The Maumee Indoor Theater, FilmToledo and the Maumee Uptown Business Association join forces to bring back The Maumee Film Festival, Friday, Sept. 27, through Sunday, Sept. 29. This is the Festival’s first year back since the pandemic in 2020, featuring films from local and national independent filmmakers.
Supporting local filmmakers
Anyone can submit a film and the Festival is open to any genre or length.
FilmToledo’s Michael DeSanto, who has been involved since the Festival’s inception in 2015, says there are more than 40 submissions. Teaming with Sara Eiden, Maumee Indoor Theater’s supervisor of theater operations, who DeSanto explains has been instrumental in bringing more community-based activity to the Theater.
At a time when streaming is king and the future of in-person movie-going is uncertain, one thing remains consistent: Filmmakers want to see their film play in a theater with an audience. Currently, even mainstream movies have very short runs in theaters before being made available on streaming. According to DeSanto, “We want to bring back actual movie goers, so it’s crucial to have more opportunities, even at the local level, to get films shown and bring the public back to a movie-going experience. Movies are starting to be treated like content — they aren’t content; they’re an experience.”
Shaping the festival
Currently the Festival organizers are in the process of categorizing submissions and securing judges. “In the past we’ve had Eric Kripke, the writer/creator of The Boys, who is from Toledo, and Katie Holmes, as judges. Once we get all the films in, we will decide what the shape of the film festival will be. Friday night will be the kickoff party, which is a great networking opportunity, and will probably be at the Maumee Indoor Theater,” explains DeSanto.
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Sarah Eiden has been with the Maumee for four years and has been regularly asked the question “When will the film festival be back?” Eiden says there will be every kind of film, from five minute shorts to feature length. “What I’m excited about is the variety of films and where they’re coming from. In addition to local filmmakers, we’re getting submissions from Florida, California, Michigan and even Canada. It’s really cool that we are having that much reach,” Eiden said.
Maintaining interest in film
“With the increase in casting calls and filmmaking in the area, we will include some educational seminars with industry professionals on things like set etiquette,” Eiden said. “People want to know ‘How do I get into acting or working in film?’ So the festival is an opportunity to incorporate information about the industry.”
A larger goal is to get the public back to the movies and understanding the value of a theater experience. While Hollywood isn’t doing a great job of that right now, it falls to film festivals and independent theaters to keep the art form alive. Eiden has been working on special programming through series like Saturday Morning Cartoons (showing kids movies every Saturday morning at 10 am) and Tuesday Teen Throwbacks (showcasing classic teen movies). She also added local filmmaker shorts before last year’s Halloween movie screenings — a great way to get people back into the theater and support local filmmakers.
The Maumee Film Festival, Friday, Sept. 27, through Sunday, Sept. 29. Maumee Indoor Theater, 601 Conant St. maumeeindoor.com/maumeefilmfestival. filmtoledo.com/festivals
