YORK COUNTY, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – The much-awaited Arts Council’s Underexposed Film Festival YC‘s 10th Anniversary is making its return next week, running from Wednesday, March 22nd to Saturday, March 25th.
In collaboration Winthrop’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, the main venue for the festival will be at the University’s Dina’s Place in the DiGiorgio Campus Center.
Furthermore, York County Library will be screening children’s and teenage films on Friday, March 24th for free, and The Mercantile will also be offering a free outdoor screening block on Thursday, March 23rd.
See Below for full details
It’s Back! Hope you’re aware that the Arts Council’s Underexposed Film Festival yc takes place next week from Wednesday, March 22 – Saturday, March 25. The films will be exhibited chiefly at Winthrop University at Dina’s Place in the DiGiorgio Campus Center in partnership with the College of Visual and Performing Arts. The York County Library will serve as a venue for kids’ and teen films on Friday, March 24 (free), and The Mercantile will also host a free screening block outside on Thursday evening, March 23. Maps and parking info are available here.
Tenth Anniversary: This is our 10th year of presenting the festival after three dark in-person years due to COVID¾it is our most ambitious undertaking, and this year is bringing us 66 short films from 23 different countries. You will not only see films created from around the world, but also films shot right here in York County and a number from around the Carolinas. Native Rock Hillian Karen Collins, the festival director, has put the relationships and expertise gained from her long career in filmmaking to work on the festival’s behalf since its inception. Movies that she worked on that you might know include Steel Magnolias, Gettysburg, Courage Under Fire, and The Thin Red Line. Karen said this in our first year: “It is important to celebrate independent shorts. Often this is the purest form of filmmaking. . . . Here, a director has the opportunity to educate, entertain, and move his or her audience in a more intimate way than can be achieved in a multiplex.” Karen steps down from this role at the festival’s conclusion, and we couldn’t be more grateful for her decade of service.
Short Films: At the festival we screen independent short films, movies no longer than 35 minutes, with a number of them a good bit shorter. This is what I love about this form of storytelling¾we get to see so many different points of view on a plethora of subjects (and if you don’t like something, the next one will appear in just a few minutes!). Each of the nine screening blocks shows a range of 6-12 films in a two-hour time slot. You can go here to read a bit about them (listed in alphabetical order) or go here to see which films are in what blocks by theme. Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door; you buy them by the screening block and they can be purchased here. Please spend some time nosing around to see what might appeal to you.
Prizes and Parties: Join us at an after party after each evening’s last screening at Rock Hill local fun spots; info available here. At every screening block you attend, you will get a ballot to vote on the Terry Roueche Audience Choice Award. That prize, and eight others, will be awarded at the end of the final screening block on Saturday night. We invite you to join us at the Festival Wrap Party afterwards at Slow Play Brewing, starting at 9:30 PM. There is a $25 charge for food catered by Craig Morrow of Live Fire Feasts and drinks. You can get your tickets here (available only in advance) and come hang out with the filmmakers who come to town.
Point of Pride: This festival is a jewel in Rock Hill and York County’s crown, and we are grateful to our local festival sponsors and a jury of film industry professionals from around the country who help make it possible.
