The WilmFilm Festival will return to the Penn Cinema Riverfront for a second year on April 24-27 with screenings of 22 movies including six films with Delaware connections.
WilmFilm2014, produced by Barry’s Events, will open Thursday, April 24, with a 4 p.m. showing of Captain America as a fundraiser for the Delaware chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Also being screened Thursday, at 7 p.m., is The Streets of Harlem, a documentary produced by University of Delaware professor Yasser A. Payne.
The festival will continue April 25-27 with screenings of a diverse selection of independent films, documentaries, comedies and dramas.
Friday and Saturday night will close with a pair of classic “midnight movies,” The Fight Club, in its 15th anniversary year, on Friday and Monty Python and the Holy Grail on Saturday.
Within the festival, Serviam Media and Teleduction Inc. will present its annual Hearts and Minds film selections on Friday at 9 a.m., 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
“We’re making it easy for Delawareans — and everyone else — to see the films they want to see, all in one place, in a luxurious theater, over a single weekend,” says Barry Schlecker, the owner of Barry’s Events.
“We’re offering ‘movies that matter’ — films that entertain while delivering a compelling message. Dramas, comedies, documentaries, a selection of movies you should have seen in the past year — there’s something for every taste at the WilmFilm Festival,” Schlecker says.
Refreshments will be available inside the theater and from authorized food trucks in the theater’s parking lot. “See a movie, have a bite to eat, then see another movie. We’re making it easy for you to come and spend the day,” Schlecker says.
Guests may purchase tickets for the entire festival or for individual films online at wilmfilm.com. The festival pass is $75. Admission to individual films is $10. Tickets for individual films may also be purchased at the theater on the day of the showing.
Films with Delaware connections on the WilmFilm program include:
- The Streets of Harlem, a documentary produced by University of Delaware professor Yasser A. Payne.
- The Peoples’ Report, documentary on structural violence in Wilmington, focusing on the East Side and Southbridge neighborhoods and the work of University of Delaware professor Yasser A. Payne’s Participatory Action Research team.
- Give to Live, a documentary written and directed by University of Delaware doctoral student Justin De Leon on the impact of foreign aid and philanthropy on the people of Africa.
- Talking Sticks, an examination of the role of percussion and music in cultures around the world, produced by percussionist Arthur Lipner, a 1981 graduate of the University of Delaware.
- Delaware Shorts, a collection of six short films assembled by Lewes filmmaker Rob Waters.
- Head Case, a pseudo-documentary horror drama written and directed by Anthony Spadaccini of Claymont;
In addition to Captain America, Ghostbusters and The Fight Club, the program also includes:
- Gloria, set in Santiago, Chile, the story of a free-spirited older woman and her whirlwind relationship with a former naval officer whom she meets in clubs.
- Wadjda, the powerful story of a 10-year-old Saudi girl who challenges deep-rooted cultural traditions in her quest to buy a bicycle.
- Stranger by the Lake, an erotic French thriller that makes Basic Instinct look like a Nancy Drew story.
- Good Ol’ Freda, a documentary on Freda Kelly, the fiercely loyal secretary to the Beatles and president of the Fab Four’s first fan club.
- Generation Iron, from the producer of Pumping Iron, this documentary, narrated by Mickey Rourke and featuring an appearance by Arnold Schwarzenegger, follows eight professional bodybuilders as they train for the prestigious Mr. Olympia competition.
- Like Father, Like Son, a Japanese businessman learns that his biological son was switched with another child after birth and now must make a life-changing decision and choose his true son or the boy he has raised as his own.
- Le Week-End, a British couple return to Paris many years after their honeymoon there in an attempt to rejuvenate their marriage.
- Le Chef, French comedy about a veteran chef who faces off against his restaurant group’s new CEO, who wants to the establishment to lose a star from its rating in order to bring in a younger chef who specializes in molecular gastronomy.
- Ernest & Celestine, the story of an unlikely friendship between a bear, Ernest, and a young mouse named Celestine was nominated for an Academy Award as best animated feature.
- Kids for Cash, directed by Robert May, this documentary chronicles a scandal involving corrupt judges in Pennsylvania who sent thousands of youths to a detention center from which they received millions of dollars.
- The Great Beauty, after spending decades enjoying the nightlife in Rome, a journalist/novelist takes stock of his life when he turns 65 and finally discovers the city’s timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty.
- 20 Feet From Stardom, the 2014 Academy Award winner for Best Documentary Feature, explores the paradoxically anonymous and glamorous world of the backup singers who harmonize just beyond the spotlight.
- Philomena, with Judi Dench in her Oscar-nominated role as a woman searching for her son, who was taken away from her decades ago after she became pregnant and was forced to live in a convent.
- Bethlehem, a dramatic thriller, tells the story of the complex relationship between an Israeli Secret Service officer and his teenage Palestinian informant.
- Two-Sided Story, presented by the Jewish Federation of Delaware, a documentary that follows 27 Israelis, including settlers and soldiers, and Palestinians, including activists and prisoners, from different generations, backgrounds, and political persuasions as they meet, dialogue, and get to know each other as human beings.
For a schedule of screenings, go to wilmfilm.com
Sponsors for this year’s festival include: the American Cancer Society, Borsello Landscaping, Child Inc., the Delaware chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Delaware Substance Abuse and Mental Health, Del-One Federal Credit Union, Hearts & Minds Film, the Jewish Federation of Delaware, Lodge Lane Assisted Living, Matt Slap Subaru, the News Journal Media Group, the Pursers Office, Uniglobe Travel and the YMCA of Delaware.
