Sprout Film Festival returns to Jamestown

Movies spotlighting the experiences of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities will be shared when The Resource Center presents the Sprout Film Festival on Wednesday, September 24.

The free festival takes place at 7:00 p.m. in the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts at 116 East Third Street in Jamestown. The Sprout Film Festival features short movies that celebrate the diverse lives and creativity of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The films seek to challenge assumptions and break down stereotypes about people with disabling conditions.

A still image from the film, Rudely Interrupted

Sprout is a traveling film festival, and each host community selects the films that will be screened locally.  For this year’s festival, organizers have chosen 12 films from seven countries. The longest film is 14 minutes, while the shortest is under two minutes. The total running time is about 88 minutes.

Most of the films are documentaries. Several of them focus on people who are on the autism spectrum. All of this year’s films are new to the Jamestown festival except the finale, Get Closer, a fan favorite from the 2015 festival in which the main character invites people to embrace differences with a hug.

A still image from the film, Get Closer

Sprout organizers are glad to again bring the film festival to Jamestown.

“We are excited to be presenting the Sprout Film Festival for the ninth year. This year’s selection of films is both entertaining and thought-provoking,” said The Resource Center’s Kevin Anderson, one of the festival’s lead organizers. “I encourage people to come out to The Reg. Whether you have attended every year or this might be your first, you won’t be disappointed.”

“The Sprout Film Festival is always an enlightening, powerful and joyful event,” added TRC’s Beth Jermain, who also helps organize the festival. “We are very excited about this year’s films. Everyone who comes will leave with a smile.”

Admission is free thanks to a grant from Filling the Gap, Inc., which works with The Resource Center to improve the lives of people with disabilities in Chautauqua County. Money for the grant came from The Resource Center Laurel Run Fund at the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation. Sprout also is made possible thanks to support from corporate sponsors Southern Chautauqua Federal Credit Union and Kinetic.

Doors to the theater will open at 6:00 so moviegoers can have time to look over the items that will be available in a prize drawing. Money raised from the prize drawing will benefit the Step Up for Autism event that is put on by Filling the Gap and The Resource Center. The Resource Center also will be conducting a membership drive before the movies begin, and people who become TRC members will be entered into a prize drawing.

For more information about the Sprout Film Festival, phone 716-483-2344 or visit https://resourcecenter.org/sprout, where visitors can also view the festival trailer to get a feel for some of the films.

A still image from the film, The Fine Art of Being Zion