Sure. You can go to the Sundance Film Festival, or South by Southwest, Telluride, even Cannes. Chances are, you’d see celebrities from the film world and beyond. But for an experience seeing movies done by independent filmmakers from all over the world and as close as your own backyard, set your sights, and buy your movie snacks, right here in Lycoming County for the Susquehanna Film Festival, September 19 to 21 at the District Cinema in Muncy.

Film festival promoter, film producer, and musician Tim Yasui is no stranger to either the international world of film or to the Williamsport area, where he grew up.

“For years I had attended the Cannes Film Festival in France, the Berlin Film Festival in Germany, the Hong Kong Film Festival, and the Toronto Film Festival in Canada, amongst others, and it has always been a dream of mine to one day build my own film festival,” he says.

But it was producing Cocaine Werewolf (see our July 2024 issue) with director Mark Polonia of Wellsboro that turned the dream of building a film festival into a reality right here. Tim explains, “After [Cocaine Werewolf] wrapped, I booked the world theatrical premiere at the infamous Arcadia Theater right there in downtown Wellsboro and we sold out the venue. After the Wellsboro premiere, I pitched Cocaine Werewolf to Mike Dipson who owns the District Cinema at Lycoming Valley [the old mall in Muncy], and we had another successful screening there. It was an eye-opening experience for me, as I had previously mainly been booking our films in Hollywood, New York City, San Francisco, Austin, and other larger markets. I found it so easy and enjoyable to work with the central Pennsylvania theaters that I thought it would be cool to host a film festival there.”

Jordan Musheno, general manager at the District, didn’t know Tim before the showing of Cocaine Werewolf, but he knew the Polonia brothers, and knew that screening did well, thereby paving the way for a bigger event. The District will be the venue for the entire film festival.

“We are dedicating two screens for this event on Friday through Sunday, with the awards ceremony in one of the auditoriums Sunday night,” Jordan says, adding there would be lobby space for displays and other activities surrounding the festival. “We have more flexibility, as we are locally owned. And we want to bring new film experiences to our audience.”

The call for films began in January 2025, and there were new applications until just recently.

“We received over 100 submissions,” Tim says. “In addition to eleven of the films being shot right here in Pennsylvania, we will be showing films from Japan, India, Spain, Iran, South America, and Canada—it will truly be an international festival.” Pennsylvania films are highlighted, with a special category for “Best PA Film,” but a few of the regionally produced films chose to compete with the world in the documentary category.

There are also categories for best student film, giving aspiring moviemakers a large venue to show their creativity in an early effort, and best short film. Those categories are not always represented in other festivals.

“There is a nice combination of both first-time filmmakers and veteran filmmakers, so I’m pleased with the balance that we’ve obtained,” Tim says. “The only rules we had were no extreme political films encouraging violence of any kind and no pornographic content, as we want families to be able to attend and enjoy our films.”

Many of the screening selections are yet-to-be-released films making their exclusive North American premiere The awards ceremony will be open to the public and will mark the festival’s conclusion on Sunday, September 21, at 7 p.m. Award categories include Best Student Film, Best Pennsylvania-Made Film, Best Documentary, Best Short Film, Best Drama, Best Horror, Best Comedy, and Best Animation. A panel of independent judges will evaluate the submissions to determine winners.

If that’s not enough for movie buffs, this is the second film festival starting in the Williamsport area this year. Both Tim, with the Susquehanna Valley Film Festival, and Cory Baney, who was the director for River Valley Film Festival in downtown Williamsport, had been planning and working on their respective projects for years. By coincidence, both were ready to launch in 2025.

Lycoming Arts President Debi Burch notes that there is a new energy to the Pennsylvania Film Office.

“The fact that Governor Shapiro opened up additional tax credits for film [making] in the state is one of the factors in bringing filmmakers to our area.” Debi says the interest that both festivals have generated in the area, including the strong attendance at the River Valley event, is helping the entire region be noticed by filmmakers nationwide.

“This is certainly new for our area, and unusual to have two festivals in Williamsport. But it speaks to the state of film in Pennsylvania, and the recognition of this area as a location for productions,” she says, adding that Lycoming County has hosted an international event for decades—the Little League World Series. The network of service industries necessary for that annual event can also certainly cater to traveling film crews. From Williamsport, it is a short distance to many different types of scenery perfect for the creation of settings for a wide range of films. It’s a filmmaker’s dream location. Certainly, that is Tim’s dream, as one of his goals for the festival is to experience the success that he had with Cocaine Werewolf again in his beloved Lycoming County, and to encourage other filmmakers to explore the Pennsylvania Wilds.

Find up-to-the-minute details at Susquehanna Film Festival’s Facebook page. To purchase tickets for a single film, a one-day pass, or an all-inclusive festival pass, visit thedistrict.dipsontheatres.com.