NEW PHILADELPHIA (Tusco TV) -Tuscarawas Valley Film Festival organizers are bringing another batch of independent films to New Philadelphia to support the local Big Brothers Big Sisters chapter.

The third-annual independent film festival kicks off Thursday evening at the Quaker Cinema and continues with a new pair of films offered each Thursday starting at 6:30 pm through October 17th. Festival board member Ty Simmelink says people seem to enjoy the weekly format rather than sitting through a bunch of films back to back. 

"It seems to work. It works for the Quaker very well to let us use one screen a week for four weeks in a row, and it doesn’t string together where you have to dedicate a whole weekend to going to a film festival," 

Board member Laura Bowe says the film lineup features a variety of critically-acclaimed dramas and documentaries shown at other festivals across the country (with The Tomorrow Man and Always in Season shown on opening night, Crystal City and Last Black Man in San Francisco October 3rd, The Art of Self Defense and The River and The Wall October 10th, and Changing the Game and The Farewell on October 17th).

"So Week 1 we have The Tomorrow Man and then that’s followed by Always in Season, and again week one starts September 26th. Week 2, which is October 3rd, we start with Crystal City, and then we end the night with Last Black Man in San Francisco. Week 3, which is October 10th, we start with The Art of Self Defense, and then we will end with The River and The Wall, and Week 4, October 17th, we start with Changing the Game, and The Farewell is our last movie of the film festival."

In addition to the Quaker’s regular concession offerings, pizza and beer will also be available for people to purchase starting at 5:30 pm, with wine also offered the first and final weeks. Simmelink says the proceeds go to Big Brothers Big Sisters so even if people aren’t interested in the films, they can come down and support the cause.

"Stop by. Buy a piece of pizza or a glass of wine. Buys a cake pop for a couple bucks and your proceeds will benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters. You don’t have to watch the films. You can still come over and hang out with us before the film."

Film festival admission is $10 per night per person available at the Quaker or in advance at eventbrite.com. Simmelink says there’s also a $30 pass good for admission all four nights of the festival and entry to a VIP afterparty to screen a current movie. He says people can check out trailers for all the films in the festival at tuscfilmfest.com.

TUSCO TV