Indie Film Fest hosted its fourth-year annual festival in downtown Phoenix, bringing the community together over the weekend to celebrate being back in person.
After a year of being online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Indie Film Fest came back to downtown Phoenix to shed light on local and international stories last Thursday through Saturday.
“There were too many situations where women filmmakers, people of color, LGBTQ+ community not getting representation in the film festivals,” Matty Steinkamp, the founder of Indie Film Fest, said. Indie Film Fest creates a platform for independent filmmakers and also “shines a light on groups of filmmakers that are typically not selected, or underrepresented in the film festival market,” Steinkamp said.
Independent filmmakers often struggle to seek funding and other support for stories featuring underrepresented groups, a study by the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California about the barriers in filmmaking showed.“Access to finance becomes one important pathway to not only employing more underrepresented directors, but to seeing more diverse characters in film,” the study asserted.
Indie Film Fest sought to create a space where indie filmmakers could thrive, including those who have been traditionally unrepresented in filmmaking.
“We want to create a true independent film festival that celebrates these stories, these filmmakers that are personally funded themselves and still make the magic that totally moves the audience as we saw,” Steinkamp added.
The three-day festival had well-attended screenings each night, as well as panel discussions, workshops, film walks and an award ceremony on Saturday night.
Kash Cole, the co-director of the Indie Film Fest, said “the community is opening its door to us, which allows us to set these beautiful films and beautiful places, and when you add beautiful people to that, I think you have a perfect moment.”
Indie Film Fest opened a free outdoor screening for the public on Roosevelt Row on Friday, Feb. 11. The breezy outdoor area created space for social distancing and welcomed both indie film lovers and a spontaneously curious crowd. Between all three days of the festival, over 1,000 people attended to show their appreciation for local artists and filmmakers.
“We appreciate the community in downtown Phoenix who comes down to support us because, without them, it is just us sitting around watching a bunch of films,” Adan Madrigal, the director of the Roosevelt Row CDC, said. “The fact that we can pull up the community and watch these films together makes this even more special.”
Indie Film Fest didn’t garner the community’s attention alone, though. Indie Film Fest partnered with many local businesses, including Roosevelt Row CDC, Strawberry Hedgehog, the Garden PHX, and the Churchill, to contribute to the success of the festival in delivering a “community-based” experience to the downtown audience. KWSS 93.9 FM Radio, a local independent broadcast station, has partnered and sponsored the festival since its first year to promote the festival.
“With the promotion and with the radio station helping and just everybody pitching in, I think that it will gain the momentum again,” Dani Cutler, a KWSS radio host, said about the festival’s challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Film selections in Indie Film Fest 2022 were from a wide range of categories, from dramatic and documentary features to short films and music videos by local and global creative storytellers.
There were 30 selections from 200 submissions and 10 awards granted to the film entries, the festival’s website shows. The participating creative storytellers impressed the organizers this year.
“The artists, the featured filmmakers in our festival this year took us to a new level,” Steinkamp said. “They propel the festival to a major independent film festival.”
The finale screening and the award ceremony took place in the courtyard outside of the majestic castle at Irish Cultural Center and McClelland Library on Saturday, Feb. 12.
During the ceremony, the festival announced four Grand Jury awards, including the “Best Documentary” award for “Voices of The Grand Canyon” by director Deidra Peaches. Told from Native Americans’ perspectives, the film brings up conversations about the conservation of Grand Canyon National Park.
Award-winning directors, which includes Peaches, will have complete freedom in utilizing their grant funds from the festival, Steinkamp said.
Almost one-third of Arizonan films participating in the festival were locally crowd-funded, Steinkamp pointed out.
Hopefully, the festival and grants will help alleviate some of the barriers aspiring filmmakers face, which include funding, that may prevent their work from being seen. There are a lot of talents that need to be seen in Arizona, according to Shamiqua Reed, an audience member and an aspiring filmmaker.
The 2022 Indie Film Fest is a sign of good things to come, connecting the community through a shared appreciation for new artistic voices and meaningful local stories.
“It’s not just three people putting out the festival this year,” Steinkamp said. “We had a whole community. And it will continue to grow that way.”
Contact the reporter at bthai5@asu.edu.
