The calendar has turned from 2010 to 2011 (and from January to February, I just noticed. When the hell did that happen?). We here at the Lancaster Area Film Festival are hard at work getting ready to program the third edition of our fest celebrating independent film in Lancaster.

I doubt you can call it work, however, as we are watching the films submitted to the festival. This is by far our favorite part (after all, how else can we get away with watching movies all day?). And this year we have a lot of quality entries. There is true talent out there. It not only entertains, but at least in my case, it inspires. After each viewing session, I’ve immediately wanted to go out, pick up my camera and start shooting. We are going to have a very hard time whittling down the field this year. I wish we had the ability to show all of them.

In late January we got a nice surprise for the festival. I literally jumped out of my recliner. I was so excited that I almost knocked my poor 2-year-old daughter over. I think our festivalgoers and fellow filmmakers will be delighted by it. The surprise is…

…On hold for a couple of weeks. But I guarantee you’ll like it.

Speaking of screening the films, we will once again hold the fest at Penn Cinemas in Lititz. We had a great time and Penn, the owner, was as enthusiastic about having us back as we are about coming back. There’s nothing like seeing your films exhibited on the big screen in front of an audience.

As the festival nears, check back with LAFF’s website often, as we will have updates and other surprises. And as a reminder, the festival will be held Saturday, April 9. 



The 2010 Lancaster Area Film Festival saw some changes as compared to the inaugural event. The largest of which was a venue switch. Last year, Penn Cinema joined forces with our little Festival and we will continue to grow with them in 2011.

Our selection process was almost overwhelmed with the amount of entrants we received for 2010 and we are already gearing up for, what we hope, will be an even bigger and better event for 2011.

The folks from "Mad Believer" had a table set up to greet their fans as did Pat Dougherty with some of his crew from "Somebodies" and "The Belittled".

There were several other filmmakers in attendance and many of the fans of Independent and Armature cinema had fun meeting and talking with them.

There was even a short, on the scene, documentary filmed for "Jimmy's Travel Blog": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JZymgeYnzY

We here at The Lancaster Area Film Festival would like to thank everyone who submitted their had work.  We would also like to thank the guys at THELANCAST. That was one fun interview.

http://www.thelancast.com/lancaster-area-film-festival

And, of course, a huge thank you to Penn Cinema. http://www.penncinema.com/ 

But we would like to make an extra special thank you to all those who came out in support of our second yearly event and hope that you all had a great time. We also hope that you bring all your friends to the 2011 Lancaster Area Film Festival.  We are working hard to make each year better than the last, and with the caliber of films that we are receiving, plus such a great facility... half our work is already done.

Thanks again, and I hope to see you all next year!

                                                                                Mark Pennell

Well, it's that time of year again when a young film maker's fancy turns toward submitting the film that they have poured themselves into to various film festivals.  Yes it is a magical time where the fruits of one’s labors are scrutinized by complete strangers so that they may hopefully be accepted for display. Put forth to the discerning masses and dare we wish.... one step closer to fame and legitimacy.

Last year's inaugural Lancaster Area Film Festival was one such fest where no less than 38 film makers were accepted to show their wares.  The presentation went off without a hitch. The films looked beautiful and the throngs of eager viewers had a great time experiencing them.  There were concessions to be purchased for refreshment while Wayne Tompson and his band Plan 9 provided the sound track for an exciting evening.  Authors Brian Keen and J.F. Gonzalez were on hand to meet, greet, and sign their works, and Lancaster Barnstormers mascot, Cylo, as well as a few Storm Troopers stopped by to help add to the festive nature of the night’s proceedings.

Overall I would have to say that the night was a great success and a huge thank you goes out, from all of us, to all who helped and attended our first foray into film festival-ree. Say those last 5 words 10 times, fast. And I'm pretty sure "festival-ree" isn't even a real word.

Now, on to year two!

We are pleased to announce that we have found a new ally in Penn Cinemas. The event will be held in a state of the art facility with professional sound and projecting equipment.  The finer points and details are still being hammered out so keep checking in for updates and news as we come closer to our second year of bringing producers of film art together with those who appreciate it.

Mark Pennell.

Well, tonight (March 6) Bryan and myself (Mark) made our way, once again, to downtown Lancaster for First Friday.

I would just like to thank everyone who we spoke to for being so positive and responding with such interest. Thank you especially for those of you who have allowed us to post our flyers. We are really hoping to make this a regular local event and the more visibility we can achieve the better. With your help I believe this is going to be a great event.

I've got to say, talking with local merchants and seeing the turn out for these nights that I plan on attending many more First Fridays in the future. I had heard of this movement building over the past few years and had held a curiosity for checking it out, "one of these days," but had just never gotten around to it. I feel a bit ashamed of this because I was born and raised in Lancaster. I used to drive the loop in the late 80's and quite frankly that was the only time I had ever seen any large scale interest in the downtown area. I had known for years of all the cool shops and restaurants in the area. I used towork in the city as a delivery driver for D.H.L. from 2000 to 2006. After I had left that job I moved to Lititz and on to another profession. Just as I was leaving D.H.L. though,First Friday's was beginning to take off. I regret that it took me this long to discover how vibrant the city was becoming.

I am very excited that our little project is going to be held in the city and feel proud that we have the opportunity to become a small part of this revitalized interest in the beautiful city of Lancaster.

I hope see you at the Festival, and again, and again at future Friday events!

Mark Pennell.

We have had some confusion with our submission process. With this being our first festival, for many reasons, we were unable to fully partner with Withoutabox. Withoutabox is a film submission resource for both filmmakers and film festivals. The Lancaster Area Film Festival has a listing with Withoutabox but not the availability for filmmakers to submit their films through Withoutabox. Unfortunately this confused many filmmakers. They were waiting for the submission process to be activated whit Withoutabox, which never happened and therefore they missed the due date for submitting their film.

So in the sprit of independent film we have decided to extend our submission date to March 14, 2009. We have also decided to add a late submission deadline of March 31, 2009.

Bryan