First-rate independent movies, the winning film from Spain's version of the Oscars and a documentary about Mississippi Delta blues musicians are among the movies playing at Delaware's longest running and largest film festival.
The Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival is back for it’s 17th edition of celebrating all things cinema beginning Wednesday. Features, shorts, and a regional showcase devoted to Mid-Atlantic filmmakers are among the films playing at this year’s movie marathon.
Festival Director Joe Bilancio says he expects to see a lot of movie fans in Sussex County over the course of the 5-day event.
“This really is sort of one of the premier events in the area, and people really look forward to it. They take vacation time. People entrust us that we’re going to show great things and they just say ‘I’m on board’ and they come out and buy tickets and it’s really just a great unique event in the area.”
Among the 89 films being screened over the course of the festival include several with regional ties. “Point and Shoot,” which won the Best Documentary feature at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival, chronicles an epic journey taken by former Fenwick Island resident, Matthew Van Dyke.
“The film is about Matthew, who sort of does a life check and says what do I want to do, and what’s my next big adventure? And it turns out that he motorcycles around Africa and gets involved in the Libyan rebel fighting,” says Bilancio. “It’s a remarkable film and there are moments of it that are just so poignant and to think that this was once my neighbor.”
The Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival runs Wednesday through Sunday.
The movies will be screened at Movies at Midway on Route 1, north of Rehoboth Beach and Cape Henlopen High School’s new 800-seat auditorium in Lewes.
This piece is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.