MARCELLUS, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) — The Marcellus Mini Movie Family Film Festival has been around since 2016. For the first four years, filmmakers and audience members have watched the submissions inside the Marcellus Free Library. That isn’t possible this year due to COVID-19 restrictions, but the festival is still taking place this Saturday.
Instead of going inside the library, attendees will be able to watch films from their cars in the parking lot. Festival director Lewis McCaffrey said this has actually boosted in-person attendance.
“It’s the first year that we’ve given out tickets beforehand,” McCaffrey said. “We’re almost at capacity; we’re expecting 20 cars.”
The film festival typically does not attract a big crowd, according to McCaffrey. The same is not true for the number of submissions received. This year, the M3F3 has nine different categories of films. The number of films submitted to the festival is higher than last year.
“We had a special COVID-19 section this year,” McCaffrey said. “That was inundated with people making films during COVID or about COVID, about the lockdown and isolation.”
According to the Marcellus Mini Movie Family Film Festival’s website, the COVID-19 category is the most popular. Eight different films regarding the pandemic will be played for the audience on Saturday.
In total, 130 films have been submitted to the competition from 23 different countries. There is about a 50-50 split in terms of total films made in the U.S. versus those sent in from other countries across the world. However, McCaffrey said there were surprisingly few local submissions.
“We have only gotten two Central New York films in the program,” McCaffrey said. “One is from Auburn, produced by some high schoolers, and one from Fayetteville, produced by a local filmmaker.”
This is the only event hosted by M3F3 all year. It is funded by sponsors and fees that filmmakers pay to enter their videos in the competition. Regardless of how Saturday’s drive-in event goes, McCaffrey said he hopes the festival can return indoors in 2021.
“On Saturday night, we’re expecting good weather,” McCaffrey said. “We’ll see what the experience is like for everybody, but I’m hoping that next November, we can all get together in the warmth of the library and hear all the questions that the audience has for the filmmakers.”
The festival has been accepting submissions since the beginning of September. The event begins in the north parking lot of the Marcellus Free Library at 6:30 on Saturday evening.
