Solange Film Festival Kicks Off in Pittsburgh at Row House Lawrenceville
Pittsburgh has a brand new event for film lovers called Solange Film Festival. It runs May 14-17 at the Row House Cinema in Lawrenceville. Solange is a Latin word that combines sol, meaning sun, and ange, meaning angel. Solange has come to represent dignity or solemnity in French, and that makes a perfect name for a festival that seeks to champion overlooked stories.
Courtesy of Solange Film Festival
The guiding principle for those running the Solange Film Festival has always been about a story's ability to create community and understanding for those who make the film and those who view it.
“The fact that a short film could have that kind of impact on me,” Steve Michalik says, shaking his head. “That’s the power of story.”
Michalik is the president of Portage Learning, an online educational school located in Beaver Falls, and he emphasizes that learning does not end in the classroom. That art, in all of its forms, has the potential to encourage people to consider a life that is different from their own. Movies can be a source of empathy.
“We hope to inspire and challenge our audience by giving attention to films that tell overlooked stories with dignity, respect, and compassion,” Solange Film Festival executive director Liz Ours stresses. “We were blown away by the quality of work entered. We’re confident our audience will be, too.”
Thirty-three films were selected for the second annual festival and will be screened over the course of the three days. They’re a mixture of shorts and feature films. In true Pittsburgh fashion, producer and writer Rick Sebak will be attending to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his documentary The Strip Show.
Alongside the work of established filmmakers, whose films were added after board members attended festivals like Tribeca, Sundance, and more, will be a short film made by students. Over the course of three weekends in March, five high school students took part in the Solange Young Filmmakers Program. These students wrote a script, cast actors, filmed, and edited their film, Island in the Sky. It will be screened as part of the Finding Hope short film block on May 16 at 5:00 p.m.
“Everyone is welcome to join us. Come for a block or for the entire festival,” encourages Ours. “We promise you’ll leave with a new sense of hope for what our community can become.”
For more information about the Solange Film Festival, please visit their website.
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