ARTSQUEST’S GREATER LEHIGH VALLEY FILMMAKER FESTIVAL SET FOR 10TH EDITION WITH ADJUSTED FORMAT

Online-only events highlighted by talk with actor/director Daniel Roebuck

BETHLEHEM, PA – After ten years of highlighting submitted films from the region’s moviemakers, ArtsQuest’s Greater Lehigh Valley Filmmaker Festival (GLVFF) is back for 2021 – specifically Mar. 31-Apr. 3 – with an adjusted online-only format set to celebrate some of the best films of the decade while also discussing the future of filmmaking. All GLVFF events are free of charge and will be produced via Zoom while simulcast on Facebook Live via the Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas page; interested patrons can either register to be a part of an event’s Zoom call or watch via Facebook.

On Saturday, Apr. 3 at 1 p.m. actor/director Daniel Roebuck, a Bethlehem native, will sit down with GLVFF Director (and ArtsQuest Cinema Specialist) Anthony DeSanctis to discuss his career in movies, including his plan to make the Lehigh Valley a hub for filmmaking in the future. Roebuck, who made his directorial debut with the Lehigh Valley-shot “Getting Grace,” has just under 250 acting credits to his name in a career that has spanned five decades.

Later that same day – 3 p.m. on Apr. 3 – Emmaus native Stephanie Gardner will discuss her project “33 and Me,” an international television series wherein Gardner travels to different countries to engage with film directors who are also in their thirties, exploring their lives, careers and cultures. Gardner, now based in Taos, N.M., has written, directed and produced over twenty short films, including the 2015 GLVFF Best in Show winner “If I Had a Piano (I’d Play You the Blues).”

Other GLVFF 2021 events include Reel Winners, a two-part series of compilation reels featuring GLVFF winning projects from the last decade, followed by Q&A sessions with the filmmakers; panel discussions on documentary filmmaking and budgeting for independent films; a presentation of documentaries filmed by Kutztown University students during the first full semester of the COVID-19 pandemic; and Reel Memories, an interactive discussion all about the passion of the cinema-going experience.

“We couldn’t ignore the fact that this year the GLVFF turns ten, so we wanted to do something special for the occasion,” said DeSanctis. “Panels and discussions are ideas we’ve toyed with for a few years now, so I’m very excited to introduce these new formats to the festival and will look into how we can keep them in for future editions. We are all hoping next year’s festival will be in-person and that we’ll be again accepting new submissions to exhibit in our theater as we know how much it means to filmmakers to see their work projected onto our big screen.”

Below is the full schedule for GLVFF 2021:

Wednesday, Mar. 31
8 p.m. GLVFF Reel Winners: Part 1

Thursday, Apr. 1
8 p.m. GLVFF Reel Winners: Part 2

Friday, Apr. 2
7:30 p.m. Managing Movie Magic: Budgeting as an Independent Filmmaker
9:30 p.m. Reel Memories

Saturday, Apr. 3
1 p.m. A Conversation with Daniel Roebuck
3 p.m. The “33 and Me” Film Project: A Discussion with Stephanie Gardner
5 p.m. Kutztown University Student Showcase presented by Jennifer Suwak
7 p.m. Windows to the World: A Documentary Filmmaking Appreciation Panel

The Greater Lehigh Valley Filmmaker Festival is a program of ArtsQuest’s Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas (FBAC), a two-screen independent cinema located within the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks. They will celebrate the 10th anniversary of their opening on Apr. 15, 2021. The FBAC is currently open for both public screenings and private rentals; more information on both can be found at www.steelstacks.org/film.