Festival governors at the Connecticut Film Festival (CTFF) and Bethel Film Festival (BFF) were proud to showcase World Wide Motion Pictures’ upcoming theatrical release, The Road To Mother, at a recent Wednesday evening screening. Set during the Soviet Famine of the early 1930s, the film follows Ilyas, a kidnapped boy struggling to find his way home after his father is murdered. Directed by Akan Satayev, the film was selected as the Kazakhstani entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards and the 74th Golden Globes.
FilmFest52 is produced by the organizers of the Connecticut Film Festival (CTFF) and the Bethel Film Festival (BFF) in partnership with Bethel Cinema. For more than a decade, these three independent film entities have supported filmmakers, showcasing and premiering cutting edge cinema.
The Road to Mother premiered at the 38th Moscow International Film Festival to critical acclaim and has been showcased at numerous other festivals, including: the New York Eurasian Film Festival (USA) – Winner: Best Foreign Film; the Marco Polo Film Festival (Croatia) – Winner: Best Film; WeLink International Film Festival (USA) – Winner: Best Feature Film; the Eurasian Bridge International Film Festival (Yalta) – Winner: Grand Prix and Best Actress for Altynai Nogherbek; and the Almaty Independent Film Festival (Kazakhstan) – Winner: Tulpar Prize. Additionally, the film was recognized by the Ak Ilbirs National Film Awards (Kyrgyzstan) in the category of Best Central Asia Film.
FilmFest52 has screened more than 750 films in Bethel CT and Bennington VT since its founding in May of 2015. Film Fest 52 was the first statewide, year-round festival with 9 three-day weekend festivals, a signature 6-day and night festival with 6 monthly and bi-weekly screenings throughout the state.
Every Wednesday evening throughout the year, FilmFest52 showcases a diverse array of International fictional and documentary feature films, dramatic and comedic shorts, micro shorts, student films as well as animations, music videos, web series and commercials! All accepted projects have the opportunity to compete in a variety of categories to become quarterly award nominees. The nominees of each quarter are judged as finalists and the Best of Category award winners will be selected at the end of the season.
Numerous film premieres, after parties and receptions are held in the theaters and lobby of The Bethel Cinema as well as local restaurants and pubs within a short walk or drive of the theater. There are audience Q&As, panels or discussions after every film or block of shorts.
Educational workshops, panels and keynotes take place on more than two-dozen random Saturday and Sunday mornings throughout the year.
World Wide will be releasing The Road to Mother to select cities in the Spring of 2019.