Local Film Festival Returns: Building Community and Celebrating Genre Films
by Liam M Conroe | published Nov. 13th, 2024
From Nov. 6 through Nov. 10, Rochester’s annual Anomaly Film Festival returned for its sixth year, showcasing a variety of independent genre flicks to an audience of film lovers from near and far.
Celebrating Rochester’s Theater Community
Centered in downtown Rochester at the Little Theatre and featuring screenings at the Eastman Museum’s Dryden Theatre, Anomaly offers moviegoers the opportunity to experience “the best independent horror, sci-fi, fantasy, action, and truly indescribable” feature-length and short films.
The festival is volunteer-operated and has cultivated a community centered around watching the marvels of the theater. Festival organizers established an environment celebrating not only the filmmakers but also anyone watching and engaging with the movies. Matt Austin, the festival’s ticketing and technology coordinator, described the essence of the event.
“I think it would be celebrating independent genre films but also celebrating the theater-going experience with the community because you'll be able to see these films at some point,” he stated.
Austin also described the interactions between passholders and the festival’s volunteers as visitors have continued to build connections with other attendees and the event’s operators since its beginning.
"Some [passholders] have been coming for all six years. It's really cool to run into people and see them year after year, come back and enjoy it and get into the shenanigans."
Festival Origins and Evolution
Matt DeTurck and Adam Lubitow, two current Anomaly directors and Little Theatre employees, came up with the idea behind the Anomaly Film Festival. The pair reached out to a number of self-described “film obsessives” to make their vision a reality, with 2019 marking the festival’s first year.
After Anomaly’s first iteration, their next year marked a challenge faced by countless groups – continuing in the face of a global pandemic. Although the event could not continue in theaters for that year, organizers created a Discordchannel for the festival, allowing for film screenings and engagement from home.
While Anomaly’s primary focus remains the annual festival, they work year-round to keep the genre film spirit alive. The organization has hosted drive-ins, panel discussions, sneak previews, and celebrated classic genre films. Festival organizers also host a podcast, “Anomaly Presents,” which presents deep dives into genre movies that inspired the festival’s creation.
The organization’s volunteers have prioritized the audience experience, aiming to provide a new festival experience each year while keeping accessibility in mind. This year’s edition featured a dark carnival theme, adorned with decorations around the theater and games for guests to win prizes.
“It’s one of those things that sets it apart from other festivals, especially film festivals where you just kind of go, you see the films and then you leave,” said Dan Howell, a festival organizer. “We try really hard to set our own bar every year and go above and beyond the last.”
Quality of the films is also a top priority, as submissions undergo an extensive review process. Staff members admit that finalizing the festival lineup is difficult, but they focus on the diversity of films and genres to appeal to a broad audience. Skye Murphy, another film festival volunteer and the assistant director for LGBTQIA+ programs and outreach at RIT, offered their perspective on the variety of films.
“I'm like the type of [genre] fan that's like, I don't like gory horror, but I do enjoy comedy, horror and like a lot of variety to the types of dark comedy or sci-fi fantasy,” they explained. “Instead of just being a horror film festival, we really do a lot of different stuff.”
With its breadth of films offered and a committed staff and community, the Anomaly Film Festival remains a unique theater experience in the area. For film junkies or even those in search of a fun local outing, this year presented an opportunity to enjoy and engage with independent genre films.