The Festival

The theme of the Film Festival will be an essential celebration of freedom and liberty. The underlying idea is that man’s great achievements, whether artistic, scientific or intellectual, have come about through the exercise of freedom and opportunity. The intent will be to showcase films that show the positive use of freedom, and also the negative outcomes and conditions related to the suppression of freedom. Films will portray success in overcoming hardship and oppression, and personal achievement, whether the achievement is measured in material or spiritual terms. Positive human attributes such as courage, leadership, duty and sacrifice will be emphasized. As tragedy and misfortune often accompany oppression, there would be provocative messages regarding the social and personal problems caused by governments and political movements that restrict freedom.

The goal will be to emphasize the critical importance and the need to defend and protect freedom in order to have the opportunity for fulfillment of our lives. There is currently no event like this in the state of Ohio. A quick search disclosed no current liberty or freedom theme film festivals in America during 2009.

Efforts to gain and protect freedom have been a vital part of the American experience. The earliest settlers braved death to escape religious persecution. Their bravery was followed by the American War of Independence to withdraw from our oppressors and create a new experience in self-government with a classless democracy. A few years later a Civil War was fought to secure freedom for some of our people. In the last century America was involved in two World Wars to fend off oppressors with designs on world dominance. We also fought and won a Cold War against a totalitarian system that sought to destroy the freedoms of all peoples. There are now once again threats against our freedom that demand our vigilance and continuing respect for the blessings achieved through liberty.

Films provide a powerful medium for presenting ideas and experiences. This is due to the imagery, as possibly enhanced by a compelling story line along with good direction and acting. A possibly underrated aspect of successful films is the film music or score, and the presentation of inspirational film music will be an essential element of the festival. Good music contributes greatly to the emotional response to films.

The timing of the festival will be in the autumn. The 2009 Film Festival began on Veteran’s Day. The purpose was to pay tribute to veterans and also make a symbolic connection between the service of veterans and the preservation of American liberty. The tentative 2010 schedule will once again start on Veteran’s Day and continue through the Thanksgiving weekend. Optimal show times will be selected. The plan will be to use several theaters for the festival.

The opening night will consist of an upscale gala reception with refreshments and famous film music. This will be followed by presentations and comments, and a showing of a special film and previews of the festival movies. On the final Sunday there would be another event, hosted by a celebrity, with awards and other entertainment.

The 2009 Film Festival took place in Dayton Ohio with three venues used for showings. The Festival was conducted with no charge to attendees, although donations were accepted. Financial assistance came from several institutions and individuals, and the intent is to continue to seek this assistance in the future. The audience varied from 15 to 70 attendees at the various showings and the total attendance exceeded 200. The 2010 goal will be to select better show times and do more promotion of the event.

One showing of the 2009 festival was specifically arranged for students and teachers of a local city high school. This event was well received. The goal in 2010 will be to focus on some specific groups in addition to the general public. These groups will include seniors, veterans and students.

The event will be intended to promote respect and an appreciation for liberty and the way freedom enhances life for people and for societies. The creation of a well-meaning “Utopia” without freedom has generally been harmful to the participants. The Liberty Film Festival event will also be entertaining and inspirational and, with interaction among other attendees, will create an opportunity to reflect on the importance of freedom.

The Future

The longer term goals will include using the experience of conducting the Ohio Liberty Film Festival, and the individual, industry and institutional contacts developed, to assist in the creation of other events in America. This will, in turn, encourage the production of more films that promote the benefits of liberty. There would be greater outlets and incentives for the use of creative instincts in recognizing and promoting the importance of freedom.

The search continues to identify independent films that are suitable for this festival concept. Popular industry films are also valuable in attracting interest among people familiar with those films.

There are other ideas at work. They include promoting and recognizing young film maker talent. In the future scholarships and grants for film projects would be noteworthy goals.