Black Bear Film Festival 2024
Main Stage Films at the Milford Theater
Friday, October 18
6:00pm - Silver & Black Gala Reception
7:30pm - Burying the Hatchet - The Tom Quick Story
Documentary
Produced by Sean Strub, Written and Directed by Christopher King, Associate Producer, Daniel Strongwalker Thomas
For more than 200 years, the Borough of Milford, a small county seat in northeast Pennsylvania, venerated Tom Quick Jr., who was in 1733 the first white child born in the region. Quick was famous for having murdered Delaware (Lenni Lenape) Indians in the upper Delaware River Valley, after having witnessed his father’s death at the hands of the Lenape.
In the decades following, Tom Quick became part of local lore, lionized in books, articles, songs and on stage. In 1889, an eight-foot zinc obelisk monument was erected in Milford in his honor. Over time, the monument increasingly became a point of deep conflict and re-evaluation, especially in recent years.
This new documentary puts history in context and tells the fascinating story of how the community of Milford sought to redress an ugly chapter in history. It began with Milford’s Mayor, Sean Strub, who reached out to the leadership of the Lenni Lenape tribes that had been dislocated from their Milford homeland in the late 18th century and invited them to discuss how this history could be responsibly addressed.
Saturday, October 19
11:00 am - Main Stage Features 376m
11:00am - Tim Stead, Magician With Wood
Documentary 1:29m
Directed by Beatrix Wood
Award-winning screenwriter and director, Beatrix Wood, of Scotland designed a touching documentary on Tim Stead, a legend of our time in his native country. Scotsman Stead crafts his woodwork creations, including handmade fine furniture, sculptures, and even his own home. Freely giving his time, care, and skills to other artists, we hear them praise this talented man. Then tragedy strikes and his wife makes a decades-long and painful struggle to save his art, his reputation, and their home for posterity. A must-see, especially for all talented souls who craft original beauty with their own two hands and for all those who appreciate a battle to save excellence for future generations.
11:00 am - Main Stage Features 376m
1:00pm - The Refugee
Drama, 1:41m
Directed by Johnny Greenlaw
Director Johnny Greenlaw gives us a compelling heartrending story of Eva, a young girl in Iraq. She and her family desire a life different than the one she knows, one filled with the freedoms that we Americans enjoy. As her entire family is murdered, American troops come to fight and rescue them, but they are too late. One brave soldier saves her, giving her the cross from his neck, inscribed with his initials. Years later, as an adult now living in the U.S., living with her hardworking uncle, Eva feels the need to locate the man who saved her life. A lovely film, exploring the idea of the American Dream.
3:00pm - Classic Film Screening - Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
Comedy CLASSIC MOVIE with special guest Illeana Douglas, hosted by author/film historian John DiLeo.
A quintessential post-war look at the American Dream, the delightful Mr. Blandings follows one family’s hilarious tribulations after they trade their cramped NYC apartment for an 18th-century fixer-upper in Connecticut. Advertising man Cary Grant and his wife Myrna Loy will soon become mired in a money pit because their unsalvageable historic home leads to the costly creation of their eventual dream house. Playing their best friend and lawyer is suave Melvyn Douglas, the two-time Oscar-winning actor and the grandfather of actress, author, and filmmaker Illeana Douglas. After the movie, Ms. Douglas will join Mr. DiLeo onstage to speak about her career (Cape Fear, To Die For), her grandfather’s career (Ninotchka, Hud), and her new book Connecticut In The Movies: From Dream Houses to Dark Suburbia, which gives Mr. Blandings its own chapter.
Join her immediately after the event for a book signing in our hospitality tent, with copies of Connecticut In The Movies available for purchase.
Three ways to see Illeana Douglas at Black Bear Film Festival!
