Oil Valley Film Festival facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Oil Valley Film Festival

Location	Oil City, Pennsylvania, United States
Founded	2015
Language	International, with English Subtitles

The Oil Valley Film Festival is an exciting yearly event that celebrates movies in Oil City, Pennsylvania. It's a place where filmmakers from all over the world can show their work.

The festival happens at the old National Transit Building and the Oil City Library. It features different types of films, including story-based movies (narrative films) and real-life stories (documentary films). Both long movies (feature-length) and short films are shown.

Some films are part of a competition, where judges pick the best ones. Other films are just shown for everyone to enjoy. People who watch the films can also vote for their favorites, and these "audience favorites" get special awards! The festival also has a competition for people who write movie scripts.

What Happens at the Festival?

The Oil Valley Film Festival usually runs for three days.

Day-by-Day Film Showings

• Day One: This day is all about short films chosen by the judges.
• Day Two: Long movies picked by the judges are shown. There's also a fun social event where filmmakers and audience members can meet and chat.
• Day Three: On the last day, the festival director picks a special group of films for everyone to watch.

Special Discussions with Filmmakers

Since 2017, the festival has also included 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.

History of the Festival

The Oil Valley Film Festival was started by Matt Croyle in 2015. His goal was to bring new and interesting movies to the Venango County, Pennsylvania area, which didn't have many chances to see non-mainstream films. The very first festival took place from September 1 to 3, 2016. It was the first international film festival of its kind in Pennsylvania's "Oil Region."

Matt Croyle wanted to show "art house" films. These are often independent movies that might not be shown in big cinemas. He wanted people in the area to experience these unique films.

Growing Popularity and Partnerships

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 first year, a film called A Better Place won the Audience Prize for best feature film. This movie was made in 1997 and was produced by Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier. Even though it wasn't in the main competition, the audience loved it the most! A short film called 'Mayfield' by Zach Daulton also won the Audience Prize for short films.

The festival quickly became popular. In its first year, it received movie submissions from 12 different countries across five continents!

On August 25, 2021, Filmocracy, a film organization, named the Oil Valley Film Festival one of the Top Ten Virtual Film Festivals for September. This was because the festival offered an online viewing option for people.

Famous Faces at the Festival

The 2022 festival featured many well-known actors. These included Oscar winners Cloris Leachman and Olympia Dukakis in their final movie roles. Other famous actors like Louis Gossett Jr., Tatum O’Neal, and George Chakiris also had films shown.

The 2023 festival continued to attract famous people. Actors like Abigail Breslin, Jacqueline Bisset, Tom Arnold, and Mercedes Ruehl appeared in films. Abigail Breslin even helped direct a TV pilot called 'Cannibals'. In 2023, the festival was only in-person and did not offer online viewing.

Online Screening Option

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Oil Valley Film Festival worked with a streaming service called Festivee. This allowed people to watch the selected films online from home.

The online viewing option continued for the 2021 festival. The festival director, Matt Croyle, has said he wants to keep the festival a mix of in-person and online. This way, people from all over the world can watch the films.

Notable Guests and Interviews

The festival often invites special guests from the film industry to share their experiences.

• 2020: Writer and director James Merendino (known for SLC Punk) and actor D.B. Sweeney (from movies like Eight Men Out and The Cutting Edge).
• 2021: Producer Natalie Metzger (who worked on Werewolves Within and The Beta Test) and screenwriter Jason Usry.
• 2022: Suzanne Romero, who is the Executive Director of The George A. Romero Foundation, along with filmmaker Al White and editor Michael Foster.
• 2023: Sarah Booth, a Canadian actor.

Award Winners

The Oil Valley Film Festival gives out many awards each year to recognize great movies and performances. Here are some of the winners from recent years: