Owls were flying all over The 32nd Annual Philadelphia Film Festival!, and we wanted to highlight a few here!

Former FMA faculty member Irene Lusztig’s documentary film RICHLAND had a screening and Q&A session on Friday, Oct. 20th. Current professor Todd Chandler also served on the film as consulting editor.

Lusztig’s documentary delves into the heart of Richland, Washington, a city created by the U.S. government to shelter those working at the secret Hanford Nuclear Site to produce weapons-grade plutonium as part of the Manhattan Project. Richland proudly embraces its past, even immortalizing its atomic contribution in business names and the local high school’s “Bomber” mascot. Yet, RICHLAND peels back the layers to reveal a community grappling with the complex legacy they inherited. 

In the Shorts Program, the films BLUE SQUARE HEART and THE WORLD TAKES were screened twice over the opening weekend.

In BLUE SQUARE HEART, A drag queen is forced to reconsider his provocative art when his estranged, conservative mother makes a surprise appearance at his show in an attempt to reconnect. Ryan Kuna (‘19) served as the Director of Photography, and Luke Rihl and Dan Brady (both ‘17) camera operated and gaffed the movie.

In THE WORLD TAKES, directed by current MFA student Tommy Butler, the power is out, the heat is off, and the family car is on the back of a tow truck when Joop, at 11 years old, discovers the cost of living. 

The full-length film RUSTIN was also shown highlighted as a Centerpiece during the festival. Temple Journalism alum Colman Domingo stars in this rousing biographical drama, which shines a long-overdue spotlight on the contribution of trailblazing, openly gay civil rights activist Bayard Rustin. Rustin also featured the talents of Temple Theater alum, De’Vine Joy Randolph (‘10). 

And if you want more De’Vine Joy Randolph, PFF has the film THE HOLDOVERS where she stars alongside Paul Giamatti. A curmudgeonly instructor (Giamatti) at a New England prep school remains on campus during Christmas break to babysit a handful of students with nowhere to go. He soon forms an unlikely bond with a brainy but damaged troublemaker (Dominic Sessa) , and with the school's head cook, a woman who just lost a son in the Vietnam War (Randolph). 

Congratulations to every film featured in one of our favorite local festivals! Did we miss your contribution to the fest? Let us know at [click-for-email]