Idyllwild Film Festival a month away

The Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema (IIFC) returns to town and the Rustic Theatre Tuesday, March 7, and continues for six more days, until the evening of Sunday, March 12. And once again, more than 100 films from a dozen countries will be available for viewing.

The 14th IIFC returns with live film screenings after two years of online presentations due to COVID-19. The virtual festivals did not please Director and Founder Stephan Savage, who vowed a year ago that live festival would return or no festival. “I’m done. It’s not fun, it can’t be virtual again,” he stated. “I’m not interested. It’s disconcerting.”

And the 2023 IIFC is not virtual. On March 7, the opening night film will be “Shudderbugs.” This is a psychological thriller about a woman who returns home after her mother dies, but things and people seem different.

Johanna Putnam is the writer, actor and director of this mystery. The film is not totally derived from fantasy. As Putnam said, “‘Shudderbugs’ was born while quarantining with my parents in my childhood farmhouse in spring of 2020.”

This is just one of several mysteries and thrillers on the week’s schedule. Others include shorts such as “The Critic,” which Frank Kelly wrote and directed, and Colin Francis Costello’s “Storage,” which he wrote and directed, and has already received film award recognition.

For the closing night film, the IIFC team has chosen “Acidman” about a daughter, Dianna Agron, reestablishing contact with her father, Thomas Haden Church, after a decade of separation. During the period, he has become obsessed with UFOs.

IIFC also will present films starring Joan Collins and Jacqueline Bissett, Savage noted.

With the IIFC returning to a live Idyllwild, that means actors, writers, directors, producers and other film people will be around town. Hill residents can still go to the Rustic Theatre to purchase an IIFC ticket for $45. The regular week ticket will be $125.

Also returning to the festival are the seminars, both March 11. Savage, with Erik Bork, a two-time Emmy winning writer and producer, will offer one on the fine points and creativity of screen writing.

In the second, on how to sell and distribute screenplays, Savage will be joined by Lesley Paterson, British Academy of Film and Television Arts award-winning and Oscar-nominated screenwriter for “All Quiet on the Western Front.”

The IIFC presence, reputation and quality has grown since its inception in 2010. For example, Savage, who does some writing for Paramount Studios, said that during his early interviews, he was asked about the IIFC.

“I didn’t know the breadth of coverage that we have been getting, even this close to LA,” he said with some pride.

And secondly, from April 18 to 23, one can attend the second Scottish International Festival of Cinema in Peebles, Scotland. Savage and his producing partner Trinity Houston founded this festival with the help of Mhairi Calvey and Paterson.

“We moved the business model to a different country and it worked perfectly,” Savage said.