Many made Film Festival successful

To the editor:

Fairfield 1st Fridays Art Walk is incredibly grateful to everyone who contributed this year to the February Film Festival of Iowan Shorts. This year?s film festival was different than previous festivals as it focused mainly on Iowan short films. These films were screened at six different locations around and near the Fairfield town square. Further, the films ran in continual loops so that participants could roam around and attend all of the films and walk in at any given time, sit down and enjoy the current short film. This concept took a lot of volunteers and hard work to make it such a success.

Art walk has a lot of individuals to thank for this year?s Film Festival and we would like to start by acknowledging the great films that were screened Friday evening and the people that created them. We have so much local and statewide talent here in Iowa! Thanks to all the incredible filmmakers that submitted their work for this festival; without their creativity and passion for filmmaking, we would not have had this event. We would like to extend a big thank you to the filmmakers that traveled to Fairfield to attend the film festival: Jimmy Driscoll, ?The Fence?; Kimberly Busbee, casting director; and Scott Siepker; ?Iowa Nice.? Kimberly and Scott also taught the TV and Film Auditioning Workshop on Saturday which had great attendance and was highly informative.

Art walk is very appreciative of the hospitality and enthusiasm of the film venues for this festival. The Fairfield Public Library, The Beauty Shop, The Carnegie Museum, Central Park Futon, Morning Star Studio and The Sondheim Center were all great locations to show films.

We would like to acknowledge the generosity of the Top of the Rock who supported the film festival by creating a wonderful filmmakers social after the event. The food and service was exceptional. We would like to thank the Mainstay Inn which graciously hosted the out of town filmmakers for the event. Further, attendees to the film festival were able to enjoy delicious popcorn thanks to the generosity of Dave Neff and Iowa State Bank.

Another huge thank you goes out to a dedicated group of filmmakers and film enthusiasts that were available from the start to assist in planning this event, lending support and giving advice: Kyle Hoff, Lívia Cole, and Jason Strong were the core team for this event. Further, a big shout of thanks goes to Jeremy Haug of Hawthorne Direct, ?technical knight in shining armor,? who provided technical assistance during the day of the event. Also a huge acknowledgement must go to Fairfield Media Center (FPAC) who was crucial to the success of this event. We are lucky to have such a community friendly and supportive organization in our town.

Last but not least, Fairfield 1st Fridays Art Walk wants to thank the community as a whole for attending this Film Festival and all other art walk events, without your community support, art walk would not be what it is.

? Dania De Bortoli, executive director, and the Fairfield 1st Fridays Art Walk Board of Directors