FirstGlance Philly Film Fest 2021

Experience Philadelphia’s longest-running indie film festival!

See over 45 indie films from shorts to features, documentaries to web series, and more!

Celebrate indie filmmakers from down the street and across the globe and the amazing films they create in all genres. Science Fiction, Horror, Comedy, Drama…Everything Indie!

Join us in person for the red carpet, screenings, after-parties, and a live awards presentation!

Get your All-Access Passes NOW! Limited Passes available at $100.00

Individual screening tickets will be available on Eventbrite and limited seats will be available at The Colonial Theatre box office starting at $15.00

Come back to the theater with FirstGlance!

ABOUT FIRST GLANCE FILMS

FirstGlance Films began in 1996 as an indie film festival in the basement of a small theater in Center City Philadelphia. FirstGlance Films has currently produced over 40 festivals in Philadelphia and Hollywood.  In addition to producing their award winning bi-coastal film festivals, FirstGlance has year round activities that include On-line Short Film Competitions, Short Film Productions, and streaming and VOD Distribution. For more information, please visit firstglancefilms.com.

IMPORTANT TICKET INFO

To purchase individual screening passes, choose your desired date after clicking the “buy tickets” button.

Click here to purchase A Full Festival Pass ($100)

LIVE FESTIVAL | OCTOBER 13TH – OCTOBER 15TH

DAY ONE | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15TH

Friday – FirstNight  |  7:30 pm – 9:30 pm | $20

FILMS

• The Waywoods – Living in a Bubble: Are we defined by our work or by our passion? A painter struggles with his “day job” as a kid’s TV show host. Will he still be accepted if he reveals his true self and passion to his audience?
• House Hunting:  Hunters sneak inside our homes to steal our most private moments and anonymously post the video for all the world to see.
• Stalked: A group of Urban Exploration YouTubers travel to the infamous town of Slaughter Hill, where an entire town seemingly disappeared overnight.
• Koreatown Ghost Story: In this supernatural horror tale based on a Korean ritual starring Margaret Cho and Lyrica Okano, a woman entertains a macabre marriage offer that would let her pursue her dreams, for better or for much much worse.
• Hideout: Evading police at a remote farmhouse after fumbling a robbery, four criminals discover that the family living there is not who they appear to be.

DAY TWO | SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16TH

Saturday Matinee I | 1:00 pm – 2:45 pm | $15

FILMS

• Party of None: Catering During a Pandemic: Catering By Design is a small catering company nestled in Philadelphia. When the pandemic strikes, they are forced to adapt and reorganize, making meals for a new client: the food insecure.
• Hello Sunshine: Roz Pichardo is more than a survivor of domestic and gun violence, she’s a warrior. From saving the lives of over 500 people in active opioid addiction to working with families who have unsolved murder cases, she’s found a way to channel her trauma into service – helping the often-forgotten men and women of North Philadelphia.
• Life without Parole: The Story of George Martorano: George Martorano was sentenced to life without parole; he was to die in prison. He was the longest-serving first-time non-violent offender, remarkably he was released in 2015 after serving over 32 years.

Saturday Afternoon  | 3:00 pm – 4:45 pm | $15

FILMS

• Routine: During a mysterious pandemic, Cassie’s lockdown quarantine life has turned into a routine, day in and day out, until she realizes she’s out of coffee.
• Crazy Hat Fridays: As the world locks down for an unprecedented pandemic, Frank retreats into isolation, refusing to leave his apartment to accept even deliveries. His boss suggests for as long as quarantine lasts, they end each week with “Crazy Hat Friday.”
• Covidependency: A short musical romantic comedy that captures some of the struggles of dating and relationships during a pandemic.
• In the Land of Fruits and Nuts: Newly single Kip decides to document her experience dating a motley series of women in Los Angeles.
• Number One: A young woman agrees to an open relationship with her free-spirited lover, but her goal of getting closer to him doesn’t really go as planned.
• The Sound of Waves: A young composer, under pressure to deliver a commissioned symphony, seeks to solve her creative blocks with a change of venue at a deserted seaside town. And unlikely encounter with a builder proves the catalyst for her musical resolution.

Saturday Twilight | 5:00 pm – 7:30 pm | $20

FILMS

• Venus: Iris, torn out of her idyllic digital world and uploaded into a stolen synthetic body by her grieving mother, must face her body’s objectification and violent potential in a dark future.
• 99 Problems: A stranger offers people an opportunity to change their immediate future, an offer that could save them from danger.
• The Alternate: The Alternate follows Jake, a videographer who discovers a portal to another dimension in which he has everything he has always wanted: the perfect version of his wife Kris, the filmmaking career of his dreams, and the daughter he never had.

Saturday Night | 7:45 pm – 9:45 pm | $20

FILMS

• Visions: A young man tries to access his future through a virtual reality headset.
• Room 217: A young man checks into room 217 in an old hotel on a rainy night. Soon he begins to experience hallucinations that lead him to believe he is living the same time over and over again. He frantically tries to find a way out of this strange time loop with the help of the hotel manager.
• I want to be a writer: A man wakes up locked in a strange bathroom where something is lurking behind the walls.
• The Silenced: When her son is murdered while camping, his mother dives into the mystery of what ended his life, uncovering the secrets of her small Massachusetts town. She struggles with self-redemption not only as a mother but of her daughter’s who is spiraling out of control.