1) You can come to the classic film screening and interview at the Milford Theatre for $35.00
https://events.eventgroove.com/event/Classic-Film-Screening-Of-Mr-Blandings-Builds-His-101642
2) You can come to the screening and interview and purchase a beautiful hard cover copy of her book, Connecticut in the Movies: From Dream Houses to Dark Suburbia in advance for the book signing event for $65.00
https://events.eventgroove.com/event/Book-Classic-Film-Screening-Of-Mr-Blandings-101361
3) You can play a Leading Role as a Patron and have a private cocktail with Illeana
https://events.eventgroove.com/event/Have-A-Cocktail-With-Illeana-Douglas-Two-All-101471
6:30pm - Nobody Wants To Shoot A Woman
Drama 1:32
Directed by Kerry Ann Enright
Writer, Director and Producer, Kelly Ann Enright brings us her original, offbeat drama with touches of ironic comedy, as middle-aged, lower middle-class, Mary, (Tina Benko), finds herself trapped in her new ‘dream house’ gifted to her by her lying and abusive gangster husband. When Mary and her son witness her husband’s murder, she seeks employment with no skills or education, joining a gang of thieves. Mary finds herself doing ‘just one last job’ after another, desperate to hide her new criminal life from her young son and her best friend, an admiring police detective. How will she handle those she loves, those she fears and possibly get vengeance on her husband’s enemies? A hard-boiled, entertaining mixture of oddball characters, desperation and determination by a woman wronged, with touches of “Bonnie and Clyde”, “Wanda” and “Fun With Dick and Jane” all wound up into one smoothly done, but tough drama.
8:30pm - Thelma
Comedy
Directed by Josh Margolin
Thelma is a rare rewarding comedy/drama with three generations of a functional family! Enjoy June Squibb’s spunky depiction of the 93 year old grandma we all should have. Scammed shamefully by phone with the real, recurrent call, “I’m in trouble and I need ten thousand immediately” routine, Thelma vows vigilante justice. Toss in a grateful grandson and iconic Richard Round (SHAFT) and Malcolm McDowell (A CLOCKWORK ORANGE) and perky Parker Posey, all directed by Josh Margolin, and you share a fun film with poignant plot twists. Top off your evening with a senior who is implacable in an intelligent ‘indie’, and enjoy!
Sunday, October 20
Main Stage Sunday Feature
11:00 am - And Through The Portal We Go
Drama 1:23m
Directed by Mike Hayhurst
Director, Mike Hayhurst, brings us this clever, quirky comedy with touches of satire. Three characters, Katie (Sarah Goeke, Craig (Joseph Lymous and Mikey (Taylor Curtis), have been living with other cult members on their group journey to bring themselves to spiritual perfection, Their leader, Yom, and other followers have supposedly gone through a mystical portal in the woods, never being seen again. Each day, they wake up believing they will enter and cross over to a heavenly existence, only to find themselves in a sort of Twilight Zone, repeating the same day, over and over. How does one find the perfect peace within one’s soul and with each other, when you must start each day again from scratch? As their patience thins, so does their tolerance for each other, while our enjoyment of this eccentric trio’s dilemma increases. Make no mistake, this is not a tragic cult, but a light-hearted look at an attempt for a stress-free, careless existence…but where?
12:45 - Short Block 1:22
The Suit
Drama Short 20m
Directed by Carol McCann
Grandmother and granddaughter go on a quest to find the best suit for Grandpa, despite her daughter’s offer to also assist. While looking for that ‘perfect fit’ they get to bond sharing a generational family experience, often with a different outlook from the rest of us.
Go For Grandma
Drama Short 34m
Directed by Sabrina Doyle
Inspired by the iconic 80’s fantasy films, Go For Grandma is a magical journey into the mind of a young boy who escapes a traumatic home life through the power of his imagination and his grandmother’s fables.
Bar Boy
Drama Short 20m
Directed by Bryan Powers
Gary is a realistic man in his 60’s faced with a reality that many single older people of any persuasion must confront; growing older and less ‘marketable’ in romance. When he meets 20 something, handsome Julian at a local gay bar, they both may learn from each other and find mutual respect. Black Bear is proud to have a member of our film committee, Keith LaPan, in the role of Gary.
The Purple Umbrella
Thriller Short 8m
Directed by Dennis Sema
A young, curious man becomes intrigued with the recent unsolved murders committed across the country. The only clue is the sighting of a mysterious person, face unseen, carrying a vivid purple umbrella. Our own Black Bear intern, Dennis Sema, produces, directs, and acts in the film, showing us how to craft a short indie film with little funds but clever touches of Hitchcock, Truffaut, and a bit of Film Noir.
3:00 pm - Awards & Closing Ceremony