All Access Silver Pass
JOIN BLACK BEAR FOR THE
SILVER ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL
OCTOBER 18 - 20, 2024
AT THE MILFORD THEATER
***All credit cards and platform charges included in price***
(To avoid charges, pay $225.00 per pass by check and mail to BBFF at P. O. Box 986, Milford PA 18337. Include phone number or email on your check so we can confirm your purchase)
Have access to all film events from Opening Night on Friday to the awards ceremony on Sunday at 3:00pm! Includes a hard cover copy of Connecticut in the Movies by Illeana Douglas for her book signing event.
See full schedule of films below:
Main Stage Schedule
Milford Theater
Friday, October 18
6:00pm - Silver & Black Gala Reception
7:30pm - Burying The Hatchet - The Tom Quick Story
Documentary
Produced by Sean Strub, Written and Directed by Christopher King, Associate Producer, Daniel Strongwalker Thomas
For more than 200 years, the Borough of Milford, a small county seat in northeast Pennsylvania, venerated Tom Quick Jr., who was in 1733 the first white child born in the region. Quick was famous for having murdered Delaware (Lenni Lenape) Indians in the upper Delaware River Valley, after having witnessed his father’s death at the hands of the Lenape.
In the decades following, Tom Quick became part of local lore, lionized in books, articles, songs and on stage. In 1889, an eight-foot zinc obelisk monument was erected in Milford in his honor. Over time, the monument increasingly became a point of deep conflict and re-evaluation, especially in recent years.
This new documentary puts history in context and tells the fascinating story of how the community of Milford sought to redress an ugly chapter in history. It began with Milford’s Mayor, Sean Strub, who reached out to the leadership of the Lenni Lenape tribes that had been dislocated from their Milford homeland in the late 18th century and invited them to discuss how this history could be responsibly addressed.
Burying The Hatchet: The Tom Quick Story is about how one largely white community and disenfranchised tribal leaders worked together to reconcile the past and forge a shared path forward to reestablish a Lenape presence in Lenapehoking, their original land, based on trust, friendship and an inspiring and healing vision of the future.
Saturday, October 19
11:00am - The Refugee
Drama, 1:41m
Directed by Johnny Greenlaw
Director Johnny Greenlaw gives us a compelling heartrending story of Eva, a young girl in Iraq. She and her family desire a life different than the one she knows, one filled with the freedoms that we Americans enjoy. As her entire family is murdered, American troops come to fight and rescue them, but they are too late. One brave soldier saves her, giving her the cross from his neck, inscribed with his initials. Years later, as an adult now living in the U.S., living with her hardworking uncle, Eva feels the need to locate the man who saved her life. A lovely film, exploring the idea of the American Dream.
1:00pm - Tim Stead, Magician With Wood
Documentary 1:29m
Directed by Beatrix Wood
Award winning screenwriter and director, Beatrix Wood, of Scotland designed a touching documentary on Tim Stead, a legend of our time in his native country. Scotsman Stead crafts his woodwork creations, including handmade fine furniture, sculptures and even his own home. Freely giving his time, care and skills to other artists, we hear them praise this talented man. Then tragedy strikes and his wife makes a decades long and painful struggle to save his art, his reputation and their home for posterity. A must see, especially for all talented souls who craft original beauty with their own two hands and for all those who appreciate a battle to save excellence for future generations.
3:00pm - Classic Film Screening - Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
Comedy CLASSIC MOVIE with special guest Illeana Douglas, hosted by author/film historian John DiLeo.
A quintessential post-war look at the American Dream, the delightful Mr. Blandings follows one family’s hilarious tribulations after they trade their cramped NYC apartment for an 18th-century fixer-upper in Connecticut. Advertising man Cary Grant and his wife Myrna Loy will soon become mired in a money pit because their unsalvageable historic home leads to the costly creation of their eventual dream house. Playing their best friend and lawyer is suave Melvyn Douglas, the two-time Oscar-winning actor and the grandfather of actress, author, and filmmaker Illeana Douglas. After the movie, Ms. Douglas will join Mr. DiLeo onstage to speak about her career (Cape Fear, To Die For), her grandfather’s career (Ninotchka, Hud), and her new book Connecticut In The Movies: From Dream Houses to Dark Suburbia, which gives Mr. Blandings its own chapter.
