About the Festival


About the Festival
The Johnstown Film Festival is a competition of short films. Now preparing for its fifth year, the popular event will be held June 16-19, 2010.
The festival was originally conceived by the Johnstown/Cambria County Chamber of Commerce's John B. Gunter Leadership Class of 2006. The group came to the Johnstown Area Heritage Association with the idea of holding a film festival, and in July 2006 the first Johnstown Film & Wine Festival was held. As with all JAHA-sponsored events, volunteers play a key role in the event, and many of the leadership class members continue to volunteer their time with the film festival's organizing committee. In the festival's short history, the quantity and the quality of films has improved every year. At the same time, the number of films with a local connection continues to increase. The festival is proud of helping foster, encourage and showcase filmmaking activities in the greater Johnstown region. At the same time, we have screened films from all over the nation and worldwide, and will continue to do so.
In 2010, the word "wine" was dropped from the festival name, as organizers felt this put too much emphasis on the wine part of the event. However, the festival format will remain the same in that there will be a social time before the final showings of the best films on Saturday -- we plan craft beer tastings instead. The first night of the festival (Wednesday, June 16) will include a screening of a feature film made in the Johnstown area. The next two nights of the festival (Thursday, June 17 and Friday, June 18) feature screenings of films entered into the competition. The top films, including the three winners, are screened on the final night of the festival in the James V. Saly Courtyard at the Heritage Discovery Center, preceded by a social time with craft beer tastings.
The lineup for the festival will be announced in mid-May. Visit the Film Festival's News page on this website for the latest news and information on the festival!