HUNTINGTON – The grand movie palace known as the Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center is playing host to a new curated one-day feast of film called Regional Reels.
Sponsored by Encova, and presented as part of The Marshall Artists Series season, Regional Reels is a three-film fest that will take place on Saturday, March 4. Audience members will also have the opportunity to discuss each film with the filmmakers during post-film discussions.
There are no advanced ticket sales but can be purchased at the door starting at noon, Saturday, March 4 in the Keith-Albee lobby. Tickets are $10 per film and free to full-time Marshall students with a valid student ID. Movie concessions, including adult beverages, will be available in the lobby.
Films included in the festival are: Peerless City, Picture Proof and The Wake Up Call. Due to unforeseen post-production delays, the previously announced screening of The Good Fight has been canceled.
Here’s a closer look at the films being screened.
Peerless City
Portsmouth, Ohio was once promoted as the “peerless city,” brimming with industry. Built on the banks of the Ohio River, people came for opportunity. Since then, the city has weathered problems and changed slogans. This film explores how Portsmouth’s regional and community identity has evolved along with the city’s slogans. The central question of the documentary: “what role do these slogans play in constructing the identity (and therefore the narrative) of the place?”
Peerless City (1 hour and 17 minutes) screens at 12:30 p.m. Filmmaker Amanda Page will lead the post-film discussion about the film which the Ohio Local History Alliance (OLHA) awarded the History Outreach Award for Media and Publications.
Watch the Peerless City trailer here:
Picture Proof
Picture Proof is a documentary that examines the inter-generational impact of addiction by chronicling the love, labor, loss, and uncertainty of one woman’s struggle to live a life of sobriety. Weaving together moments of glee, fulfillment, acceptance, sorrow, and disappointment, the film takes an intimate look at the bonds that hold one family together and a disease that threaten to tear them apart.
Picture Proof is a testament to a life worth documenting, the love and labor of recovery, and the beauty and potential each life holds.
Picture Proof (1 hour and 50 minutes) screens at 2:30 p.m. Filmmakers Tijah Bumgarner, Jena Seiler, and film participant Debi Ellis Page will lead the post-film discussion.
Watch the Picture Proof Trailer here
The Wake Up Call
Cabin Creek, WV native Dave Evans was a renowned prosthetist, humanitarian, and peace activist. At age 18, Dave lost both legs below the knees during the Vietnam War. He dedicated his post-military career to fitting thousands of people with artificial legs, arms, and hands in conflict zones across the world. He was committed to transforming lives shattered by these seemingly never-ending, interchangeable wars. Dave passed away at age 68 in Guatemala in 2020.
The Wake Up Call premiered at the Boston International Film Festival in April 2022, was screened at the West Virginia International Film Festival, and won the Audience Award at Newburyport Documentary Film Festival.
Award-winning Boston filmmakers Alison Gilkey and Eric Neudel are the creative team (producer and director) behind the critically-acclaimed Independent Lens film “Lives Worth Living.” They also served as film envoys, film experts, and speakers for the US Department of State’s cultural exchange programs, including the American Film Showcase. Gilkey and Neudel also curated America’s Disability Rights Museum on Wheels which has been touring the country since 2015.
The Wake Up Call (1 hour and 10 minutes) screens at 5:30 p.m. Filmmakers Alison Gilkey and Eric Neudel will lead the post-film discussion.
Watch The Wake Up Call trailer here:
https://www.thewakeupcallfilm.com/trailer
To view movie trailers and to download the film schedule visit www.marshallartisseries.org. Additional sponsors include iHeart Radio, WSAZ, and The Herald Dispatch.
