Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Connor Hough By Travis Trew, Programming Associate 28-year-old Telford, PA native Connor Hough has been seriously pursuing acting for the last two years, and decided to turn his own story into the semi-autobiographical Pennsylvania Guy Like Me. It’s the story of a young man struggling to get noticed as an actor while […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Chung Wei Huang By Travis Trew, Programming Associate Taiwanese writer and director Chung Wei Huang started out studying business before making the somewhat late transition to filmmaking. Her thesis project at Temple University’s filmmaking program, Midnight Carnival is a drama inspired by Huang’s own experiences. The film follows Andrea, a Taiwanese student […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Josh Perrin By Travis Trew, Programming Associate Tom’s River, New Jersey native Josh Perrin moved to Philly to attend The Art Institute of Philadelphia, where he honed his skills in animation, graphic design, and video. His short Smoking and You is a humorous PSA parody following a hapless loser whose cigarette addiction […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: August Aguilar By Travis Trew, Programming Associate Philadelphia-born, Tennessee-raised filmmaker August Aguilar spends most of his time in Knoxville, but comes to Philly often to visit his dad (and frequent collaborator) Frank Aguilar. Written by Frank and directed by August, Center City is an atmospheric, jazz-infused slice of Philly noir, following a […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Michael Duff By Travis Trew, Programming Associate Michael Duff has worked for years as a respiratory therapist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and freelance photographer, but recently decided to pursue his lifelong love of film by enrolling in online film school through Arizona State University and pursuing a TV writing certificate from […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Leslie Rivera By Travis Trew, Programming Associate Puerto Rico-born, West Chester-raised Leslie Rivera has been an active member of the Philly arts scene for years, touring for years with the Rennie Harris Puremovement dance company and founding the band El Malito and the 33rd Century. Made as Rivera began returning to personal […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Eli LaBan By Travis Trew, Programming Associate Filmmaker Eli LaBan has worked primarily in documentaries, but ventured into the world of narrative film as Director of Photography and co-editor of The Art of Being Izzy. Made as a capstone project for the Media Studies and Production Major at Temple University, the film […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Kristal Sotomayor By Travis Trew, Programming Associate A recent graduate of Bryn Mawr college, Kristal Sotomayor parlayed her interest in filmmaking into an internship with PBS’s POV series, and has received a fellowship with Scribe Video Center to produce a documentary about immigrant rights in Philadelphia. A very personal essay film incorporating […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Krissy Mahan By Travis Trew, Programming Associate Camden-born artist and filmmaker Krissy Mahan has been making movies using humor as a feminist tool for 25 years. Mahan’s movies center the social failures around accessibility, gender identity, mental health, immigration, and working class post-industrial cities. In My Aunt Mame, Mahan uses Fisher-Price figurines and handmade, […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Jing Ma By Travis Trew, Programming Associate Originally from Shanghai and currently finishing her senior year studying photography at Temple University, Jing Ma has also been been making films for the last three years. Cure follows a young woman named Kate (Mandy Evans) as she attempts to struggles to cope with the […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Xabier Saavedra By Travis Trew, Programming Associate Mexico City native Xabier Saavedra came to the USA in 2008 to train at a tennis academy in Southern California, and began attending Drexel University in Philadelphia in 2012. In college, Saavedra produced several experimental and documentary shorts. Narrative short Indo follows Mexican immigrant Camilo […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Mark Kaercher By Travis Trew, Programming Associate Hailing from Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, Temple University senior Mark Kaercher is currently hard at work on his thesis film while eyeing a future career in filmmaking. Made last year, Giraffe follows a recently broken-up couple—Dwayne (Jared Myers) and Chelsea (Jackie Watkins)—as they sort through what’s […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Anna Gamarnik By Travis Trew, Programming Associate Currently in her last semester at Temple University, Chalfont, Pennsylvania native Anna Gamarnik is pursuing a BFA in the school’s Directing concentration. Her film Spaced Out tells the story of Sally, a young outcast whose offbeat look and extraterrestrial obsession give new meaning to the […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Alec Goss By Travis Trew, Programming Associate Hamilton, NJ native Alec Goss is currently a sophomore at The College of New Jersey, where he’s majoring in Interactive Multimedia with a minor in Lens-Based Art. A brief but memorable mood piece, further depicts two kids as they attempt to dispose of a mysterious […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Hannah Silverman By Travis Trew, Programming Associate Cheltenham, PA native Hannah Silverman got her start by submitting writing and directing shorts for her high school’s annual film festival. Now a senior in NYU’s film program, Silverman is in the midst of putting finishing touches on her thesis project and plotting next steps. […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Dom Hilton By Travis Trew, Programming Associate Since moving to Philadelphia from London about 20 years ago, Dom Hilton has transitioned from freelance writing to working on screenplays, eventually moving into the arena of writing and directing his own projects. Hilton now works as a freelance videographer, and co-founded the production company […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Alex Atienza By Travis Trew, Programming Associate Maryland native Alexander Atienza recently graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, where he majored in cognitive science and philosophy and minored in linguistics and consumer psychology. Somehow, Atienza also found time to pursue his passion for filmmaking as an undergrad, writing and directing several shorts. […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Kurtis and Kris Theorin By Travis Trew, Programming Associate Brothers and Landenberg, PA natives Kurtis and Kris Theorin have collaborated on various video projects through family-operated company Something’s Awry Productions, with Kurtis (24) usually writing scripts and Kris (20) handling the animations. The brothers have worked on both commercial projects (for clients […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Jes Vasquez By Travis Trew, Programming Associate Writer and director Jessica Vasquez studied writing as a student at Ramapo College in New Jersey. Since moving to Philadelphia, Vasquez has been an active part of the city’s indie film scene, working on various productions while also writing and directing her own shorts. Her […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Steven Scott Adams By Travis Trew, Programming Associate Steven Scott Adams started out making a home movies with a Super 8 camera, but took a 30-year detour working in music before returning to filmmaking. After studying film at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and training in acting at Playhouse […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Haley Monson By Travis Trew, Programming Associate Infatuated with Cartoon Network and flipbook animation from an early age, Lancaster, PA native Haley Monson got to hone her skills as an Animation major at Philly’s University of the Arts. Made as her senior project, Partners is the absurdist but oddly heartwarming tale of […]

