September 22 & 23, 2023

The 15th Annual Ashfield FilmFest!

We had a wonderful FilmFest with two nights of great films.  Applause goes to all who entered their creative work and to the audiences who filled the town hall. 

The Friday documentaries highlighted the work of two extraordinary women. The night opened with Alice: At Home with Alice Parker directed by Eduardo Montes-Bradley.  The film explored the life and work of pioneering world-renowned composer, conductor, and teacher Alice Parker, who lives in Hawley.  After the screening, Alice herself (still energetic at 97!) deftly led the audience in song which filled the upper town hall.

The second film of the evening was Ruth Stone’s Vast Library of the Female Mind, directed by Nora Jacobson, about the poet who nurtured a community of writers. Beloved by many, Ruth’s house in Goshen, Vermont became a mecca for students, poets, friends and family members. There she inspired people to make art and write, not only through activities such as the “poetry game”, but by providing solace and nurture, surrounded by nature and camaraderie. She visited Ashfield a number of times, often as the guest of Jan Freeman, who at the time published  Stone’s work through Paris Press. A post screening panel including local poets Jan Freeman and Abbot Cutler, was moderated by Buz Eisenberg. 

Saturday’s short film competition and gala event included 23 films, interspersed by very short (30 second) entries on the theme of “How do you say Hilltown?” The festive event was highlighted by the presence of the real life Baby Cecil B. DeMille who was born in Ashfield (played by the fabulous Pluto Kirilenko) who vamped at a selfie booth with audience members who donned top hats, boas, and glasses to have their picture taken with the iconic FilmFest mascot. 


This year’s short film winners are:

  • Youth: "Slo-Mo-Splash"  Wyeth Miller, Leo Sasso-Fallon, Indigo Coleminer, Elliott Franetovich

  • Music Video: "Good News"  Jake Slater

  • Documentary: "Take a Deep Breath"   Gerard McGovern and Tamsen Merrill

  • Animation: "Claude"  Peter J. Moser

  • Narrative: "Stitching Seams"  Andrea Rosel

  • Tip of the Hat: "Hilltown's Wildlife Highway"  Hilltown Land Trust

  • Grand Prize: "Dragon Skills"  Dave Russo and Madeline Leue

  • Audience Choice: "Dragon Skills"  Dave Russo and Madeline Leue

Many thanks to all the filmmakers and volunteers who came together to make this spectacular event. Thanks to the program advertisers and the Mass Cultural Council for supporting this wonderful community experience. Looking ahead to next year’s FilmFest, we will feature “How do you say Hilltown” entries that are 10 seconds or shorter, along with the usual 5 minutes or less short film competition.  Between now and then, we hope that many of you will be inspired to capture delightful moments on film to share with others!

The following review was anonymously submitted to FilmFreeway from one of the 2023 contributing filmmakers.

This was roughly my 20th festival in 2 years. Since Ashfield is such a little rural town and the films are supposed to have some sort of local connection, I was expecting it to be small and campy compared to the international fests that we'd just come from. I imagined it would be like attending an elementary school talent show. WOW was I surprised. 

The event was packed with enthusiastic energy of all ages. The films were extremely creative and diverse. Even after sitting for hours, I was just "more more more!". I mean, even the kids' projects were captivating.

The antics of the hosts and the overall experience of being there was just... big city level. They're too humble to flaunt it, but there is some big name Hollywood cred hidden in ranks. This is high art masquerading as a community pageant. Or perhaps community pageants are the new high art in this technological age. 

Everyone leaves in a good mood. Perhaps I'm reviewing the community as a whole, but after my second year attending, this is something I'm scheduling my calendar around from now on. 

View the program for the 2023 FilmFest.

 

The 2023 Ashfield FilmFest was made possible by support from Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.