Rehoboth independent film festival red-carpet ready
Wilmington-based filmmaker Paul Mento said his 2015 Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival submission Angelia is a low-cost, independent film created to encourage other Delaware filmmakers to undertake similar films.
“It was labor of love,” he said. “The goal was to set a budget and tell a story, even if it’s an easy story.”
Shot primarily in two Wilmington cemeteries, the 48-minute Angelia is a movie about forgiveness and redemption, said Mento. The movie is a statement about truly being sorry, he said.
Mento said the film’s main characters, Anthony and Angelia, go through the three stages of being sorry – saying sorry, understanding completely what was done and then making changes so what they are sorry for doesn’t happen again.
“It’s a surprising story,” he said.
As the owner of Silver Hand Productions, Mento, 57, has been in the film industry for three decades making corporate videos. He said his four kids are out of the house, and, now an empty-nester, he’s got time to focus on making films that he’s really wanted to make.
“This is my own little person, personal project,” he said.
Mento said making the film was possible because he didn’t have to pay to shoot at any of the movie’s several locations. For example, he said, the owners of Lucky’s Coffee Shop on Route 202 let him close off a section of the diner while he filmed.
“It was surprising,” said Mento of the willingness of others to get the film made. “This has been such a collaborative effort.”
Mento said viewers will be watching the director’s cut of Angelia. He said slight tweaks could be made to the film depending on audience reaction. After that, he said, the film will be submitted to as many other film festivals as possible.
Angelia is scheduled to show at 9:45 p.m., Friday, Nov. 13, in the Baycenter in Dewey Beach. Tickets are $8 per person, and a festival pass is not required.
A full film description is available on the festival’s website at rehobothfilm.com.
Festival information
This year's festival features scores of films screened for nine days, beginning Saturday, Nov. 7, and running through Sunday, Nov. 15. In addition to films by Delaware film makers, the festival also offers comedies, thrillers and dramas from Iceland, Spain, Germany, UK and India.
Tickets are on sale now, available online, and there will also be rush ticket sales at each screening at Cape Henlopen High School in Lewes. Ten minutes before the start of films, any available seat can be purchased for $12 with exact change. Only cash will be accepted.
In addition to Cape High, school, films will also be shown at Metropolitan Community Church on Plantation Road in Rehoboth and at the Baycenter in Dewey Beach.
During the festival, the box office will be located at the film society’s recently-leased and under-construction Cinema Art House in Dartmouth Plaza behind Wawa, on southbound Route 1. The box office opens at 8:30 a.m., Nov. 7, 8, 12, 13 and 14, and at 1 p.m., Nov. 9, 10 and 11; it closes each day 20 minutes before the start of the last film of the day.
The festival’s social hub is the newly opened Crooked Hammock Brewery in Lewes.
For more information go to rehobothfilm.com.
Chris Flood has been working for the Cape Gazette since early 2014. He currently covers Rehoboth Beach and Henlopen Acres, but has also covered Dewey Beach and the state government. He covers environmental stories, business stories and random stories on subjects he finds interesting, and he also writes a column called Choppin’ Wood that runs every other week. He’s a graduate of the University of Maine and the Landing School of Boat Building & Design.
