Seeing a better film fest

One of the documentaries in this year’s Newport Beach Film Festival,

“Windows of the Soul” by Joao Jardim and Walter Carvalho, provided

viewers with different artists’ and educators’ musings on what sight

is.

In its own way the festival also tackles that issue, the issue of

what it means to see. The festival provided its audience with more

than 300 windows to the world, all over the course of nine days.

From “Miranda” to “Small Voices,” the films in this year’s

festival provided Newport Beach intimate looks at other cultures and

into the minds and imaginations of the featured filmmakers. Audiences

were invited to see the world from myriad points of view in hopes

that those perspectives might not only entertain, but educate.

We were able to momentarily see what the creators saw, what the

world looks like through their window of sight.

Congratulations to the cast and crews of the films that were

awarded prizes at this year’s event. The festivals’ organizers and

volunteers, led by Gregg Schwenk, are getting better every year,

developing what is quickly becoming one of the area’s premiere annual

events.