ESU presents Thomas Edison Film Festival ‘Evening Under the Stars’

East Stroudsburg University (ESU) will open its campus to the community for an evening of entertainment under the stars on Wednesday, July 28.

ESU, in cooperation with the Thomas Edison Film Festival, will host a free screening of the Animated Short Films from the Festival’s 2021 40th Anniversary Tour on the University’s Main Quad, located at the center of campus at 8 p.m.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for ESU to invite our neighbors to pack up their lawn seating and come to campus for a relaxing evening of film,” said ESU provost and vice president for academic affairs, Joanne Z. Bruno, J.D. “We hope this will be a magical night for families, especially after the past 17 months of pandemic uncertainty.”

The screening will run about an hour and 15 minutes without intermission. A rain date for the event will be Tuesday, August 4.

The Thomas Edison Film Festival (formerly known as the Thomas Edison Black Maria Film festival) has been advancing the creativity and power of the short form for more than 40 years. The Festival was founded in 1981 and was originally named for Thomas Edison’s West Orange, N.J., film studio, whose resemblance to black-box shaped police paddy wagons sparked the nickname “Black Maria.”

The Festival’s relationship to Thomas Edison’s invention of the motion camera and the kinetoscope and his experimentation with the short film is at the core of the Festival. Thomas Edison Film Festival is an international juried competition celebrating all genres and independent filmmakers across the globe.

Participants will be required to follow the university’s Covid guidelines. Masks are required outdoors when six feet of social distancing cannot be maintained. However, wearing a mask outdoors is not required for individuals who are fully-vaccinated.

Attendees may also enjoy some light refreshments provided by students and faculty from ESU’s hotel, restaurant, and tourism management program. Individuals may opt to bring their own snacks but must remember that ESU is an alcohol-free campus.