Frank Coraci headlines upcoming virtual film festival

The Mastic Beach Mini Indie Film Festival will be virtual this year, in its second year. The program was released on their website, and tickets are on sale through FilmFreeway.

The event will take place Nov. 6-8 with a full lineup of film screenings, workshops, musical acts, photography, artwork, and talks from industry professionals. William Floyd High School grad and Distinguished Alumni Frank Coraci (of “The Wedding Singer” and “The Waterboy”) will headline and close out the ceremony on Nov. 8.

The film festival, “Celebration of Grit,” focuses on capturing artists from all walks of life, perspectives, and geographic locations, both domestic and foreign. The event will premiere and screen the work of filmmakers from all around the world including, the U.S., Korea, Iran, Turkey, and Israel. Each segment will include filmmaker introductions and Q&As.

For the first time since its inception, they will screen two narrative feature films and a collection of short films in the narrative, documentary, and experimental/surreal categories. Several authors will also read their work, including Susan Scarf Merrell, Joel Mowdy, Chris Knopf and Nicholas
Collins.

James Evans, a co-producer of the event, said that he and his producing partner also teach at Stony Brook University in the film department.
Over the last three years, they have guided a number of students in the filmmaking process, and a minor in film was just established at the university,
too. He also teaches teen programs at the Mastic-Moriches Community Library.

“Film is definitely one of the best art forms to explore because it has a compilation of various art forms, and together you synthesis this beautiful
thing that is purely your own and from you and your voice, so we want to make it a priority for this year’s festival to have two students and feature the
cream of the crop of the last few years of instructing,” Evans said.

Evans said that the Mastic-Moriches Community Library is a large sponsor this year, and the film fest will actually be broadcast out of one of their facilities.

“This is our second year. Last year was very successful in terms of getting community awareness out,and we are glad to do this every year and with
each year grow and become a festival that people from not only the area, but all over the world will like to participate in,” he said. “We think Mastic
Beach is such a beautiful location; it’s oceanfront, and usually the rationale of having festival locations is its beautiful scenery. We figured, why not bring the industry to Mastic Beach?”