For anyone who ever passed a note to a crush in school, there was one central fear, “What if my note gets to someone else instead?” “Notes,” a short film featured at CineFEST on June 28 at the Northside Library, addressed that particular problem.
Justin Wasterlain, a librarian at the Central Park Library, hopes CineFest, which debuted this year, will grow. “With technology, it’s gotten easier to make a movie but most of the time, they’re only published online and there’s so much out there, some films never get noticed. I really wanted to give independent filmmakers a chance beyond that.”
Eight films were featured, each focusing on a different subject and each the result of different motivations, which ranged from something as simple as making fun of everyday things in life, to dealing with medical issues faced by a child – even with a doctor’s reassurance of “don’t worry about it” – to following a modern day evangelist around.
The festival included: “Notes,” by JJ Delos Reyes and Joseph Huynh; “Advertisements: The Rake, The Bed, Hands,” by William Bottini and Devin Diazoni and starring Charlotte Rose Hollingsworth; “Arrhythmia” with words and camera by Erica Goss; “Evangelists,” by Rishabh Singh; “The Wine Stewards,” by Smruti Aravind; “We’re Just Kids,” by Daniela Chavez Preciado; “Leviathan,” by Raphael Mallari; “KID,” by Christopher Pedroza; and “Moment.” by James Shih.
A brief question and answer period with the people behind the movies followed each group of films. Some of the directors are currently working on longer features; others are delving into animation, while others are looking to develop movies with a more serious angle without getting too heavy-handed. Although not yet confirmed, the second annual CineFEST will likely be held sometime next year.