WCC to sponsor Praxis Film Festival
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on January 26, 2015 1:46 PM
The fifth annual Praxis Film Festival, begun at Wayne Community College and since adding another venue at the Paramount Theatre, will feature 41 short and full-length films from around the world.
This year's event will take place Friday and Saturday, Feb. 6 and 7, representing a variety of genres and "wannabe" filmmakers, said Jack Kannan, executive director of the WCC Foundation.
"They're international in our film selection," he said. "We have them from Germany, the U.K., Canada, France, Spain, Kosovo, Iran, Brazil and Scotland."
Nearly half of the films chosen, 20, are from USA-based directors.
One of the organizers' favorites is "Coming Back to the Hoops," the story of a promising basketball star at her smalltown high school who ran off the court during a holiday tournament game and did not return to the sport until 43 years later.
It is slated to be shown that Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.
Kannan said efforts are being made to have the director, American Jane Pittman, as well as directors from several other films in the festival, on hand during the event to answer questions after the showing of their respective entries.
Anita Croasmun, a professor at N.C. State University, is again responsible for selecting the line-up, Kannan said, with another addition this year in a supportive role.
Banks and Deborah Peacock attended their first film festival at WCC and have since become avid fans of the event, seeking them out at other locales. Peacock is a former instructor at WCC, while his wife was chosen to be director of this year's film festival, Kannan said.
"We have gotten so big that we now have Deborah Peacock as chairman of our committee," he said. "We hope to grow the committee.
"My vision is to make this a central destination for people to come and have it in areas like Mount Olive, because if you go to Sundance, they're going all over."
In the meantime, this year's menu of films span several categories, from mystery and comedy to romance and animation.
Links to trailers of some of the films can be found on the college website or www.PraxisFilmFestival.com.
Friday showings will be at WCC in Moffatt Auditorium, starting at 11 a.m. and running into the evening. Saturday's screenings will be at the Paramount, from 10 a.m. and throughout the evening, culminating with a version of "People's Choice" awards.
The audience awards will be generated by responses received after each showing. They will be presented at the event's end, in six different categories -- narrative feature, narrative short, documentary feature, documentary short, animation short and student film.
In conjunction with the film festival, the Arts Council of Wayne County is also presenting "Process," a special exhibit now through Feb. 7. It features digital animation with works from students and faculty of Wayne Community College, interactive pieces, video demonstrations and items using virtual reality gloves and tablets with animation programs.
For information on "Process," call 919-736-3300.
Tickets for the two-day film festival are on sale now, at $10 for one day and $15 for weekend passes. They are available at the Paramount box office, online at www.Praxisfilm festival.com or by calling 919-583-8432.