Family Film Festival brings education, inspiration and a sense of community to our valley

This festival has something for everyone. It gives the community a chance to see great films at Snowy Owl Theater in Leavenworth and the Numerica Performing Arts Center. Furthermore, there will be family film workshops that will teach kids and their parents digital storytelling skills and to top it off, there will be free showings of a powerful STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) film called Dream Big. Students from Cashmere, Wenatchee and Cascade school districts will see that inspiring film for free. I sat down to talk about the festival with Steve Scott of North 40 Productions and Jamie Howell of the Icicle Creek Center for the Arts. If you would like to listen to the discussion, check out my podcast at artofcommunityncw.com.

What stands out about Scott and Howell is their devotion to making an impact through their work. Scott, the director of content for the local video production company, said the work he finds most inspiring helps people see possibilities. A good example of this is the Era of Megafires Project that is transforming how we think about forest health and reducing wildfire risk. Howell, the director of film and development at ICCA, has a similar approach. “A lot of my work has been built around hiding something educational around something fun” such as Pedal Driven, a film about mountain biking that focuses on sustainability.

The Icicle Creek Family Film Festival is the full expression of their passion for education, community and digital literacy.

The family film workshops are going to give kids and their parents an opportunity learn stop motion techniques and basic documentary making. I think it’s great that adults get in free but they have to come with a child who is 17 or under. Youth tickets are $12. Thanks to various sponsors, the festival is extremely affordable. A pass good for all movie screenings cost just $70 for a family of four. Individual and youth passes are also available. They’ve lined up some great films, including a remake of Heidi, feature shorts from Children’s Film Festival Seattle, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Kedi, the story of cats in Istanbul. El Jeremias, a film in Spanish, brings a multicultural flavor to the festival.

“Movies are a significant medium of storytelling in our culture,” Scott told me. These are films that people in the community might never have the opportunity to see.

Scott and Howell hope this film, education and workshop event is the start of an annual celebration on our region. That’s community building at its finest.