This year’s Park City Film Music Festival promises to be one of the biggest ever.
Now in its ninth season, the festival will run from May 25 through June 3 with over 200 films to be screened. “It’s one of our biggest,” festival founder Leslie Harlow told Reichel Recommends. “We’ve had this many films before, but not in the formal setting we have now.”
The festival has three separate venues where the films will be screened: the Egyptian Theatre on Main St., the Prospector Theatre and the Screening Rooms at The Prospector Park City. “That gives us a total of five screening rooms, so we’ll be running films all day,” Harlow said.
As in the past, there will be several categories of films, including feature length films, documentaries, shorts and performance films. “We have a huge variety. I think people will be able to find films they can enjoy.”
To help people decide which movies to attend, the festival has a complete listing of films, including ratings, short synopses and trailers along with screening times and venues. “Most of the films will be shown more than once during the festival,” Harlow said. Complete information can be found at parkcityfilmmusicfestival.com.
The festival this year boasts a wide array of foreign entries. “We have films from all over,” Harlow said. “We have a lot of films from Europe, and from Mexico, Bangladesh, India and other countries.” There will also be quite a large sampling of American films as well as a number by local filmmakers. “The first four days we’ll be emphasizing Utah films. We’ve got about 20, including one with a score by Merrill Jenson. And we also have some whose scores were recorded in Utah.”
In addition to over 30 feature films, there will be two dozen documentaries, over 100 short films and several music documentaries and performance films shown during the course of the festival. And as in the past, all films will be judged. Awards will be given in five categories: 1) best use of music in a full length narrative feature film; 2) best use of music in a documentary film; 3) best use of music in a short film; 4) best music documentary; 5) best performance/experimental film.
Attending the festival and receiving a special award will be the noted film composer, arranger and orchestrator Conrad Pope. “We’ll be screening a couple of his films, including My Week With Marilyn,” Harlow said.
Besides screenings, the festival will also present concerts and two seminars featuring Emmy award winning film composer Hummie Mann. “He’s doing seminars on May 26 and 27,” Harlow said. “And there will also be a reception for him.”
Other filmmakers and composers will be attending the festival, and many of them will be doing question-and-answer sessions after the screenings. “This is a great chance for people to meet them and find out a little more about what goes into making a film
The Park City festival is the first and still the main festival that recognizes the role music plays in films. “We honor music in film, because we know how important it is,” Harlow said.
- FESTIVAL INFO:
- What: Park City Film Music Festival
- Venue: Egyptian Theatre, Prospector Theatre, The Prospector Park City
- Time and Date: Various times, May 25-June 3
- Tickets: Prices vary
- Phone: 435-649-5309
- Web: parkcityfilmmusicfestival.com
