Local cinephiles were likely bummed about the cancelation of this past summer’s Waterfront Film Festival. Since 1999 the acclaimed South Haven event has unequivocally celebrated independent filmmakers while showcasing hundreds of Midwestern and world premieres, from Man on a Wire to Napoleon Dynamite.
The good news: It looks like the star-studded event will be back in action soon.
Here’s the deal: ArtPrize has teamed up with the Waterfront organizers to bring the festival to Grand Rapids — well, sort of.
The collaboration, ArtPrize OnScreen: Presented by Waterfront Film Festival, features more than 20 films in downtown Grand Rapids during the widespread arts competition. The main hub for Waterfront will be located in the Ladies Literary Club in downtown Grand Rapids — conveniently stationed next to the ArtPrize hub.
“It will be different,” explained Waterfront Film Festival co-founder Hopwood Depree. “This is a brand new twist on what Waterfront has done in the past.”
The film competition features a variety of free and ticketed events and awards will be given for Best Feature, Best Documentary and Best Short. On top of that, each film is eligible for public and juried votes in the main ArtPrize competition.
“We’re doing this to work with Artprize and to compliment everything that they’re doing, so the competition of film makes sense,” Depree said.
While Artprize has featured a small number of film and audio/visual pieces in the past, Hopwood hopes ArtPrize OnScreen brings more local attention to film as an art form.
“Since Artprize has done a great job of bringing the arts to Grand Rapids for that period it made a lot of sense to introduce the cinematic arts into the mix as well,” Depree said.
Depree also plans on bringing other aspects of the Waterfront Film Festival experience to Grand Rapids. The festival, which is world-renowned for its film selection, has also gained a reputation for throwing a good party. It’s this type of fun and entertainment that Depree hopes to translate into Artprize OnScreen.
“People can still expect the same types of great films, guests, parties and events that go along with what Waterfront has done in the past,” Depree said.
In the future Waterfront hopes to expand throughout West Michigan and feature more events, including educational workshops, film screenings and hopefully the return of their summer festival. Of course, Depree said they’re also planning to “grow in the coming years working with ArtPrize.” n
For more information, visit waterfrontfilm.org.
