A sneak peek at the 25th annual Black Bear Film Festival

It’s Black Bear’s 25th birthday and there is a lot to celebrate at the forthcoming Black Bear Film Festival. First, the festival will feature the premier of Milford Mayor Sean Strub’s documentary, “Burying the Hatchet – The Tom, Quick Story,” and also the celebrity appearance of actor, author, and filmmaker Ileana Douglas. She is the granddaughter of two-time Oscar winner Melvyn Douglas. There will be a showing of Melvyn Douglas’s classic, “Mr. Blanding’s Dreamhouse,” followed by a conversation with author and film historian John DiLeo, plus a book signing. Guests at the Den membership level will have an exclusive opportunity to join Illeana for cocktail hour and a visit.

Executive director Veronica Coyne sasaid, “I’d like to bring back the glamour of previous festivals with the Opening Night Silver & Black Gala! I’m delighted that we have the premiere of a local interest film by local filmmakers, one being someone who was a part of the festival’s beginning, as Sean Strub helped get the Black Bear Film Festival started and I think it’s appropriate to celebrate both this premiere and our 25th anniversary with lots of Hollywood-style fanfare!”

Honored guests will be at the event, as well. Will Voelkel, and Nancy Pitcher each headed the Festival at different times and are looking forward to their return to the gala this year.

The Festival opens on Friday, Oct. 18 at 6 p.m. with a small plates dinner in the tent opposite the Milford Theater. The premiere showing of the documentary will start at 7:30 p.m., in the theater. “Burying The Hatchet” (produced by Sean Strub, written and directed by Christopher King, with associate producer Daniel Strongwalker Thomas) is about how one largely white community and disenfranchised tribal leaders worked together to reconcile the past and forge a shared path forward to re-establish a Lenape presence in Lenapehoking, their original land, based on trust, friendship, and an inspiring and healing vision of the future.

Tom Quick had been the first white child born in the area in 1733 and was made a hero by the local white community for having killed 99 native people, in an attempt to avenge his father’s death. Years later in 1889, the people of Milford erected an eight-foot zinc monument to Quick, in the middle of Sarah Street, which had become a source of contention.

Nancy and Peter Pinchot were deeply concerned about this and through Strub reached out to the Lenni Lenape tribe to facilitate a land donation for the tribe. The Mayor brought together many factions, including Don Quick, a relative and representative of the Quick family; Daniel Strongwalker Thomas, the hereditary chief of the Lenni Lenape; and others.

The festival continues Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 19 and 20. Below is a list of what patrons can expect to see:

Oct. 19

11 a.m.: “Tim Stead, Magician With Wood” — a Scotsman crafting with wood.

1 p.m.: “The Refugee.” The family of a young girl in Iraq is killed, but she is saved by an American Soldier who eventually helps her find the American dream.

6:30 p.m.: “ Nobody wants to shoot a woman” features touches of ironic comedy, as middle aged, lower middle class Mary (Tina Benko) finds herself trapped in her new “dream house” gifted to her by her lying and abusive gangster husband.

8:30 p.m.: “Thelma” — A comedy featuring a 93-year-old grandmother who loses $10,000 to a con artist pretending to be her grandson on the phone.

Oct. 20

11 a.m.: “And through the portal we go” — A quirky comedic satire about cult members.

12:45 p.m.: A block of various short films.

3 p.m.: Awards and closing ceremony.

There will be a number of free film salons at the Milford branch of the library and at the Good Shepherd Episcopal Church. Films for these salons can be found on the Festival website. Grey Towers National Historic Site will also screen two films in the pool terrace on October 20: “The Lorax” at 11 a.m. and “Planet Earth” at 2 p.m. There will be children’s coloring activities in the pool terrace during “the Lorax.” Due to limited seating, they ask patrons to register at greytowers.org/events.

Tickets to the event can be found at blackbear.com. Online tickets prices for the gala and opening night film are $150. A Silver Pass is $250 and includes the opening night film and dinner, plus a copy of illeana Douglass’s book.