My first ever film festival was the 2017 Phoenix Film Festival and to this day I still remember the thrills of Land of the Little People and emotional weight of Fallen. So as my colleague in the Pacific Northwest continues his coverage of the Toronto International Film Festival, here in the Valley of the Sun I have an opportunity to cover a more local film festival: the 2021 Peoria Film Fest, which will take place this Friday September 17 through Sunday September 19th at Harkins Arrowhead Fountains Theater. 

The Peoria Film Fest is one of the younger components of the Phoenix Film Foundation, which is over other prominent Phoenix film programs including the Phoenix Film Festival and the Phoenix Film Society. This will be Peoria Film Fest’s 3rd year of offering a specially curated selection of films in Peoria, and in a recent interview with ForReel, Executive Director of Peoria Film Fest Jason Carney describes the importance of this film festival to this community. “The Peoria Film Fest is something we wanted to bring to the northwest valley of metro Phoenix because it’s an underserved area in terms of arts events,” he explains. “The city of Peoria was very open to it and excited to have something come out to their neck of the woods.”

This year, Peoria Film Fest will offer a diverse set and wide selection of feature films and short films throughout the three day event.

The Opening Night film for the Peoria Film Fest this year will be the critically acclaimed rom-com I’m Your Man, a Berlin International Film Festival debut feature film from director Maria Schrader starring Dan Stevens and Silver Bear Award Winner Maren Eggert (Watch our TIFF Interview with Eggert). The festival’s Saturday Night Centerpiece film will be The Humans, which boasts an all star ensemble cast that includes Steven Yeun, Richard Jenkins, Amy Schumer, and Beanie Feldstein. And the Closing Night film is the tense one-room drama Mass, which made its debut at Sundance earlier this year to overwhelming praise, including from the ForReel team (Sundance review for Mass). The film is directed by Fran Kranz and stars Martha Plimpton, Jason Isaacs, Reed Birney and Ann Dowd.

Audiences who missed select Phoenix Film Festival favorites in August have the chance to catch them here at Peoria Film Fest. Copper Wing Award winners like Small Town Wisconsin, In the Dark of the Valley, and the winner for both Best Picture and Best Director Trees of Peace are programmed for the festival.

Peoria Film Fest will also be screening a selection of beloved family films. “What brings people together and families together are films,” Carney says when discussing his enthusiasm for this family films lineup. “Part of being a non-profit is being a good citizen and a good neighbor,” and this, as Carney explains, is why Peoria Film Fest is excited to offer this selection of family films for free.

This year, those family films are Matilda, Balto, Despicable Me, and Muppets Take Manhattan.

While all of these films sound amazing, the film I’m most excited for at Peoria Film Fest is the film Platform. A feature film debut from director Sahar Mosayebi, Platform is a documentary described as “a rocky-esque underdog story” following  three Iranian sisters competing to be champions of the Chinese Martial Art, Wushu.

While the COVID-19 pandemic is still a top-of-mind concern, Carney is confident in the festival’s precautions and the Harkins Theaters protocols to keep attendees as safe and healthy as possible. For more information on covid protocols & safety measures please visit https://www.phoenixfilmfestival.com/welcome-back and https://www.harkins.com/welcome-back.

Tickets for the Peoria Film Festival are now on sale and can be purchased at 480-513-3195 or by visiting the Peoria Film Fest website. Single tickets are $12 and full festival passes are only $60. However, in keeping with the Peoria Film Fest’s commitment to their community, Peoria residents can get tickets for half price.

You can view the full 2021 Peoria Film Fest schedule and lineup and buy tickets at: https://www.peoriafilmfest.com/schedule2021.