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Valentine’s Day has become a popular time for virtual dates, virtual smooches, and virtual movie nights, especially since our quarantined state. For that reason, Reel Love Fest, the first annual event celebrating love in cinema, is scheduled to kick off this weekend, February 10th to 14th, 2021. There will be twelve feature films, three short film blocks, a collection of podcasts endearingly called “lovecasts,” and a series of live events. The festival is presented by the Indie Street Institute, a non-profit dedicated to the support of independent filmmakers, and a portion of the proceeds from the festival will be donated to their mission.
The opening film of the festival is Dinner In America, a punk-rock misfit romance. Then, we have Funny Face, a stylish anarchist crime/romance by Tim Sutton. After Funny Face, Shiva Baby by Emma Seligman. Shiva Baby is a claustrophobically choreographed comedy about a young woman enduring a terrorizing mix of lovers and extended family at a Jewish funeral reception. In addition to this, 70% of the directors participating in the Reel Love Fest are women, and 50% of the fest features are directorial debuts.
Podcast episodes include scope treatments for She’s All That, Breaking Surface, and The Other Woman. Additionally, live storytelling and open-mic style events will be held by festival friends in conjunction with Reel Love Fest, including Strange Storytelling from North Bend Film Festival and Seattle’s Northwest Film Forum, as well as the launch of Alie Stewart’s Never Sent, in collaboration with The Radicle, a Nashville-based venue, where participants will pour their hearts out on the virtual stage by reading aloud past letters, text messages, and emails they chose not to send.
Reel Love Fest has two types of festival passes currently on sale: a 6 feature or shorts program package for $55 and an all-access package for $85. All podcasts and live events are free to pass holders. Individual ticket options include $10 for features and shorts programs, $13 for spotlight films.
Are You Excited For “Lovecasts?”
Since “lovecasts” are adorable, let’s look at what Reel Love Fest has upcoming for us. Though podcasts are not typically displayed in festivals, most are typically live streams or other forms of media — this will be a new feature for us at Reel Love Fest, so we are excited to experience it alongside everyone!
Bad Romance
On the Bad Romance podcast, comedians Jourdain Searles and Bronwyn Isaac analyze bad romantic films with humor and empathy. It’s a podcast that combines jokes with real film criticism. For this episode, we will be discussing the 2014 romantic comedy The Other Woman, starring Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, and Kate Upton. The film also has… Nicki Minaj? It’s about to get very interesting.
Certified Forgotten
Join Matt Donato and Matthew Monagle for a special Reel Love edition of Certified Forgotten, the podcast that “rediscovers” horror films of the Rotten Tomatoes era. The Matts are joined by Haleigh Foutch and Perri Nemiroff, hosts of Collider’s The Witching Hour, for an even-more-special video episode to discuss sisterhood and aquatic terror in Breaking Surface, one of 2020’s overlooked horror gems. Tune in for a conversation that tests sibling bonds as the gang analyzes why it was overlooked and how it becomes… well, no longer forgotten!
This Ends At Prom
This Ends at Prom is a weekly podcast where filmmaker, film analyst, and perpetual teen girl movie apologist — BJ Colangelo — introduces her wife, transgender film analyst, and cocktail book author — Harmony Colangelo — to a seminal “teen girl” movie she missed out on during adolescence. Together the wives analyze womanhood, coming of age storytelling, and the pop culture legacy of cinema’s most dismissed subgenre.
For the Reel Love Fest, This Ends at Prom will be tackling one of the all-time great (or is it?) teen romantic comedies, 1999’s She’s All That. Join in as BJ guides Harmony down the spiral staircase of Freddie Prinze Jr.’s heart, and the two decide if it’s a yes, no, or a maybe, to taking She’s All That to the proverbial podcast Prom.
Will You Join Us At Reel Love Fest?
While you may not be around the ones you love and cherish, hopefully, a few films can help you feel less alone this love season. This is a fantastic way to celebrate love in various ways and support cinema. We will see you there!