Once again, the Majestic Theatre will be hosting the Benicia Film Festival for two of its three days. (Photo by Nick Sestanovich)

Benicians have often lamented the fact that there is no place in town to see movies. For decades, this function was served by the Majestic Theatre on First Street— also known as The State at various points during its run. From its inception in 1920, it was the place in Benicia to see first-run movies, and for a brief period in the ‘70s, it also provided residents with a chance to see classic films on the big screen.

However, with audiences flocking to nearby multiplexes, the Majestic these days is largely used for comedy acts and other events. Nonetheless, for Labor Day weekend, the Majestic will be returning to its roots and screening films for the Benicia Film Festival.

The Benicia Film Festival will return for its third year from Sept. 2 to 4 with a three-day screening of submitted short films from around the world. According to Helaine Bowles, an administrative secretary with the Benicia Public Library, the idea to do an annual film festival came from Kenny Hall, a filmmaker and member of the library’s Arts and Culture Commission.

“He thought it would be a great idea to have a film festival, so we started it,” she said. “It’s been going great ever since.”

Bowles also noted that for all the film festivals being held in the Bay Area, having one in Benicia would be a good way to draw in visitors.

Over the course of the festival’s three days, 38 short films will be screened. Filmmakers submitted their films through the site WithoutABox.com— the same site where directors submit their movies to Sundance and other international film festivals—and were ranked from 0 to 4 in the categories of storytelling, camera work, editing and audio. After sitting through more than 800 films, the committee was able to narrow the movies down to 38. Five of these movies will be shown at the Veteran’s Memorial Hall on Friday, Sept. 2. The remainder will be screened at the Majestic Theatre on Saturday, Sept. 3 and Sunday, Sept. 4

Bowles said the movies this year will be 30 minutes or less in response to feedback from audience members the previous year.

“Last year, people complained that some of the films were too long, so we made all of them shorts,” she said.

The festival will highlight the works of filmmakers from all over the world, including such countries as India, Iran, Finland, Spain, Mexico, Ukraine, Belgium, Poland, Australia, Kyrgyzstan, Iceland and more. The event will also feature two movies by Bay Area filmmakers. The first, Sonoma State student Anna Luna’s “Bobby,” deals with a family discovering their son is gay and was screened at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Recent Benicia High School graduate Jonathan Stevens will be presenting his film “Colours,” a movie about teenage angst shot entirely in Benicia. Stevens will be present to introduce his film when it is shown Sept. 3 at 5:45 p.m.

The Friday gala will also feature a discussion from Sarah Carnick and the crew of her movie “One Night,” an 8-minute movie about a woman named Sam who meets another young woman named Kayla online and has to decide whether or not she really wants to become intimate. The gala will also feature appetizers, a no-host bar, silent auction and music from The Jazz Explosion.

Bowles said funding came largely from Ace Hardware, Plan-it Interactive and the Downtown Benicia Alliance, a partnership of downtown businesses.

“(The Downtown Benicia Alliance) got behind us, and the chair (Leah Selhorn) said ‘We want to help you out because you’re all on First Street, and we’re gonna benefit from this,’” she said. “She went to all the merchants and raised between $3,000 and $4,000 for the film festival. One of the things they’re doing with the money is paying for the second day at the Majestic, which was this extra day we didn’t have to pay for last year.”

Bowles believes the event will be an effective way to remind Bay Area residents what Benicia is capable of.

“I hope they take away the fact that you can stay in Benicia and do different things,” she said. “You can watch films and stay in Benicia. Also, I’m hoping that people come outside Benicia and say ‘Hey, we’ve never been here before. This is a great place, and we’re gonna come back.’”

The Benicia Film Festival will be held at the following dates and times: 6 to 8 p.m., Friday, Sept. 2 at the Veteran’s Memorial Hall, located at 1150 First St.; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. with a noon to 2 intermission, Saturday, Sept. 3, at the Majestic, located at 710 First St.; and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. to 6 p.m. with a 12:30 to 2:30 intermission, Sunday, Sept. 4 at the Majestic. Tickets for the gala only are $30 for one person or $50 for two in advance and $40 each at the door. Tickets for Saturday and Sunday are $25 in advance and $35 at the door, and tickets for all three days are $65 in advance. Students will enjoy a $10 discount for Saturday and Sunday, and Benicia teachers, firefighters, police officers and active military personnel and veterans will receive a $12 discount daily. Tickets can be purchased in advance at BeniciaFilmFestival.com or at the library, located at 150 East L St. For more information, call the library at 746-4343.

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