It started with a bang Thursday with short blocks and features at the Community House; and later that night was a reception celebrating the opening night film "The Doughboys"; that later in the weekend won best feature. And they were all here to share the special event with us.

Louis Lombardi and his lovely wife and Gaetano Iacono and his lovely wife, stars of the film, and the boys from Harrington Talents, that made the film. The Dougboys was enjoyed by all those who attended and the Q & A that followed was entertaining and animated. Thanks Louie!

Friday started out with folks lining up to buy tickets early and the films started that day at 3:00 and ran until 11:00 that night. We had a reception this night in honor of Shirley Knight who was in "The Other Side of the Tracks", which premiered in Kent and sold out the house.

What an honor to share the evening with Ms. Knight, a beautiful star in the Kent night. She shared a reel of her work and it was lovely to watch such a talent. Then she shared her work experiences with us holding a Q & A following her reel, she even sang for us and it was a lovely and touching night. Thank you Ms. Knight.

Saturday started with a buzz early! The films started at 10:00 that morning in all five theatres, and film fans came in droves to see them. And what a line up of shorts, features and documentaries. Our wonderful filmmakers were coming in all weekend and from all over the country, and it was our pleasure to meet each and everyone. We had a Gala Filmmaker Reception Saturday afternoon, Robert Clohessy helped in giving out the awards to 15 of our great films. As Frank put it so eloquently, the awards is our least favorite event of the festival because "everyone is a winner in Kent". Thanks to all our filmmakers!

Saturday at noon, we are most honored that Mr. Albert Maysles came to Kent to give a Master Class, his year's of experience shooting direct cinema documentaries was most riveting. He shared clips from a very long list of films and discussed each with us, this experience was unforgettable and it happened here in Kent. Thank you Mr. Maysles.

The events never stopped all weekend, Sunday's lineup included our alternative healing, thinking film line up and we were so honored to have Gary Null join us for a discussion and Q & A about his film that won Best Documentary "Vaccine Nation". It was an honor and a thrill to have this great man share his thoughts and actions with us and the film fans. A day that we won't ever forget. Thank you Gary.

All day Saturday and Sunday we had a great lineup of very informative panels and workshops; including Mr George Norfleet, director of the CT Film Commission sharing his expertise on Credits, Locations and filming in CT; followed by a Women in Film panel that two of our filmmakers sat on with moderator Jenny Hansel.

Todd Tinkham, filmmaker at our festival since year one, shared his expertise on shooting Shorts and Successfully getting films into festivals, the filmmakers loved it.

Julio Macat was in Kent again for his second year, to contribute to the learning experience we are so interested in shaping at the festival, on Lighting and Creating moods. Wonderful to learn from a Master, Thank you Julio.
On Sunday, the workshops continued with Robert Clohessy and his fabulous "Spaghetti Acting Workshop, The Art of Cooking a Good Role" and he should know, the list of credits to his career are long and impressive and the students loved him and his advice and expertise. It's hard not to love him, he is a great, positive person.

Later that day Steve Sherrick of Osbourne Knowledge shared his expertise of the Red One Camera with a workshop on the abilities of this amazing piece of equipment.

So, the Third Annual Kent Film Festival was truly a success for all the filmmakers and film fans that got to see amazing films and perspectives on life, love and storytelling.

Frank and I are so proud to have done this, but we couldn't have done it without all the kindness and generosity from the volunteers, the town and the good people in it.

See in you in Kent in '09!
Frank and Patrice Galterio
co-founders, Director and Organizer