Owen Shapiro and Christine Fawcett-Shapiro are on a mission: they want to bring the world to Syracuse.

They plan to bring cultural diversity to the Syracuse community during the 11th annual Syracuse International Film Festival, which began Sunday and runs through Oct. 12. Shows will be held in local theaters as well as at Syracuse University and Le Moyne College.

The two thought of the idea after they went on a cross-country tour and encountered numerous film festivals in small towns that garnered an inclusive environment. The festivals, they said, brought “vitality” and “excitement” to the community.

Shapiro, a film professor in the College of Visual Performing Arts, knew he needed to bring that atmosphere to Syracuse.

“We began as a way for people in Syracuse to see films from international places,” Shapiro said. “There’s a lot of fantastic videos from all over the world. Cinema is an international, universal language.”

Although Shapiro is a professor at SU, he said he didn’t want it to be a university event. Rather, he wants it to be a collaboration between the university and the city to ensure widespread participation.

Films from all around the world will be showcased at the festival, and Shapiro said each screening is carefully planned to create the best possible outcome.

“I think of each of the programs as planning a marriage or bar mitzvah,” Shapiro said. “And there’s 11 or 12 programs, so that’s like planning 11 or 12 marriages for one week. There’s so many different aspects of the job we need to make sure all align perfectly.”

Last year, the Syracuse International Film Festival made the switch from being a competition festival to an invitational festival, which means filmmakers are now invited to showcase their work. Because of the switch, fewer films will be screened than in the past, Shapiro said.

In addition to film screenings, filmmakers will also visit classrooms across the SU campus and talk to students throughout the week, Fawcett-Shapiro said.

“It’s an opportunity for a one-on-one experience to meet people that are famous and are doing wonderful things around the world,” she said.

Current students and alumni will have the chance to showcase their work at the Carol North Schmuckler New Filmmakers Showcase. Shapiro places a strong emphasis on alumni involvement, and many of SU’s famous acting and directing alumni will return to campus for the festival.

Sam Lloyd, a 1985 musical theater alumnus, possibly best known for his role as Ted on “Scrubs,” will return to present his film “Fan Mail,” a piece of work that he calls an homage to silent films, because even though it has sound, his character doesn’t speak.

“It’s a kind of a Chaplin-esque, Keaton-esque type film,” Lloyd said.

At the end of the day, Fawcett-Shapiro said she hopes the Syracuse International Film Festival will live up to its tagline: “Travel the world and never leave your seat.”

“That’s really true because this year alone you’ll get to meet not only American filmmakers but filmmakers from India, from Israel, Canada and South America,” Fawcett-Shapiro said. “Being here is like a mini-trip around the world.”

Published on October 6, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact Madysan: mgfoltz@syr.edu | @madysangabriele