Oil Valley Film Festival facts for kids
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| Location | Oil City, Pennsylvania, United States |
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| Founded | 2015 |
| Language | International, with English Subtitles |
The Oil Valley Film Festival is an exciting yearly event held in Oil City, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It's a special gathering where people can watch and celebrate all kinds of movies, from short films to full-length features, made by filmmakers from America and around the world.
This festival takes place in historic buildings like the National Transit Building and the Oil City Library. It has different parts, including competitions for both American and international movies. These movies can be either narrative films (which tell a story) or documentary films (which show real-life events). Both long movies and short movies are shown.
Besides the official awards given by a jury, the audience also gets to vote for their favorite movies. These "Audience Favorite" films receive special prizes! The festival also has a competition for screenwriting, which is the art of writing scripts for movies.
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What Happens at the Festival?
The Oil Valley Film Festival is packed with movie fun over three days.
Day-by-Day Fun
- Day One: This day is all about short films chosen by a jury. These are usually quick, creative movies that tell a story in a short amount of time.
- Day Two: On the second day, you can watch the longer feature films that have been chosen by the jury. After the movies, there's a social event where filmmakers and audience members can meet and chat about the films.
- Day Three: The final day features a special collection of films picked by the festival's director. It's a chance to see unique movies that might not be in the competition.
Talking About Movies
Since 2017, the festival has also included special discussion panels. These are like Q&A sessions where filmmakers, actors, and producers talk about their movies and answer questions. The topics for these discussions change each year, making every festival unique.
Festival History
The Oil Valley Film Festival was started in 2015 by a person named Matt Croyle. His goal was to bring new and interesting movies to the Venango County, Pennsylvania area, which didn't have many opportunities to see non-mainstream films. The very first festival happened from September 1st to 3rd, 2016.
This festival is the first international film festival of its kind in Pennsylvania's "Oil Region." Matt Croyle wanted to show "art house" movies to people who might not normally get to see them. These are often independent films that are different from big Hollywood blockbusters.
Early Success
When the festival first started, it got attention from important movie magazines and groups. This led to partnerships with companies like Videomaker Magazine and The Writers Store.
In its very first year, the festival had a big success! An audience favorite award for a feature film went to Vincent Pereira for his 1997 movie, A Better Place. This film was produced by famous filmmakers Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier. Even though A Better Place wasn't in the main jury competition, the audience loved it the most! Another filmmaker, Zach Daulton from Ohio, won the short film Audience Prize for his movie Mayfield.
In its first year, the Oil Valley Film Festival received movie submissions from twelve different countries across five continents! This shows how quickly it became a global event.
Changes for 2020
In 2020, the Oil Valley Film Festival had to make some temporary changes because of the COVID-19 pandemic. To keep everyone safe, the festival partnered with a streaming service called Festivee. This allowed people to watch the selected films digitally from their homes, instead of going to the physical event.
Award Winners
Each year, the Oil Valley Film Festival gives out many awards to celebrate the best films and the talented people who make them. These awards recognize excellence in different categories, such as:
- Best Picture: For the top narrative (story-telling) and documentary films, both long and short.
- Best Director: For the person who did the best job guiding the film.
- Best Actor/Actress: For outstanding performances in lead and supporting roles.
- Outstanding Cinematography: For the best camera work and visual style.
- Best Editing: For how well the film was put together.
- Outstanding Screenwriting: For the best movie scripts in the screenwriting competition.
- Audience Choice Award: For the films that were most loved by the people watching the festival.
Many talented filmmakers and actors have won awards at the Oil Valley Film Festival over the years, showcasing a wide range of creative movies from around the world.
