The 6th Annual River Bend Film Festival will be held April 3 – 5, 2014 at three different venues in South Bend. The three-day event is sponsored by Mid America Filmmakers, Downtown South Bend and WNIT, and is made possible by an Indiana Arts grant. Almost forty local, national and international independent films in a wide variety of genres will be shown throughout the festival.

The kick-off screening is Thursday, April 3 at 7:30 p.m.. – 11:00 p.m. at Showplace 16, with the Indiana premiere of the Goshen-shot feature film “Sand Castles”, a drama created by Goshen-native Jordon Hodges, who also stars in the film. Another featured actor in the film is Hollywood legend Clint Howard (Apollo 13, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Austin Powers, Star Trek), who will be on-hand for a Q&A, as well as other events thought the festival.

As part of DTSB’s First Fridays, the Friday night event  begins at 7 p.m. at The State Theatre in downtown South Bend, where Clint Howard will give a talk about his movie experiences – having appeared in over 200 films throughout his career.  This will be followed by several blocks of short films, including the comedy “Satellite Beach” starring and directed by Luke Wilson.

The rest of the festival takes place at the lower level of the Century Center on Saturday, April 5. Daytime events run from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. where two simultaneous screening rooms assure there is always something amazing to be seen, including a highlight of local films at 3:20 p.m..  At 10 a.m. Hollywood screenwriter Stephen Susco will host a screenwriting workshop, and at 1 p.m. Indianapolis filmmaker Kate Chaplin will run a workshop on film directing. Join us at 5 p.m. for a panel discussion with Clint Howard and other industry guests.  IU South Bend New Media students will also have a display of video art and Mid America Filmmakers is hosting movie swag give-aways to attendees.

Saturday night’s program is 7 p.m. – 11 p.m. with a screening of increble short films, followed by our awards ceremony, with presentations for best films and screenplays. The evening concludes with the documentary “Music City USA”, which shows the heart of Nashville through the eyes of music’s biggest stars.

Ticket times and prices are as follows:

Thursday (7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.) – $15 (must purchase online in advance)

Friday (7 p.m. – 11:00  p.m.)  - $10 regular, $8 student/senior

Saturday (9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.) – $5 regular, $4 student/senior

Saturday (12:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.) – $10 regular, $8 student/senior

Saturday (7 p.m. – 11 p.m.) – $10 regular, $8 student/senior

Saturday Day Pass (9 a.m. – 11 p.m.) – $20 regular, $18 student/senior

Weekend Pass (Friday 7 p.m. – 11 p.m.) – $30 regular, $25 student/senior

For detailed information regarding the festival schedule, listings and description of films, workshops, and purchasing tickets please visit the website at www.riverbendfilmfest.org.