Belcourt hosts Fylmz finale tonight (Feb. 10)

The Belcourt Theatre is hosting the final day of the inaugural Fylmz Festival today. You can still catch the festival awards ceremony tonight at 10 p.m., and if you're itching to see some of the festival submissions, several are being shown during the day today (full schedule).

Here's a brief description of the Fylmz organization and the festival from the Fylmz site:

FYLMZ is dedicated to the advancement of film and filmmakers through the empowerment of their fans. We strive to create an environment that is entertaining, rewarding, and free of any elements that undermine fair and focused competitions, yet allow for collaboration and community for those with a common interest in the creation, dissemination, and consumption of film-related concepts ...

The Fylmz Festival is the culmination of a year-long search for the best in independent film. What started with online submissions and moved on to two separate audience-only pre-festival judging rounds (online and panel voting), screenings of the top short and feature vote-getters will be the name of the game, along with an awards presentation with an unmatched Grand Prize: $100,000 and a distribution deal. Be there to help make independent film history!

City Paper Reporter Ron Wynn reported on the festival this week:

Such actors as Cheri Oteri, Ricki Lake, Billy Baldwin and Wanda Sykes are among the high profile names featured in the 10 feature films competing for a $100,000 grand prize in the premiere Fylmz Festival that begins today at the Belcourt Theatre and continues through Feb. 10. These are the finalists (plus 40 short films competing in another category) selected from 222 films submitted from around the world, with the finalists chosen by the Fylmz.com online community.

If you do take in the festival, Sylvan Park resident and filmmaker Ashley Haugen has written an article to get you up to speed on the experience. OK, so her advice is primarily for other aspiring filmmakers, but it's a good read and one that will help you fit in while you're there.