native country. Scotsman Stead crafts his woodwork creations, including handmade fine furniture, sculptures, and even his own home. Freely giving his time, care, and skills to other artists, we hear them praise this talented man. Then tragedy strikes and his wife makes a decades-long and painful struggle to save his art, his reputation, and their home for posterity. A must-see, especially for all talented souls who craft original beauty with their own two hands and for all those who appreciate a battle to save excellence for future generations.

Tim Stead, Magician With Wood Tickets Here

11:00 am - Main Stage Features 376m

1:00pm - The Refugee

Drama, 1:41m

Directed by Johnny Greenlaw

Director Johnny Greenlaw gives us a compelling heartrending story of Eva, a young girl in Iraq. She and her family desire a life different than the one she knows, one filled with the freedoms that we Americans enjoy. As her entire family is murdered, American troops come to fight and rescue them, but they are too late. One brave soldier saves her, giving her the cross from his neck, inscribed with his initials. Years later, as an adult now living in the U.S., living with her hardworking uncle, Eva feels the need to locate the man who saved her life. A lovely film, exploring the idea of the American Dream.

Tickets for The Refugee

3:00pm - Classic Film Screening - Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

Comedy CLASSIC MOVIE with special guest Illeana Douglas, hosted by author/film historian John DiLeo.

A quintessential post-war look at the American Dream, the delightful Mr. Blandings follows one family’s hilarious tribulations after they trade their cramped NYC apartment for an 18th-century fixer-upper in Connecticut. Advertising man Cary Grant and his wife Myrna Loy will soon become mired in a money pit because their unsalvageable historic home leads to the costly creation of their eventual dream house.

Get the Classic Film Screening Tickets Here!

6:30pm - Nobody Wants To Shoot A Woman

Drama 1:32

Directed by Kerry Ann Enright

Writer, Director and Producer, Kelly Ann Enright brings us her original, offbeat drama with touches of ironic comedy, as middle-aged, lower middle-class, Mary, (Tina Benko), finds herself trapped in her new ‘dream house’ gifted to her by her lying and abusive gangster husband. When Mary and her son witness her husband’s murder, she seeks employment with no skills or education, joining a gang of thieves. Mary finds herself doing ‘just one last job’ after another, desperate to hide her new criminal life from her young son and her best friend, an admiring police detective. How will she handle those she loves, those she fears and possibly get vengeance on her husband’s enemies? A hard-boiled, entertaining mixture of oddball characters, desperation and determination by a woman wronged, with touches of "Bonnie and Clyde", "Wanda" and "Fun With Dick and Jane" all wound up into one smoothly done, but tough drama.

Tickets for Nobody Wants To Shoot A Woman

8:30pm - Thelma

Comedy

Directed by Josh Margolin

Thelma is a rare rewarding comedy/drama with three generations of a functional family! Enjoy June Squibb’s spunky depiction of the 93 year old grandma we all should have. Scammed shamefully by phone with the real, recurrent call, "I’m in trouble and I need ten thousand immediately" routine, Thelma vows vigilante justice. Toss in a grateful grandson and iconic Richard Round (SHAFT) and Malcolm McDowell (A CLOCKWORK ORANGE) and perky Parker Posey, all directed by Josh Margolin, and you share a fun film with poignant plot twists. Top off your evening with a senior who is implacable in an intelligent ‘indie’, and enjoy!

Tickets for Thelma

Oct 20,2024

Main Stage Sunday Feature

11:00 am - And Through The Portal We Go

Drama 1:23m

Directed by Mike Hayhurst

Director, Mike Hayhurst, brings us this clever, quirky comedy with touches of satire. Three characters, Katie (Sarah Goeke, Craig (Joseph Lymous and Mikey (Taylor Curtis), have been living with other cult members on their group journey to bring themselves to spiritual perfection, Their leader, Yom, and other followers have supposedly gone through a mystical portal in the woods, never being seen again. Each day, they wake up believing they will enter and cross over to a heavenly existence, only to find themselves in a sort of Twilight Zone, repeating the same day, over and over.

And Through the Portal We Go Tickets

12:45 - Short Block 1:22

The Suit

Drama Short 20m

Directed by Carol McCann

Grandmother and granddaughter go on a quest to find the best suit for Grandpa, despite her daughter’s offer to also assist. While looking for that ‘perfect fit’ they get to bond sharing a generational family experience, often with a different outlook from the rest of us.

Go For Grandma

Drama Short 34m

Directed by Sabrina Doyle

Inspired by the iconic 80’s fantasy films, Go For Grandma is a magical journey into the mind of a young boy who escapes a traumatic home life through the power of his imagination and his grandmother’s fables.

Bar Boy

Drama Short 20m

Directed by Bryan Powers

Gary is a realistic man in his 60’s faced with a reality that many single older people of any persuasion must confront; growing older and less ‘marketable’ in romance. When he meets 20 something, handsome Julian at a local gay bar, they both may learn from each other and find mutual respect. Black Bear is proud to have a member of our film committee, Keith LaPan, in the role of Gary.

The Purple Umbrella

Thriller Short 8m

Directed by Dennis Sema

A young, curious man becomes intrigued with the recent unsolved murders committed across the country. The only clue is the sighting of a mysterious person, face unseen, carrying a vivid purple umbrella. Our own Black Bear intern, Dennis Sema, produces, directs, and acts in the film, showing us how to craft a short indie film with little funds but clever touches of Hitchcock, Truffaut, and a bit of Film Noir.

Main Stage Short Collection Tickets

3:00 pm - Awards and Closing Ceremony

Date : Oct 18-20,2024

Location :Milford Theater - 114 East Catharine Street Milford, PA 18337

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