Downtown
Wandering Reel Traveling Film Festival makes its debut to Santa Monica with a collection of short films sure to stir the consciousness of the local community. The event will be held Thursday, March 30 at 7:30 p.m. at the HI Los Angeles Hostel in Santa Monica. This year’s program is a showcase of some of the best award winning short films the festival has to offer. The screening is followed by Q&A discussion with festival director, Michael Harrington. The event is free but donations to the festival are welcomed at the door.
Wandering Reel is a traveling short film festival with a focus on bringing meaningful films to communities with limited or no access to compassionate, thought-provoking cinema. WRTFF strives to engage its audience in deeper conversation about the role of cinema, and how films can relate to community, conscious living, and contribute to making the world a stronger and more unified place.
Each year, the festival curates several programs of international short films determined by a team of individuals from varying backgrounds and roles in art, film, social justice and domestic life. “Wandering Reel offers films that are made with purpose, that we think will inspire, that we hope will stay with our audience long after the credits have rolled,” said festival director Michael Harrington. “This is how we change the world, one community and one film at a time.” Last year’s award winning filmmaker Philippe Vaucher said, "Wandering Reel reminded me of why I started making films in the first place: it is possible to change people’s lives through thoughtful art and moving art."
In addition to showing thought-provoking cinema, Wandering Reel’s mission is to engage its audiences in ways that many other film festivals cannot do: the community-centric format is designed to maximize audience participation and cultivate community building. “By exposing communities with films that are compassionate in their approach and passionate in their purpose, we hope to inspire conversation and collaboration between individuals and communities through the common experience of cinema,” said Harrington. Thusly, after each screening, the festival curator facilitates conversations with the audience and, when available, with the filmmakers, as well.
HI – Los Angeles Santa Monica, 1436 2nd Street. For more a complete list of films for each program, please visit: http://www.wanderingreel.org/2016-film-programs.
- Submitted by Anna Lucas Marin
