Creative Edge Film Fest Rocks Fairfield

CEFF producer Tracy McCormick

The first annual Creative Edge Film Fest (CEFF) took place in Fairfield September 25-27 at the freshly renovated Orpheum Theater downtown. The festival provided a new venue for Iowa’s independent filmmakers, producers, directors, and actors to showcase their talents.

“Our aim is to show uplifting and cutting-edge films that you won’t see anywhere else,” says Jim Belilove, the festival’s co-executive producer and CEO of Fairfield’s Creative Edge Master Shop, which sponsored the festival.

CEFF Founder and Producer Tracy McCormick, of Lightfinder Public Relations, says that each film has some connection to the artistic scene of Fairfield and Southeast Iowa. Tracy’s goal through starting this annual festival is to bring attention and support to the growing Iowa filmmaking community.

Friday night featured Sundance Select Film The Search for General Tso, which centers around a quest from Shanghai to Iowa to find the origins of the popular dish, General Tso’s Chicken.

Creative Edge Film Festival filmmakers and Mysteries of Love co-producer Michael Sternfeld

Saturday night featured Paolo Soleri: Beyond Form, a full-length documentary spotlighting the work of the late Italian architect, urban designer, artist, craftsman, and philosopher. Director Aimee Madsen held a Q and A with the audience afterwards.

Each full-length feature was shown alongside a short film. One of these films was The Dudley Story, an inspiring documentary about a rescued calf that becomes a permanent resident at The Gentle Barn, an animal rescue home and educational setting for at-risk kids. Another short, World Fair (2013), featured the fascinating world of the 1939 NY World Fair through archival footage, memories and ephemera of living fairgoers.

We’re proud to say that CEFF featured work by members of our own MIU community! There was a screening of Good Conversation, a short piece by David Lynch MA graduate Lloyd Wilcox, along with Kid Moxie’s take on Angelo Badalamenti’s famous Mysteries of Love, which was shot in Fairfield and co-directed by MIU’s own Amine Kouider. Also featured was MIU grad Radim Schrieber’s Firefly Experience, along with several other short films and videos.

The first year of the festival was a success and nearly sold out! We’re excited to see what happens in 2016. For more information about the fest, check out the official website.