Great Lakes, great movies. Are you up for the challenge?

NEWS RELEASE

SOO FILM FESTIVAL

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Soo Film Festival welcomes films and filmmakers to downtown Sault Ste. Marie for its third year. The festival returns to the historic Soo Theatre and is set for September 16-18.

Festival President Taylor Brugman: “We are excited to once again showcase filmmaking from the Great Lakes and beyond, and to raise the bar for ourselves with the Summer Challenge. We can’t wait to see what everyone has in store for us.”

The festival has issued an open call for entries. All genres and nonfiction are accepted in feature and shorts categories. Filmmakers will find details on the Submit a Film page of the festival website, soofilmfestival.org.

The festival committee has set an early bird deadline of May 19 that requires no entry fee. The regular deadline is July 1 with an entry fee of $10.

The late entry deadline is July 15 and requires an entry fee of $15. The selected films will be announced the third week of August.

New to Soo Film Festival this year is Summer Challenge 2016, a 48 hour short film competition. Teams will be given a list of elements and will have two days to write, shoot, and edit a 4 - 6 minute film.

Competitors can be anywhere because they will upload their results. Participation will be a maximum of 20 teams and is open to anyone in the US.

The competition will take place July 22-24. A non-refundable entry fee of $35 is required. Entry deadline is July 20.

Qualifying films will be eligible for prizes and screened at the festival in September. Complete details for Summer Challenge 2016 are available at soofilmfestival.org/sff_challenge.

Soo Film Festival 2016 is open to anyone but will continue to emphasize and showcase work from the Great Lakes region.

The festival is the result of work done by the organizing committee of Taylor and Liz Brugman, Allison Youngs, Mark Dobias, Pat Egan, Susan James, and Jason Markstrom, as well as the festival’s advisory board.

The advisory board is charged with helping the festival grow. The Soo Film Festival Advisory Board includes Helen Cho Anthos, Nick Childs, Steve Hamilton, Jason Markstrom, John Regan, Rich Brauer, and Steven Wiig.

The board was brought together for their connections to film, story, music, and The Great Lakes. More information about the board members is located on the festival website.

Soo Film Festival, Inc. is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote and host film and allied arts festivals in the City of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Soo Film Festival, Inc. seeks to showcase the work of independent and emerging filmmakers, especially from the Great Lakes of North America, while bringing movies back to downtown Sault Ste. Marie and the historic Soo Theatre. Our Mission: Great Lakes, Great Movies!

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