ReadingFilmFest announces award winners [Spotlight]

Oct. 17—The ReadingFilmFest handed out the following awards at the conclusion of the festival, which ran Sept. 30-Oct. 3 in downtown Reading:

—People's Choice Best in Show: "We Are All in This Together"

—People's Choice of Reading: "The Stakeout"

—Best Narrative Feature Film: "Simin" by Morteza Atash Zamzam

—Best Documentary: "Into the Canton" by Pete McBride

—Best Documentary by a Female Filmmaker: "The Vow From Hiroshima" by Susan Strickler

—Social Impact Award: "No Time To Waste: The Urgent Mission of Betty Reid Soskin" by Carl Bidleman

—Best Made in Reading Film: "Follow Me and I Will Be Behind You" by Kyle Allison and Taryn Habel

—Best Short Film: "Duet" by Mika Orr

—Best Short Film by a Female Filmmaker: "Jabari Keating" by Stacey Larkins

—Best Screenplay: "Love Is a Foot" by Michael LaFata

—Best of StudentFEST: "The Final Masterpiece" by Patrick Hanser

—Best Cinematography in a Feature: Morteza Atash Zamzam, "Simin"

—Best Cinematography in a Short Film: Mika Orr, "Duet"

—Best Music / Scoring: Mojtaba Poorbakhsh, "Goodbye Olympic"

—Best Actress in a Feature: Amelia Dudley, "Night at the Eagle Inn"

—Best Actor in a Feature (tie): Bret Lada and Dustin Fontaine, "Andy Baker Tapes"

—Best Actress in a Short:- Carlotta Brentan, "I'll Meet You There"

—Best Actor in a Short: — "The Journalist," "I Am an American"

—Second place, Best Actress in a Feature: Laleh Eskandari (mother), "Simin"

—Second place, Best Actor in a Feature: Superior Guard, "Mandatory"

—Second place, Best Actress in a Short: Kate Hughs, "Life Happens When You Cry"

—Second place, Best Actor in a Short (tie): Oscar Clitheroe, "The Gangbuster," and

—"Superior Guard," "Mandatory"

—Second place, Screenplay: "Penn Hills Resort," Phil Burdette

—Third place, Screenplay, "Iffy Murphy," by Sara Hosey

Exhibit

Studio B Fine Art Gallery, 39A E. Philadelphia Ave., Boyertown, PA, will host "Prison Art and Experience," a discussion and an art exhibit opening.

On Oct. 24 from 1-2 p.m., Joe Romeri, former inmate, and Jody Guy, executive director and founder of Wilkinsburg's Civic Center, will visit Studio B to speak about the prison experience and the role that art plays in the life of a prisoner. Bob Wood will facilitate the discussion.

An opening of the exhibit in the studio's Grey Gallery is planned for Oct. 29 from 5-7 p.m. A virtual opening on Facebook Live will run at 6 p.m. and a brief video tour of the exhibit will showcase the artwork. The exhibit, an adjunct to the studio's "Abstract, Impressionism, and Realty" exhibit, will run through Nov. 28.

The prisoner art show/experience, culled from the collection of inmate Richard A. Guy, Jody's cousin, will have as its central point the Pencil Drawing Art Class offered to hundreds of prisoners at the State Correctional Institution at Fayette.

"The class objective enabled each prisoner to overcome the restrictive prison environment to see the world in a new perspective and express themselves through visual arts," said Guy in a prepared statement.

The majority of pencil drawings were done by students who had no prior art instruction or experience.

"Some of the art represented in greeting cards, tattoo patterns, handkerchiefs, and envelopes may look simplistic but represent astounding artistic achievements accomplished while in prison to better themselves," Guy said.

The exhibit's origins began in 2013 with a letter from Richard Guy, who is serving a life sentence at the State Correctional Institution in LaBelle, Fayette County. He proposed organizing an exhibit of his fellow prisoners' artwork as a contribution to the library's art lending program.

The exhibition and opening reception at Studio B are free and open to the public. The gallery also invites visitors on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 2 p.m. or by appointment by contacting Susan Biebuyck, suebie@ptd.net, 484-332-2757 or Jane Stahl, janeEstahl@comcast.net, 610-563-7879.

Lecture

The second of the fall series of Masters of Art talks will be conducted in-person with mandatory masks at Clay on Main, 313 Main St., on Tuesday from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Clay on Main owner and ceramicist Delores Kirschner and artist/instructor Constance McBride will talk about art as a community resource and using art to raise awareness for Alzheimer's disease

Pottstown Area Artists Guild is sponsoring the talk.

"The Lonely Girls" Project began in 2011 to raise awareness for Alzheimer's. The project began after McBride's mother moved from her home to an assisted living facility. She was diagnosed with the disease and lived out her last years between two worlds. What started as a portrait of her became a collection of works inspired by the women she lived with.

One goal of the project is to raise research funding for "Making Sense of Alzheimer's." A platform managed within University of Pennsylvania, it's a creative space for people to understand the past, present and future of Alzheimer's disease. "Making Sense of Alzheimer's" features stories and ideas that tackle the changing understanding of what Alzheimer's disease is and how we try to make sense of it in our own lives.

Clay on Main is a nonprofit art community and studio resource center that serves the local community with a variety of clay arts programs. It has community classes and workshops in clay for adults and children, hosts professional workshops, collaborates with other nonprofit organizations to offer learning opportunities through art and holds public lectures and events. There is also a cooperative gallery which serves as a venue for the display and sale of members' and guest artists' work, and the Half Moon Cafe, which is a venue for local musicians.

Music

Across America and around the world, audiences have fallen in love with Jeremy Davis, Clay Johnson and the Fabulous Equinox Orchestra, which takes the stage at Kutztown University's Schaeffer Auditorium Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are available at www.KutztownPresents.org or by calling the KU Presents! Box Office 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, at 610-683-4092. Tickets are $36; $31 for students and seniors.

Bringing their rich camaraderie and charm to the stage and inspired by the style and swagger of legendary entertainers like Frank and Dean and Sammy, Davis and Johnson are making their own revisions to the Great American songbook. This recipe for 100% audience approval includes the favorite melodies from recent history: a dash of Motown, a shot of country, some folk and rock sprinkled on top — and the stories behind them — serving up a musical banquet that feeds every soul.