MANLIUS — The 21st annual Syracuse International Film Festival came to Manlius Cinema over the weekend of Sept. 22, bringing with it a range of films varying in genre, length and country of origin to round out its three-day main event.
With the Pee-wee Herman bicycle and the “Ghostbusters” Ectomobile greeting attendees out front and setting a tone of fun, the celebration of cinema kicked off with a lineup of panelists to discuss different sides of the entertainment business.
On the stage of the East Seneca Street cinema, co-host of the local morning talk show “Bridge Street” Iris St. Meran talked about live segments that have meant the most to her and times her show has booked people involved in film, while deputy director of CNY Arts Alex Korman, distributor Ron Bonk from SRS Cinema, and documentarian Murphy McFarlane spoke on their respective experiences in the realm of filmmaking and assisting productions.
Korman said his organization has a rebate program available for films shot mostly in Onondaga County and staff members standing by to help people through the application process, which can be completed after first filling out a letter of intent on cnyarts.org and finding out if one’s production is eligible for incentives.
He said the independent team looking over the applications bases its acceptance of proposals on creative merit, how innovative the production is, whether the story delves into an underrepresented perspective, and the potential for economic impact.
Though there are incentive bonuses for applicants actually residing in Central New York, Korman said there are “downstream benefits” that come about when large out-of-state crews touch down in the Syracuse area, since they’ll need local lodging and they’ll put money toward local restaurants and recreational amenities while they’re here.
Despite Los Angeles, Atlanta and New York City being known as the traditional production hubs in the United States, Korman said you don’t always have to go to those places to pursue your cinematic ambitions and make a living in filmmaking, going on to call Central New York a unique, not to mention less expensive, place to create a film.
“Syracuse can play for Rust Belt, Anytown USA, and it would be great for period productions…then you can head 45 minutes up the road to Lake Ontario, and suddenly that can play for the ocean,” Korman said. “I’m really excited to see what the future holds as far as the filmmaking business in town is concerned.”

Bonk, whose nephew Alec directed the action comedy shown the second night, “Blind Cop 2,” said that securing distribution more often than not requires a clear vision, ample research, commendable production values with regard to sound and cinematography, and eye-catching poster artwork.
Bonk, who mostly deals in sci-fi and horror, said you can even launch your own subgenre if you have a “catchy hook,” as was the case for Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws” and its spawning of a wave of killer shark movies, the development of the city-attacking monster movie genre known as kaiju after “Godzilla,” and the thriller shot in Buffalo “A Quiet Place,” where the idea was that the characters couldn’t make any noise if they wanted to stay safe from the extraterrestrial creatures roaming their world.
Bonk said he’s of the belief that if you remain passionate about your project and a champion for your own work while pushing yourself to make the best, most interesting movie you can, an audience somewhere will find it and it might even “catch fire” enough to gain national or international exposure. Beyond that, his advice was to find inspiration in real life, get out there and rub elbows with people in the filmmaking industry, and learn by watching people on set and studying what they do.
The weekend of activities running Sept. 20 through Sept. 22 also included a program of films made within the state of New York, including the exploration of aperitif brands “The Opener” and the short documentary focusing on two geographically distant communities and their shared fight against environmental injustice “A Tale of Two Cities: Reclaiming Niagara Falls and Salinas,” which panel guest McFarlane worked on as an editor and producer.
There was also the LGBTQI+ feature “Upon Waking,” a screening of an American High production, a program block devoted to animations from all over the globe, a “Film 101” panel moderated by social change filmmaker Adria Dawn, a showing of the comedy “Sallywood,” presentations of films touching on suicide and domestic violence awareness, and a Q&A with actor Dorien Wilson, the recipient of this year’s Sophia Award for lifetime achievement.
This year marked the first time in its 21 years that the film festival centered its celebration at the century-old Manlius theater. The prior weekend, the festival organizers teamed up with Reckless Cinema and After Dark Presents for 35mm print screenings of kung fu films and horror flicks from the 1970s and ‘80s at the Palace Theatre.
Earlier this week on Sept. 24, under the banner of the festival, there was a presentation of Lois Weber’s 1916 silent drama “Shoes” at Le Moyne College, and this Saturday, Sept. 28, a documentary about homelessness and addiction called “His Name Is Ray” is being shown in collaboration with the nonprofit providing on-the-street outreach and assistance to the homeless In My Father’s Kitchen, which will receive a split of the proceeds from that event.
For more information on the film fest’s activities and scheduled events, visit syracusefilmfest.com.