GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – A total of 106 films and documentaries will be shown on the St. Norbert College campus between Thursday and Sunday.
For a second straight winter, the school is hosting the Green Bay Film Festival, which enters its seventh year.
While many of the films will focus on local and statewide issues, such as the growing drug epidemic and gang problems, Festival Director Cyndee Sweetland says works from around the world will be screened.
Sweetland believes its important to give festival goers a look into different cultures as those people are “no different from us despite living in a different place,” calling the insight into their lives “precious.”
Typically, Sweetland says over 30 countries are represented, expecting a similar number this year.
In addition to watching the films, Sweetland says attendees will have the opportunity to speak with roughly one-third of the filmmakers after the screenings and can also vote on their favorite films for the ‘Audience Choice Awards.’
Sweetland says the 106 films fall into a variety of categories including: animation, thriller/horror, children’s films, Native American films, and In Focus, which deals with social issues.
This year, Sweetland says there were over 400 entries for the festival. She says the panel considered the films’ story, casting, and technical quality when deciding which ones would make the cut.
Sweetland believes St. Norbert’s communications and film students benefit by having the festival on their campus as it gives them an opportunity to network with filmmakers and also learn more about the tools that are locally available to help them tell their stories through film.
A full event schedule and ticketing information is available at http://www.gbfilmfestival.org/.
