BY SAM CAPUANO
sam@theballstonjournal.com

BALLSTON SPA — The Ballston Spa Film Festival is back and better than even for 2010. The event, now in its third year, will take place the evenings of Aug. 6 and 7, with the first screening each night kicking off at 7pm. The movies will be shown at Wiswall Park and Ballston Spa High School. There is no cost to see the films.

The Festival was conceived three years ago as a Ballston Spa Business & Professional Association event by local filmmaker Daniel DeFabio. He is back at the helm for year three.

“Yeah, we’ve made it to the third year,” DeFabio said. “And we have a more diverse international reach this year.”

This includes films from as far away as Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Indonesia.

As to how they have reached filmmakers half a world away, DeFabio notes they have set up promotional partnerships with an independent film website in Poland, an agent for indie films in Spain and OpenFilm.com which was founded by James Caan, Scott Caan and Robert Duvall. They even managed to get a message of congratulations from the latter three to the BSFF filmmakers.

“It’s great to think they are even a little aware of what we’re doing here in Ballston Spa,” DeFabio said.

Such is the growing popularity of the Festival that several filmmakers are returning this year. This includes Tom Ryan, who will once again make the trip over the pond from Ireland.

“Tom is our most long distance traveler,” DeFabio said. “He had a great time last year.”

Another returning director is student Jacob McAuliffe, who will be entering a pair of films, including “Fair Trade”, which would appear to be appropriate, given the fact it will screen in New York State’s first Fair Trade Town. In keeping with the local flavor, McAuliffe’s other film, “Woods Hollow,” a horror/psych type of film, was shot in Milton.
Other notables returning include four who won awards at the 2009 Film Festival, Chris Jones, Manolo Celi, Fabrice Joubert, and Ciro Altabas.

There will also be a music video by Vesper, the cello-rock driven band, who will also be back to play live in the after parties each night at BrickYard Tavern & Grille and Brookside Museum. WEQX-FM will also be broadcasting live from Wiswall Park on the Friday night edition of the Festival.

The 11 award categories from last year will remain the same. One new addition to the event is the Electronic Heliotrope Theater, which DeFabio describes as an interactive video display. There will be abstract videos reacting to the music.

A free training session for video editors in Final Cut Pro will also be offered this year. It will be lead by producers from News 9. Participants get hands on the equipment and the instruction is tailored to the level of those attending from beginners to more expert editors.

This will take place at Brookside Museum at 1 p.m., Aug. 7.

With additions such as this, and the number of those who keep coming back, it would appear as though the Ballston Spa Film Festival clearly has some staying power.

“It’s definitely a more proven event,” DeFabio said. “I will always want it to be bigger, and it will probably never be big enough for me. We’re getting there, though.”

For more information on the Ballston Spa Film Festival, go to: www.bspafilm.com.