The 3rd Annual West Chester International Short Film Festival concluded festivities on Sunday night with a exciting Closing Night Awards Party held at the Chester County Historical Society. Stated one ebullient film attendee: "this place (CCHS) has never seen anything like this before. The West Chester Film Festival really rocked the house". NY Filmmaker Marc Cantone stated "West Chester puts on a great Festival, thanks so much for doing it!" David Hoopes of Downingtown, PA, an ardent film-goer and festival supporter said: "what a phenomenal weekend, it was fantastic. You all (volunteer festival board) poured your heart and soul into it, and it showed. I really enjoyed myself and it was just a great weekend".

The Awards Presentation began with the screenings of the two competing Secret Pants shorts, which showcased local West Chester film volunteer talent working side by side with the Secret Pants professionals. Their task was to create the Best 'short' comedy between Friday night's kickoff and Sunday's award ceremonies. The auditorium was full with film revelers and they were not disappointed. Both films were a rousing success; the first focused on "Making the Sketch" a take-off of MTV's "Making the Video"; the second short a spoof of video shopping channels and obsessions with celebrity news - recognizing that people will 'buy' anything. The audience voted for their favorite using the applause-o-meter method and it was close, but it was Team Gay & High captained by Paul Triggiani (named for West Chester's landmark avenues) with their home shopping comedy winning out. Film Festival President, Laura Barton Vely presented the entire troupe with a commemorative art - advertising poster created for the event and signed by the WCFF Directors.

The evening continued with Valetta, Founder and Director of the Regional Center for Women in the Arts presenting the RCWA Award for the Best Woman Filmmaker. Leah Meyerhoff, Director and Writer of "Twitch" accepted the Award from Valetta on behalf of the RCWA. Valetta, also a workshop participant on Saturday for one of the competing comedy shorts, gave an enthusiastic welcome to Ms. Meyerhoff, citing her directorial skills; "Our panel of judges felt her story was presented in a way that showed us she understood everything that was going on, every nuance, every detail, from the opening shot to the final revelation."

The Awards continued with Laura Barton Vely and Brett Walker presenting the Best Documentary for "Alex Scott: A Stand for Hope" and Best Pennsylvania Filmmaker for "Benjamin Franklin: Stealing Lightning from the Sky" to Filmmaker Larry Mendte and Producer Jonelle Fabian. Larry Mendte thanked Jay and Liz Scott for their help and access in making the documentary which focused on the positive work that Alex Scott started and continues with Alex's Lemonade Stand in finding a cure for pediatric cancer. Liz Scott, Alex's Mom attended the Sunday afternoon screening of the film and met with audience members afterwards.

Mendte, a double winner and West Chester University grad, in his second acceptance speech for Best PA Filmmaker jokingly stated: "I owe it all to Secret Pants" and the auditorium erupted into wild applause.

"Pitch", showing two novice screenwriters 'pitching' their first screenplay to a major studio was announced as Best Comedy. Pierce Cravens, the films' Executive Producer accepted the award for the entire crew.

Other Award Winners were:

• "Moongirl" (Henry Selick, Portland Oregon) Best Animated Film
• "Missing Pages" (Jerome Olivier from Tokyo, Japan) was named Best Experimental/Art Film
• "Charlie" as Best Student Film (Matt Tegtmeier - Chapman University)
• "Binta and The Grand Idea" was awarded the Best Drama statue (Javier Fesser - Madrid Spain)
• People's Choice Award went to "Rent Control" (Tesia Barone - Philadelphia, PA)

The Opening Night Gala, the film screenings and the Closing Awards Party were great fun and the entire festival was very successful. Numbers are still being tallied, but Barton Vely believes "we may have more than doubled our attendance from the 2005 festival. We thank all the volunteers who helped throughout the year and the filmmakers who submitted their film work". "Our goal is to bring an independent film theatre to West Chester, and we're on our way. We can't wait to see the new work being created now for next year's West Chester Film Festival" said Barton Vely. Film submissions for the 4th Annual West Chester International Short Film Festival will be accepted starting January 1st, 2007.