From the Bridgeport Film Fest:
With City Lights & Company as its fiduciary, the Bridgeport Film Fest is making “philanthropy through film” a priority in Bridgeport, CT. This nonprofit initiative is dedicated to the discovery, championing and development of independent filmmakers and audiences.
Through various programming the festival seeks to showcase, guide and inspire independent film and theatre artists from the Bridgeport community and beyond. Local audiences will be enriched by the films, workshops, panels discussions and other forms of artistic expression curated by the festival team and will ensure the promotion of Downtown Bridgeport to continue to thrive as a cultural artistic center.
Furthermore, we will give five Bridgeport high school seniors majoring in the arts and/or communications a $2,000 scholarship for pursuing higher education.
OUR VISION
The vision for the Bridgeport film festival is to establish Bridgeport as a diverse hub for filmmakers and other artists to showcase their talents. This will support the long-term goal of enhancing cultural and economic growth to the city of Bridgeport as well as fostering new generations of Artists.WHY BRIDGEPORT?
Bridgeport, CT is home to hundreds of working artists, musicians, performers, and creatives. Though art has been such an integral part of the history of this diverse and beautiful city, the film representation has not reached its full potential when there is clearly a market here. With New York City just a stone’s throw away, JayindaPub Productions, LLC is sponsoring the festival and bringing professional filmmakers to Bridgeport to help inspire local creatives to tell their story through visual media and help change the narrative of our city, with the support of our 2022 fiduciary sponsor local arts non-profit, City Lights Gallery. In 2021, we were an initiative of Groundwork Bridgeport, a wonderful non-profit in Bridgeport. This event would also bring business to the city through renting the principal screening venue and workshop locations, out-of-town guests staying at the Holiday Inn for the weekend, catering of local restaurants, printing services and of course giving graduating Bridgeport high school students a scholarship for higher education.
For tickets and schedule at The Klein Memorial Auditorium, see here.
EXCITING…………
“out of town guests staying at the Holiday Inn for the weekend.” Did I miss something? An opening or a re-opening? Just how much does having a downtown hotel mean to the largest city in the state?
What does it say when entertainment seems to be the major thrust of folks doing Economic Development on the public payroll? Aren’t these the folks who hear whispers before they become rumors, mutterings, discussions, and finally documents in multiple offices after a land or business deal?
Last night I attended a movie screened for a Bridgeport audience with immediate relevance to local people titled The FIRST STEP at The Bijou Theatre on Fairfield Avenue. It dealt with the struggle for criminal justice reform, and the lengths to which Van Jones went to find bi-partisan support across political and social divisions to make progress. Lyle and Lonny Jones and Louis Reed have Bridgeport history and the audience nearly filled the filming and discussion afterwards;
Listen to the dialogue. Eyes open to the action. A learning experience to tell a story of change? Time will tell.