Local film accepted into ten film festivals
Love conquers all in Akron native Brian O’Donnell’s new film AKRON.
The love story, written, co-directed and co-produced by O’Donnell, which features the ups and downs of a relationship between two college males, has been accepted into a total of 10 fall film festivals so far.
The world premiere for AKRON took place Sept. 19 at the Cincinnati Film Festival, where it was one of three films nominated for “Best Narrative Film.”
It is also one of 35 feature films selected to appear in the Tampa Bay International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival Oct. 10.
When sifting through almost 500 films, committees look for originality and creativity.
“We liked AKRON because it’s a sweet, compelling love story about an attractive, smart couple of young men, stuck in a difficult situation,” KJ Mohr, director of programming at the Tampa Bay International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, said.
According to O’Donnell, the film was shot in both Wooster and Akron and a short time in Florida.
“Wooster was a very special place to film in, and we had the full support of the community,” co-director and co-producer Sasha King said.
As for what is next for O’Donnell and his film, the future is still unclear.
O’Donnell expressed he is hopeful to be accepted into some spring film festivals and hopes to find a distributor.
“Every filmmaker’s kind of romantic dream is to have it released in theaters, so we are certainly shooting for that,” said O’Donnell.
Although the only way to watch AKRON, as of now, is at one of the ten film festivals it is featured in, the trailer can be seen on akronthefilm.com.
