{"id":2300049,"date":"2026-02-25T21:33:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T21:33:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2300049"},"modified":"2026-02-25T21:33:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T21:33:20","slug":"entertainment-highlights-film-festival-aims-to-offer-something-for-everyone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/entertainment-highlights-film-festival-aims-to-offer-something-for-everyone\/","title":{"rendered":"Entertainment Highlights: Film festival aims to offer &#8216;something for everyone&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Everlit Audio Player\" src=\"https:\/\/everlit.audio\/embeds\/artl_qap4wURzGRa?ui_title_icon=headphones&amp;client=wp&amp;client_version=3.0.1\" width=\"100%\" height=\"130px\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>WHITE RIVER JUNCTION \u2014 For just over two decades, the annual White River Indie Film Festival has served as a gathering place to catch the latest independent projects from Upper Valley filmmakers and those working farther afield.<\/p>\n<p>In recent iterations of WRiF, programming has swelled to include not just movies but other art forms and social events too, so much so that leadership at JAM (Junction Arts and Media), the creative nonprofit that organizes the festival, opted to drop \u201cFilm\u201d from its title this time around. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe gist of this year\u2019s festival is that there\u2019s something for everyone,\u201d Jordyn Fitch, WRiF\u2019s director, said in an interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>The new name \u2014 and broader slate of programming \u2014 is also more in step with JAM\u2019s ethos as a community media center.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re kind of a touchpoint for so many different kinds of art in the area,\u201d Fitch said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>This year\u2019s WRiF, a week-long affair that kicks off on Sunday, March 1, features a lineup packed with independent films, live music, social mixers, puppetry, visual art and an indie-sleaze themed dance party (think smudged eyeliner and skinny jeans) to top it all off.<\/p>\n<p>In past years, WRiF has happened over a weekend, or several days, but this time the organizers chose to extend the length of the festival, with programming scheduled from morning until late at night. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot everyone works a traditional Monday to Friday 9 to 5,\u201d Fitch said. \u201cWe realized that if we were able to schedule matinee shows during the day, we might be getting the people we might have missed who work nights or weekends\u2026or don\u2019t drive at night.\u201d  <\/p>\n<p>Among the afternoon entertainment is Theater of the Absurd: a block on Saturday, March 7 devoted to such strange and whimsical acts as Sharon artist Ria Blaas\u2019 vegetable-forward puppet show \u201cPattie Peels Out\u201d and the circus arts of Cal Wicker, among others.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-3    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>Live music is peppered throughout the week too, including \u201cOpen Mike\u201d karaoke sessions led by JAM\u2019s producer and operations manager Mike Cannon, and the customary acoustic jam session from 6 to 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday at the Filling Station.<\/p>\n<p>There are also a number of workshops on the docket such as Emmy-winning animator Hayley Morris\u2019 introduction to the basics of animation. The $20 workshop is open to all ages and scheduled for 10 a.m. at JAM.<\/p>\n<p>While JAM\u2019s leadership has added new events to the festival\u2019s schedule, the staples remain, including screenings of the winning films from its Emerging Filmmakers Contest.<\/p>\n<p>A few years ago, JAM began a concerted effort to market the contest to filmmakers who consider themselves new to the art form, rather than just those in the college age-range. This year saw the largest number of competition submissions \u2014  about 50.<\/p>\n<p>The winners represent a varied array of stories and styles, \u201cranging from very traditional narratives to some very experimental fare,\u201d Fitch said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Mike Purvis\u2019 \u201cReunion\u201d reflects on youth\u2019s bygone possibilities and the stubborn march of time. Purvis, who is 67 and lives in Woodstock, has had a varied career as an art gallery manager, art critic, carpenter and architect. He considers himself \u201cold to the world and new to filmmaking,\u201d reads his bio on JAM\u2019s website.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe really encapsulates why it was important for us to open\u201d the Emerging Filmmakers Contest to all ages, Fitch said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cReunion\u201d will play at 4 p.m. on Monday, March 2 and 12 p.m. next Thursday, March 5 at Briggs Opera House.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile \u201cOn This Land,\u201d an experimental short by Vermont-based Egyptian filmmaker, Salma Badra, uses the poetry of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish to raise questions about identity and memory. \u201cOn This Land\u201d will screen at 4 p.m. on March 2 and 3 p.m. on March 4 in Briggs Opera House.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s also \u201cMunchiez,\u201d a 15-minute short about a dancer and her former teacher who are contending with a shared trauma that has warped their relationship to food, with reality-bending results. From the mind of Sascha Lourdes, a Haitian-American filmmaker and Dartmouth College alum, \u201cMunchiez\u201d will play at 2 p.m on March 3 and 8:30 p.m. on March 7 in Briggs Opera House.