Imagination Film Festival

Imagination Film Festival

A student created documentary on the Modesto International Architecture Festival and James Broughton’s art-house film The Bed shows the wide range of locally based movies that was part of the Building Imagination Center’s Imagination Film Festival, Thursday, December 5, 2013, at the State Theatre. This was the first film festival hosted by the Center since it became the resident movie makers at the State.

The idea to keep the films locally based was an easy one. “We quickly realized that all of the films we were interested in screening were either made locally, or made by people with very strong ties to the area,” said Jessica Gomula-Kruzic, director of the Building Imagination Center. The Center partnered with the Modesto Art Museum for this festival and the inclusion of The Bed is part of  the celebration of the Broughton centennial. “Modesto has a long history of great movie making going back to the 1920s with Richard Bare, then Broughton, and more recently George Lucas,” said museum director Bob Barzan. “This festival celebrates and encourages the continuation of that Modesto tradition.”

Other films screened at the free festival on December 5th included an intimate account of homelessness in Outside the Picket Fence, by local filmmaker Christian Hali. Aspire, a short film by local filmmaker Brittney Miller is a look into the Aspire School system’s approach to learning. Samsara, directed by Nicole Zvarik and Bill Wolter, and filmed by local CSU Stanislaus film students, examines alternatives to mainstream consumerism.

“We wanted to include films that will reflect the diverse interests in Modesto,” Gomula-Kruzic, explained. “It’s an incredibly diverse assortment of films that we have, ranging from narrative documentaries to high art films.”