Join her immediately after the event for a book signing in our hospitality tent, with copies of Connecticut In The Movies available for purchase.
6:30pm - Nobody Wants To Shoot A Woman
Drama 1:32
Directed by Kerry Ann Enright
Writer, Director and Producer, Kelly Ann Enright brings us her original, offbeat drama with touches of ironic comedy, as middle aged, lower middle class, Mary, (Tina Benko), finds herself trapped in her new ‘dream house’ gifted to her by her lying and abusive gangster husband. When Mary and her son witness her husband’s murder, she seeks employment with no skills or education, joining a gang of thieves. Mary finds herself doing ‘just one last job’ after another, desperate to hide her new criminal life from her young son and her best friend, an admiring police detective. How will she handle those she loves, those she fears and possibly get vengeance on her husband’s enemies? A hard boiled, entertaining mixture of oddball characters, desperation and determination by a woman wronged, with touches of “Bonnie and Clyde”, “Wanda” and “Fun With Dick and Jane” all wound up into one smoothly done, but tough drama.
8:30pm - Thelma
Comedy
Thelma Post (June Squibb) is a 93-year-old grandmother who loses $10,000 to a con artist pretending to be her grandson on the phone. With help from a friend and his motorized scooter, she soon embarks on a treacherous journey across Los Angeles to reclaim what was taken from her.
Sunday, October 20
11:00 - And Through The Portal We Go
Drama 1:23m
Directed by Mike Hayhurst
Director, Mike Hayhurst, brings us this clever, quirky comedy with touches of satire. Three characters, Katie (Sarah Goeke, Craig (Joseph Lymous and Mikey (Taylor Curtis), have been living with other cult members on their group journey to bring themselves to spiritual perfection, Their leader, Yom, and other followers have supposedly gone through a mystical portal in the woods, never being seen again. Each day, they wake up believing they will enter and cross over to a heavenly existence, only to find themselves in a sort of Twilight Zone, repeating the same day, over and over. How does one find the perfect peace within one’s soul and with each other, when you must start each day again from scratch? As their patience thins, so does their tolerance for each other, while our enjoyment of this eccentric trio’s dilemma increases. Make no mistake, this is not a tragic cult, but a light hearted look at an attempt for a stress free, careless existence…but where?
12:45 - Short Block 1:22
The Suit
Drama Short 20m
Directed by Carol McCann
Grandmother and granddaughter go on a quest to find the best suit for Grandpa, despite her daughter’s offer to also assist. While looking for that ‘perfect fit’ they get to bond sharing a generational family experience, often with a different outlook from the rest of us.
Go For Grandma
Drama Short 34m
Directed by Sabrina Doyle
Inspired by the iconic 80’s fantasy films, Go For Grandma is a magical journey into the mind of a young boy who escapes a traumatic home life through the power of his imagination and his grandmother’s fables.
Bar Boy
Drama Short 20m
Directed by Bryan Powers
Gary is a realistic man in his 60’s faced with a reality that many single older people of any persuasion must confront; growing older and less ‘marketable’ in romance. When he meets 20 something, handsome Julian at a local gay bar, they both may learn from each other and find mutual respect. Black Bear is proud to have a member of our film committee, Keith LaPan, in the role of Gary.
The Purple Umbrella
Thriller Short 8m
Directed by Dennis Sema
A young, curious man becomes intrigued with the recent unsolved murders committed across the country. The only clue is the sighting of a mysterious person, face unseen, carrying a vivid purple umbrella. Our own Black Bear intern, Dennis Sema, produces, directs and acts in the film, showing us how to craft a short indie film with little funds but clever touches of Hitchcock, Truffaut and a bit of Film Noir.
3:00pm - Awards & Closing Ceremony
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