Inaugural International Film Festival Opens Thursday

A group behind a new international film festival in Louisville reviewed more than 250 films submitted to choose those in that festival that starts tomorrow . WFPL’s Elizabeth Kramer has more.Conrad Bachmann has worked as an actor for decades since leaving Louisville for Hollywood. Four years ago, he began working on what has become Louisville’s International Festival of Film. This weekend it will show 80 films.Bachmann says he wanted to launch the festival to give back to his hometown and create a venue for filmmakers."It’s for independent filmmakers from around the world — we are an international festival — to give that independent filmmaker another opportunity to demonstrate his filmmaking, to create an opportunity for him to find distribution for his film," Bachmann says. And it’s also to bring people to Kentucky."Bachmann says he worked with dozens of people to choose the films in the festival."I had directors and writers and actors and producers and development executives — they made the first and second cuts," he says. "And then we have a jury of really professional people who understand filmmaking who are picking the winners."He says he created an organization called the Louisville Film Arts Institute to produce the festival and to raise funds for film education programs at local schools.