South Bend, Indiana –The 7th Annual River Bend Film Festival will be held April 9 – 11, 2015 at IU South Bend and the Century Center.  The three-day event is sponsored by Mid America Filmmakers and WNIT, and is made possible by an Indiana Arts grant. Seventy local, national and international independent films in a wide variety of genres will be shown throughout the festival.

The kick-off is Thursday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m.. – 11:00 p.m. at Wiekamp Hall on the IU South Bend campus and is sponsored by the Department of Theatre & Dance. The evening will showcase the work of IU South Bend’s Integrated New Media students and a Documentary Shorts block featuring the touching stories of Should Tomorrow Be and The Healing Wall, as well as the off-beat Dockery & Son.

Friday night runs 7:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. in the Century Center Recital Hall, beginning with the Student Shorts Program: an incredible and diverse line-up featuring Your Ever After from up and coming Indiana filmmaker T.A. Manchester. The evening’s main event is the award-winning feature film Chrysalis, a post-apocalyptic horror film set decades after a bio-terrorist attack unleashes a virus upon the world, transforming much of humanity into vicious creatures and laying waste to civilization. The film is directed by Notre Dame alumnus John Klein, who will be on hand with some of his cast and crew for a Q&A following the screening.  At 1:00 p.m. on Saturday he and his team will also present a workshop on independent film distribution.

The festival Guest of Honor is London actor and stuntman Kiran Shah. He has appeared in numerous films including the trilogies of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Legend, and Titanic.  On Saturday, April 11 at the Century Center he will present a 10:00 a.m. acting workshop “Mime, Masks & Mo-cap” and at 4:30 p.m. he will do a main stage Q&A.

On Saturday the festival runs 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m. The morning features one-of-a-kind Experimental Shorts and an encore of the 2015 Notre Dame Student Film Festival.  The entire day and evening are dedicated to the best short films from all around the world and in all genres. Ranging from an aging drama featuring Academy-award nominees Burt Young and Sally Kirkland, to a stunning animation about a lonely robot.  In the afternoon Mid America Filmmakers will showcase six local productions, including the premiere of The Wish and the topical documentary Immigration: The Unpardonable Sin.

From 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. on Saturday  the Hall of Heroes Museum will have a superhero display featuring movie and TV memorabilia, costumes and props – including Adam West’s Batman suit from the TV show. Attendees can get a photograph holding the Captain America movie shield for a small donation to help support the museum.

Saturday evening will include more fantastic shorts, plus the presentation of some of awards, including best local film, best of the fest, best actor and more. Winning Independent and Studio screenplays from the festival’s screenplay contest will also be announced.

Ticket times and prices are as follows:

Thursday (7:30 p.m. – 11 p.m.) – $10

Friday (7 p.m. – 11  p.m.)  – $10

Saturday (9 a.m. – 1 p.m.) – $10; Saturday (1 p.m. – 6 p.m.) – $10 ; Saturday (6 p.m. – 11 p.m.) – $10

Saturday Day Pass (9 a.m. – 11 p.m.) – $25

3-Day All-Inclusive Pass (Thursday, Friday, Saturday) – $40

2-Day Weekend Pass (Friday & Saturday) – $35

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