SAFFORD — The second annual Gila Valley Film Festival gets underway Thursday at the historic Safford Theatre.
“This is kind of how the Safford Theatre is going to be intended to be used; a lot of night-time events,” said Film Festival co-organizer Jacob Lauritzen. “Last year, we held everything inside. We’re going to go out to the courtyard this year.”
The film festival is open to micro-budget films, meaning Student and professional short films with a budget of $5,000 or less, and feature films with a budget of $50,000 or less were eligible to enter.
Thursday will focus on international films, with a number of short subjects followed by two feature films, a documentary from Portugal and a narrative film from Turkey.
Friday will start with a workshop on filmmaking at the Graham County Chamber of Commerce building during the day, followed by more film screenings in the evening, culminating in the world premiere of the film “The Martin Decker Show” from the United Kingdom.
Saturday starts with a filmmaker luncheon at 12:30 p.m. at the Chamber, followed by evening showings of a number of short films from around the United States, with the feature “Born Loser” closing out the festival screenings.
Awards will be presented at 9:30 p.m. Saturday.
Tickets are $9 per day, except for the filmmaker luncheon, which is $5. Go to Gila Valley Film Festival Tickets, Multiple Dates | Eventbrite