DAY THREE | SUNDAY, OCTOBER 17TH

Sunday Matinee | 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm | $15

FILMS

• Reflections: In “Reflections,” Mike Donnelly speaks on a long and storied career in the roofing trade. Parallels are drawn between his experiences and those of his Irish and Irish-American ancestors, who first entered the industry in the nineteenth century.
• The Good Life: This story follows one women’s journey of being molested that laid the foundation for a life of further trauma, abuse, depression and nonexistence. This short documentary is about a pinnacle moment that lead to healing from sexual child abuse, being set free, and the movement created out of the process that helps others heal from their own trauma and abuse.
• Nick Lighting: A heartwarming tale about a man who was born with a disability that doctors could not define. Music was always front and center to him, so he decided to become a rock star.

Sunday Afternoon | 2:45 pm – 4:30 pm  | $15

FILMS

• Seven Dreams: A music video in which an ex boyfriend experiences seven wild and crazy dreams over and over.
• Drama High: When Archer transfers to an elite high school with a student body seemingly straight from an Asian drama, she capitalizes on her knowledge of the genre’s tropes to climb the social ladder
• The Weight of Perfection: Deep exploration of elite-level gymnast Ellen and her harrowing journey as she falls into an eating disorder when the pressures from her coach, family, and herself begin to create a web of psychological damage.
• Lunachicks: Reclusive Marla Strange longs for a friend, but her infamous father has other ideas.
• Soundman: A timid ornithology professor has spent years documenting a very rare bird only to experience technical difficulties during her anticipated presentation, leading to emotional unraveling but self-discovery in front of a very impatient audience.
• Myrtle: Myrtle, a trailer park Mom from Indiana, cooks dinner for her son. But something’s not quite right. This kitchen is anonymous, industrial, and Myrtle’s working to a deadline. As her composure unravels, we realize that 21 grams is all that separates life from death.
• Mila: A war story that takes on a child’s perspective. Inspired by World War II stories from the director’s mother, the character of Mila represents the best of humanity. Although she has lost everything – her family, her house, her peace – she still clings to hope. With a little more than imagination and humanity, Mila manages to profoundly impact others, including a caring stranger who saves her.

Sunday Twilight | 4:45 pm – 7:15 pm | $15

FILMS

• “22”: Tom, a U.S. Marine who returns home after many combat tours only to find himself fighting another war from within.
• There you Are: After the death of her mom several years ago, Su feels estranged from her father. In honoring their traditional family camping trip on his birthday, she hopes to reconnect with him. But when her father cancels it in deference to his new girlfriend, Su is forced to deal with her unresolved grief.
• Frankie: Frankie, mere days after coming out as a non-binary trans person, crashes their ex-partner’s men-only 12 step meeting, determined to be heard… no matter the cost. A story about the need to be seen on one’s own terms, FRANKIE is a raw and timely tale of the universal struggle for acceptance.
• Lockbox: A desperate man stumbles upon a life changing amount of money, but must make a risky stop on his way to a new life.
• A Tale of Redemption: A short film about an old mob hit man who still thinks he’s in his prime and learns the hard way that he’s not. Old mobsters never die, they just fall apart in South Philly.
• Samland: A desperate immigrant accepts a marriage of convenience from an unscrupulous drug dealer and family friend to a young woman running from her past, blinded by her addiction. Together, they search for the “American Dream” that seems to allude them as they travel down a dangerous path filled with deception and death, as they seek the truth about who they are, and how they fit into America’s distorted landscape.

Sunday Closing & Awards | 7:30 pm – 10:30 pm | $20

FILMS

• Jane Leo- Tell Me: A micro budget neo-noir music video short for the track “Tell me” by Jane Leo. Filmed, Directed, Edited and VFX by one person during the COVID summer of 2020.
• Finbag: A fish gets into a plastic bag and trouble!
• Toast: A hungry office worker matches wits with a belligerent toaster for his breaktime snack.
• The Fuzzies: A man wakes up locked in a strange bathroom where something is lurking behind the walls.
• The Epilogue of Gregory Archambault: Gregory Archambault is about a suicidal writer who can’t commit suicide because he’s not satisfied with his suicide letter.
• The Butcher: When her ex-boyfriend unexpectedly shows up at her door for nefarious reasons, a newly-reformed woman must reveal the truth to her naive husband to save her marriage and confront her dark past… by using things she learned from it.
• Let’s All Go to the Lobby: Alex Miner, an apathetic and disillusioned theater worker, must fight for her survival when she and her childhood best friend discover a cursed film reel that causes the snack counter to come alive and attack them for not appreciating the movie theater…
• Waiting for Deading: Two apprentice Grim Reapers are sent on their first assignment of collecting a soon-to-be-dead person’s soul, but everything turns from bad to even f-ing worse when this bickering duo encounter a first obstacle and promptly stray from the protocol.