Moviate poster by Andrew Hearst.
Get your popcorn ready.
The 27th Annual Moviate Film Festival will take place on May 28 to 31 at Midtown Cinema and feature more than 60 films from 15 countries, with 13% of the movies being screened on real film.
Many of the selected films are new and classic documentaries. Caleb Smith, co-founder of Moviate highlighted several of the weekend’s showings as can’t miss events.
“You’re going to see someone’s personal creativity along with their vision, whether it’s a five-minute animation or a 90-minute documentary,” Smith said.
On Thursday, May 28, musicians Glenn Jones and Liam Grant will perform live original scores to two of their films, “The River” and “The Plow that Broke the Plains,” at 7 p.m. As they’ve been touring around the east coast, they will not be performing the original score to these films anywhere else but in here in Harrisburg, Smith noted.
The weekend continues Friday, May 29 with a 40th anniversary screening of the 1986 documentary “Heavy Metal Parking Lot,” featuring director Jeff Krulik in attendance. The screening is co-presented by local business Tattoo Punks.
“Jeff will present previously unseen footage, including interviews with the band Judas Priest related to the film,” Smith said.
On Saturday, May 30, Colombian filmmaker Chris Gude’s “Morichales” will screen in partnership with Harrisburg-based Elementary Coffee Co., whose coffee is largely sourced from Colombia.
“The film is a stunning portrait of the workers in Venezuela who are trying to mine for gold. It’s a really beautiful film,” Smith said.
The festival concludes Sunday, May 31, with a screening of “Barbara Forever,” accompanied by New York City filmmakers Lynne Sachs and Mark Street in partnership with the LGBT Center of Central PA.
“Lynne and Mark worked with Barbara for many years and were close friends with her,” Smith said. “She was very enigmatic and creative and had documented a lot of her life as she was making films. This film just came out this year, so I’m excited that Lynne and Mark will introduce it.”
In addition to spotlighting unique indie films, Smith also sees the festival as an avenue for connection.
“With the emergence of artificial intelligence and the silo effect of people being on their phones, there’s a feeling of isolation. When you go to Midtown Cinema, you can meet other people, chat and experience the film together,” he said.
Student rush tickets cost $5, matinee short film blocks cost $10, daytime passes cost $15, and evening films cost $12. For more information, visit Moviate’s website.
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