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Central Florida Film Festival returns to Mount Dora on January 19-21

12/22/2023

Move over Sundance. Mount Dora will once again play host to the annual Central Florida Film Festival (CENFLO) in January.

Movie lovers are expected to trek across Florida to the small town known for its quaint downtown and low rolling hills for the three-day festival of film screenings that runs January 19-21. The international festival, now in its 18th year, will screen approximately 175 independent films that include feature-length and short films ranging from comedies, dramas, documentaries, and suspense to horror, animation, adventure, and student projects. All screenings will be held at the 12-screen Epic Theatre in Mount Dora.

Every year hundreds of films are submitted to the festival for consideration, and undergo a rigorous judging process on specific criteria. Films with the highest grades from judges are accepted into the event. In all, the festival bestows more than a dozen awards in categories ranging from Best Dramatic Feature and Best Comedy Feature to awards for best foreign film, documentary, short film, among others. Details of the awards presentation will be announced via the festival’s social media accounts closer to the event.

In addition to American entries, films are submitted from the United Kingdom, France, Australia and New Zealand, as well as India, Korea, Japan, Venezuela, Estonia, Denmark and Canada. CENFLO’s Executive Director Brendon Rogers is enthusiastic about all of the films in the juried festival, including the range of American feature-length entries, like Trust In Love (comedic), Bodega (comedic), What Happened to Suzy (dramatic), Crosses in the Dust (documentary), Broken Dolls (documentary Feature) and Kim Kahana: The Man Who Changed Hollywood (documentary).

The work of talented local filmmakers is also featured in the festival, including short films like The Persistence of Time (science fiction/fantasy; Clermont, Florida), Frostbyte (animated; Orlando, Florida), Morendo (dramatic; Ocala, Florida), and Classless Reunion (comedic; Orlando, Florida)

Cinema buffs can also attend interesting panel discussions with film industry professionals. These events are included with weekend passes and day passes to the festival. One of the panels on January 20 will discuss Women In Film with special guests to be announced. On January 21 there will be a question-and-answer session with legendary stunt performer and action choreographer, Kim Kahana. That session will take place after the screening of a documentary about Kahana, a decorated Korean War veteran who narrowly survived a firing squad and a deadly plane crash and then went on to perform stunts in over 300 films.

The popular festival has come a long way since its debut year in 2005 at the Osceola Center for the Arts. In 2013 it was named among the "Top 25 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee" by Movie Maker Magazine. In 2018, CENFLO’s Executive Director Brendon Rogers and the board of directors shifted the landscape of the festival by moving it to the Epic Theatres multiplex in Mount Dora, located approximately 20 miles northwest of Orlando at 2300 Spring Harbor Boulevard, just off U.S. Highway 441.

The final 2024 schedule is expected to be online by January 1. There are a variety of ticket options available ranging from a single screening pass ($10), a Movie Watcher Pass (unlimited, one-day pass, $35) and the VIP Pass (three-day unlimited pass for $85) for the most ardent movie enthusiasts. There are also individual tickets available for single panel discussions.   More information and the final schedule will be available on CENFLO’s website www.centralfloridafilmfestival.com and tickets are available here https://filmfreeway.com/CentralFloridaFilmFestival/tickets

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Familiar Mount Dora author pens new novel

12/1/2023

Above: Josephine "Jo" Houck with a copy of the novel "No Average Jo"."

(Special contribution to Mount Dora Buzz)

Local author Marc Crail has recently made a splash with his latest novel titled, “No Average Jo.” The fictional lead character, Josephine, is loosely based on Crail’s ninety-nine year old mother-in-law, Jo Houck, whom he referred to as a tour de force, unforgettable, and truly one in a million.

Born in tiny Fayetteville, West Virginia, in 1924, Houck “never in a million years” dreamed she would be the inspiration for a hero in a novel. She grew up during the Great Depression when there were very few options available for girls. Through unwavering grit and stubborn determination, Houck, now a Florida resident, flourished by breaking barriers along the way. The grounded mother of six children also became an airplane pilot while in her thirties and flew private aircraft for decades.

In the book, the fictional character became a WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) during World War II, and ferried B-17 bombers from the western U.S. to the east coast to be loaded onto ships for use in Europe. In reality, a good flying friend of Houck, Jean Adams, was a real WASP and shared stories with Crail that he attributed to Jo in his fictional novel.
Having endured the depression and a world war, as well as turbulent times including the women’s movement, the struggle for civil rights, the Vietnam War, and the current politically divisive times, Houck recalls the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis as being the scariest period in her memory.
By contrast, her favorite time in life was when her house was full of kids and a hive of activity. Although she hated to see her kids leave, watching her children grow up, succeed, and have grandchildren and great grandchildren is her most treasured accomplishment, according to Crail, who is also Mount Dora’s Vice Mayor.
Of her life well lived, Houck has few regrets, but wishes she took the opportunity to learn more German when she and her Army-physician husband were stationed in Germany following World War II.
A book signing of “No Average Jo” with Crail will be held in downtown Mount Dora on Saturday, December 9 from 1:00 to 3 p.m at Barrel of Books and Games at N. Donnelly Street.

Arts & Entertainment

Central Florida Film Festival returns to Mount Dora on January 19-21

Familiar Mount Dora author pens new novel

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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