CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Thirty-nine short films from across Appalachia will be screened free in a historic West Virginia theater in October as a growing regional film festival opens its doors to audiences without an admission charge.
The Mtn Craft Film Festival will return Oct. 2–4 to the Robinson Grand Performing Arts Center in downtown Clarksburg, where films selected from 80 submissions will screen alongside workshops, an art exhibition and a tribute to late West Virginia filmmaker Danny Boyd.
Festival director Ben Berry said submissions came from a broad swath of Appalachia and that he believes entries arrived from nearly every Appalachian state. He said the 80 short-film submissions may be the most the festival has received in a single year.
“We’ve seen that group of filmmakers that submit grow every single year,” Berry said.
The festival, first held in 2023, showcases films made by Appalachian filmmakers, shot in Appalachia or reflecting the region and its heritage. Berry said filmmakers who have participated in previous years are increasingly returning with new work, while word of mouth is bringing the festival to others’ attention.
“When we started, obviously we were a new festival,” Berry said. “Nobody knew who we were.”
Organizers initially had to work to find filmmakers and solicit submissions, he said. Now, previous participants are returning and telling other filmmakers about the event.
Festival eliminates $20 admission charge
A significant change this year will occur at the theater doors: there will be no admission charge.
Berry said title sponsors Coat of Arms and Deal Solver by Bid Lightning provided support that allowed organizers to eliminate the previous $20 admission fee.
“Everything is completely free,” Berry said.
The idea was influenced in part by Berry’s visit earlier this year to the Boondocks Film Festival at Appalachian State University, where admission was free because of the festival’s relationship with the university.
Berry said he was struck by the variety of people who attended when admission was free.
“Just seeing the sort of unique fabric of the community that showed up because it was free, it really just hit home,” Berry said. “I was like, I want to do this for our festival. I want to figure out a way to eliminate tickets and just to open it up.”
Berry said organizers hope eliminating the charge will attract people who might be curious about a film festival but previously would not have paid $20 simply to find out what one was like.
They also hope it brings a larger audience into the theater for the filmmakers.
“We’d love to pack the house for these filmmakers that worked so hard to make these films,” Berry said.
Read also: Filmmaker got lost looking for Virginia location and found his movie in West Virginia
Robinson Grand gives festival a home
The Robinson Grand Performing Arts Center has played an important role in allowing the festival to develop in Clarksburg, Berry said.
The restored downtown theater provides screening facilities and a venue of a scale that would otherwise be difficult for organizers to secure.
“The Robinson Grand and the staff have just been such big supporters from day one,” Berry said.
Having a venue of its size and quality available as a partner is significant, he said, because organizers would otherwise struggle to find comparable screening facilities for the event.
Programming has expanded as the festival has grown. Berry said four workshops with film professionals are planned this year, including a session involving an industry professional coming from Los Angeles.
The festival is also developing connections between filmmaking and other visual arts.
Frameworks, an on-site gallery curated by Harrison County-area artist Betsy Spellman, will exhibit individual still frames selected from films accepted into the festival.
Each of the 39 accepted films was invited to submit a favorite frame. Selected images will be printed and displayed as individual works, allowing visitors to examine an image conceived by a director and cinematographer apart from the film’s movement and sound.
“It’s just another way for people to kind of appreciate film, but in a still frame,” Berry said.
Danny Boyd to be honored with ‘Paradise Park’
Sunday’s Heritage Screening will turn attention to the legacy of the late Danny Boyd, a West Virginia filmmaker and educator whose work helped develop filmmaking in the state.
The program is expected to begin with material introducing audiences to Boyd’s work beyond his feature films, followed by a discussion led by his daughter, Danielle Boyd.
Larry Gross and Steve Gillian are scheduled to participate in the panel, which will include stories about Boyd and discussion of his life, filmmaking, and influence. Audience members will also have an opportunity to ask questions.
The program will conclude with a screening of Paradise Park, Boyd’s 1991 feature film.
Berry worked with Boyd on the film Ambrosia and said Boyd’s influence extended beyond the movies he made.
“Danny’s impact in the filmmaking community—he was committed to education,” Berry said. “He was committed to promoting filmmaking in the state.”
That made Boyd a natural choice for the festival’s Heritage Screening, he said.
“We felt like it was the least we could do to pick him as our honoree for the Heritage Block this year.”
Appalachian filmmakers return with new work
The 39 selected short films will screen Friday and Saturday, organizers said. Winning filmmakers will participate in a live question-and-answer session at the end of the festival.
The Cultural Foundation of Harrison County serves as the festival’s fiscal sponsor, while the Robinson Grand is its venue partner. Short Story Brewing will return as the official beer sponsor with the festival’s Audience Choice IPA, and Almost Heaven Desserts will serve as its coffee and food vendor.
For Berry, the growing festival reflects the unusual combination of creativity, work and persistence required to make films in the first place.
“It’s almost an industry that shouldn’t work, but it does somehow,” he said.
What keeps it working, Berry said, is “a mix of passion and art and craftsmanship.”
The Mtn Craft Film Festival runs Oct. 2–4 at the Robinson Grand Performing Arts Center in Clarksburg. Admission is free. Festival organizers share schedules, workshop information, and short-film details at MtnCraftFilmFestival.com.