Full List of the 2018 Oscar Nominations! By Kait Calabrò, Marketing Manager Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water leads this year’s Oscar nominations with a total of 13! PFF26 Closing Night film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, scored 9 nominations. Other top nominated films include PFF26 films Lady Bird and Darkest Hour as well as […]

PFS Staff’s Top Films of 2017! By the PFS Staff As 2017 comes to an end, some of the staff at the Philadelphia Film Society share their favorite films of year… …but as you can see below we all take on this task a little differently. J. Andrew Greenblatt, Executive Director Top 10 The Florida […]

Five Things You NEED To Know Before Seeing STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI! By Emmett Cawley, Programming Intern  Getting ready head down to the Prince Theater to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi? Well, here is a short list of things you will need to know before you grab your popcorn and enter the theater! The Last Jedi […]

2018 Golden Globes List of Nominations! By Kait Calabrò, Marketing Manager  The happiest season of all – Awards Season, that is – kicked into high gear this morning with the announcement of the nominations for the 75th Annual Golden Globes.  PFF26 Closing Night film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, is among the most nominated films with […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Irit Reinheimer By Travis Trew, Programming Associate Philadelphia-based artist Irit Reinheimer was trained in sculpture, but gradually found her way to documentary and experimental films. Her work often combines disparate elements, including text, animation, and her late father’s 8mm home movies. Of Origins: Hannah is the first part of a planned trilogy […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Jasmine Lynea By Travis Trew, Programming Associate Having studied film and media arts at Temple University and worked on a variety of projects including documentaries, music videos, and shorts, New Jersey native Jasmine Lynea is passionate about using film as a tool to explore relevant social issues. Her film The Mixtape: Stay […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Amber Monet By Travis Trew, Programming Associate California native Amber Monet moved to Philly in 2012, transferring to Temple University as a sophomore dance major. A chance visit to the campus news studio led to a burgeoning interest in media production, and eventually to a change in majors. Several years later, Monet […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Samuel Valenti By Travis Trew, Programming Associate A recent graduate of Temple’s film program, Samuel Valenti has been to Philly Film Showcase before, with his gonzo teenage exploitation short Youth, Go to Waste!. His latest, the brilliantly titled I’VE GOT MY MIND’S EYE SET ON YOU (and part of me knows what […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Will Colacito By Travis Trew, Programming Associate Scranton native Will Colacito is about to start his junior year at Temple University, where he’s studying cinematography. Made for one of his Temple courses, Whip Whop! is a bizarre and surreal short about a man who finds a mysterious, shiny object, takes it home, […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Sam Thompson By Travis Trew, Programming Associate Sam Thompson hails from Marlton, New Jersey but didn’t start cutting his filmmaking teeth until his sophomore year at West Virginia University. After joining the school’s film club, Thompson discovered his passion for writing and directing movies and hasn’t stopped making films since. His short […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Ed Waisnis By Travis Trew, Programming Associate Growing up in southern New Hampshire, artist and filmmaker Ed Waisnis’s lifelong love of film started early (with seeing 2001: A Space Odyssey on first release as a kid) and has continued ever since. Over the last decade, Waisnis has developed a fruitful working relationship […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Elizabeth Earhart By Travis Trew, Programming Associate South Jersey native and NYC transplant Elizabeth Earhart has been to Philly Film Showcase before, as the lead actress in the psychodrama Forlorn Rose. She re-teamed with writer/director Justin Boswick for the moody, chatty ensemble dramedy about them. In it, a young woman named Alex […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Adam Evans By Travis Trew, Programming Associate Hailing from Reading, PA, filmmaker Adam Evans’s credits include producing or directing several short docs, including Philly Film Showcase slum The Witmans. He wrote and directed the narrative short Pine Tree, which follows a carpenter named Ryan (Tobias Segal) who struggles to let go of […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Jonathan Pappas By Travis Trew, Programming Associate Jonathan Pappas is a fiction writer and filmmaker who teaches in the English Department at the Community College of Philadelphia. He’s co-produced and co-written films by Explosive Bolts Films (aka the creative duo Josh Crockett and Kristin Slaysman), including the short Dogsbody and the feature […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Wesley Mellott By Travis Trew, Programming Associate Growing up in Needmore, Pennsylvania—a city with “more cattle than people”—Wesley Mellott’s introduction to filmmaking came from watching movies and recreating them with friends. After majoring in film studies at Penn State, Mellott began making his own films and co-founded Thinking Art Entertainment, a Philadelphia-based […]