<\/p>\n<p>Another staple of WRIF is PitchFest, the quick-fire competition where filmmakers pitch their movie ideas to a panel of judges for the chance to receive money and resources to bring their vision to life. This year\u2019s competition, scheduled for 5:30 on March 5, comes with the twist that audience members will also have a hand in choosing the winners.<\/p>\n<p>Visual art also has long had a place on JAM\u2019s calendar, and Janet E. Dandridge\u2019s \u201cChronicle on Choice and Consequence,\u201d a video installation exploring motherhood as a form of labor, will be on view during WRiF.<\/p>\n<p>Then, of course, there\u2019s the festival\u2019s lineup of indie features. In a similar vein to last year\u2019s offerings, next week\u2019s selections \u201ctackle a wide range of things that are really politically challenging, but also films that are just really fun and enjoyable,\u201d Fitch said.<\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>An example of the former is \u201cAll That\u2019s Left of You,\u201d a drama about a Palestinian teenager living in the occupied West Bank in the 1980s who gets caught up in a protest that has implications for his whole family. Told from the perspective of his mother, the film traces seven decades of family history and political unrest. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cA Useful Ghost,\u201d meanwhile, marries humor and social commentary in a dark tale about a husband in mourning for his wife who died of dust pollution, all for her to return as a spirit inside a vacuum cleaner at his wealthy family\u2019s appliance factory. <\/p>\n<p>Even in death, she must prove her value within the family \u2014and social \u2014 system. <\/p>\n<p>A movie about a possessed vacuum cleaner that illustrates a broader commentary about gender and class expectations in modern Thailand? Very WRiF. <\/p>\n<p><em>JAM\u2019s White River Indie Festival is set for March 1-8 in White River Junction. To purchase passes and learn more go to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/uvjam.org\/\" id=\"https:\/\/uvjam.org\/\">uvjam.org<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">WRiF warm-up <\/h3>\n<p>Leading up to WRiF, JAM is hosting Millennial Movie Trivia at Putnam\u2019s Vine\/yard in White River Junction from 6 to 8 p.m. on Feb. 26. Teams can be up to six people (of all generations), and the winners will receive tickets to the festival. To learn more, go to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.putnamsvineyard.com\/\" id=\"https:\/\/www.putnamsvineyard.com\/\">putnamsvineyard.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Student theater<\/h3>\n<p>Kimball Union Academy is putting on \u201cUrinetown: The Musical\u201d at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 26 through 28 in the school\u2019s auditorium in Meriden. Tickets are free and can be reserved by going to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/kua.org\">kua.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Northern Country Community Theatre\u2019s teen production of \u201cNewsies\u201d is up at Lebanon Opera House from Friday, March 6 through Sunday, March 8. To learn more and purchase tickets ($18-$23) go to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/lebanonoperahouse.org\/\" id=\"https:\/\/lebanonoperahouse.org\/\">lebanonoperahouse.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Present at the creation<\/h3>\n<p>In addition to her own work as one of the Upper Valley\u2019s foremost printmakers, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/vnews.com\/2017\/07\/05\/elizabeth-mayor-woodcut-exhibit-at-two-rivers-printmaking-studio-11034212\/\" id=\"https:\/\/vnews.com\/2017\/07\/05\/elizabeth-mayor-woodcut-exhibit-at-two-rivers-printmaking-studio-11034212\/\">Elizabeth \u201cLili\u201d Mayor<\/a> has played a key role in the growth of AVA Gallery and Art Center. She was one of the organizations first champions and supported its gradual move from Hanover to the former H.W. Carter &amp; Sons factory in Lebanon. AVA has planned a celebration of Mayor\u2019s 90th birthday from 3 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, March 1. Attendees are invited to bring a story to share. RSVP to info@avagallery.org.<\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source vnews.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WHITE RIVER JUNCTION \u2014 For just over two decades, the annual White River Indie Film Festival has served as a gathering place to catch the latest independent projects from Upper Valley filmmakers and those working farther afield. In recent iterations of WRiF, programming has swelled to include not just movies but other art forms and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2300050,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[369626,22672,379886,445680,432396,379891],"class_list":["post-2300049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-homecenterpiece2","tag-latest-news","tag-lebanon-nh","tag-meriden-nh","tag-sharon-vt","tag-white-river-junction-vt"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Entertainment-Highlights-Film-festival-aims-to-offer-something-for-everyone.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2300049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2300049"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2300049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2300051,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2300049\/revisions\/2300051"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2300050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2300049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2300049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2300049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}