Goshen River Bend Film Festival brings former filmmaker back to his roots
GOSHEN, Ind -- Calling all film buffs! The River Bend Film Festival is back for its 22nd year. This is the second year the event will have no overlapping show times meaning anyone can see every film showcased this year.
Jordon Hodges, the director of programming, explains “we just felt like, you know, every filmmaker who is traveling from some across seas all over the United States, that they could all be together to watch each other's films and support each other.”
The River Bend Film Festival is a celebration of independent film making. The fest will have workshops, different events, as well as showcasing 50-70 films that cover every movie genre.
The festival wraps up with a party on Aug. 30.
For director of programming, Jordon Hodges, this festival brought him back home. He used to pursue a career in acting and filmmaking in Los Angeles but for the past 10 years he's been giving people like himself a chance to showcase their art at the festival.
He says, “I love sending acceptance letters to filmmakers, because I know how cool it feels seeing the joy the filmmakers have of being able to share their art and such a hard world to break into, to be able to play a small role in, you know, opening a door.”
The festival has been around for 20 years, but Hodges helped to move it from South Bend to Goshen, bringing it back to his roots. He explains, “I just felt like we weren't getting the support that we could have gotten. So, I approached him and asked them, you know, I said, hey, well, I got a lot of support from the community with shooting sandcastles on location there. Could, you know, would you be open to taking it to Goshen.”
He now can pick which movies are shown at the Goshen Theater for this festival, and he explains that these films are some you may not see otherwise. "It is the movies that you will probably never hear of. You know, it's not like your big superhero movies and things like that. It's a chance to really see what the world is telling us, I guess through filmmaking.”
While the event has grown over the past 20 years, Hodges explains he plans to keep it here due to the positive feedback on this location. “It's just a really good spot for people to come see small town Indiana, and filmmakers tend to really love it.”