Showcase Filmmaker Spotlight: Robert Jaffe By Travis Trew, Programming Associate The self-described “living embodiment of Philadelphia,” Robert Jaffe has been making films since he was 16, and has been a fixture of the Philly film scene for several years. Currently at work on his graduate thesis project at Temple University (a very personal documentary about […]

Spotlight on Tiny Furniture – Part of the 25 for 25: Film Festival Favorites Program By Travis Trew, Programming Associate PFS’ screening of Tiny Furniture comes at an ideal time, providing a perfect opportunity to re-assess the film that put Lena Dunham on the map just as her series Girls rounds out its final season. […]

Full List of the 2017 Oscar Nominations! By Kait Calabrò, Marketing Manager PFF25 Opening Night film, La La Land, leads in film nominations with fourteen, tying the modern musical with Titanic (1997) and All About Eve (1950) for most nominations. PFF25 Closing Night film, Arrival, scored eight nominations as did PFF25 Centerpiece Moonlight. Other top nominated films include PFF25 films […]

2017 Golden Globes List of Winners!  By Kait Calabrò, Marketing Associate  The PFF25 Opening Night film, La La Land, made Hollywood history last night winning SEVEN Golden Globes breaking the Globes record for the most wins for a film! Even the show’s host, Jimmy Fallon, could not help but get swept away in the allure of […]

PFS Staff’s Top Films of 2016! By the PFS Staff As 2016 comes to an end, some of the staff at the Philadelphia Film Society share their favorite films of year… J. Andrew Greenblatt, Executive Director – La La Land Arrival Midnight Special Hell or High Water Moonlight Top Underseen Films: Demolition Green Room The […]

PFS Staff Shares Their Favorite ‘Star Wars’ Memory!  By the PFS Staff  It may or may not surprise you but some members of the Philadelphia Film Society staff are HUGE nerds! So, of course, we were very excited at the news that Rouge One: A Star Wars Story would be playing at our home – the […]

FENCES From Stage to Film – It Only Took 31 Years! By Nancy Lee Kathan, Artistic Administrator – Prince Theater The film version of August Wilson’s Fences is a highly-anticipated event in my family. When I was a graduate student years ago, I had the privilege of working with August on several of his plays, including the 1985 World […]

Five Things You NEED To Know Before Seeing ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY By Kait Calabrò, Marketing Associate and Blogger-In-Chief Getting ready head down to the Prince Theater to see Rogue One? Well here is a short list of things you will need to know before you grab your popcorn and enter the theater! There Will Be […]

2017 Golden Globes List of Nominations! By Kait Calabrò, Marketing Associate  PFF25 Opening Night film, La La Land, leads in film nominations with seven followed by PFF25 Centerpiece film, Moonlight, with a total of six nominations. Check out the full list of nominations below: Best Motion Picture – Drama Hacksaw Ridge^ Hell or High Water Lion* […]

Get The College Experience at Philadelphia Film Festival! By Sophia Galvan, Marketing Intern  The 25th Annual Philadelphia Film Festival is just days away! Running October 20-30, this local tradition brings the best independent and international films of this year to Philly before they hit screens worldwide. #PFF25 welcomes filmmakers, industry professionals, and special guests to […]

This year’s milestone 25th Philadelphia Film Festival will take place from October 20 – 30, 2016. The Festival will once again spark a citywide appreciation of film featuring highly anticipated screenings, exclusive parties, special events and exciting guests, all while promoting Philadelphia as a place where film is flourishing. In addition to the highly anticipated […]