pittsburgh moving picture festival
The Pittsburgh Moving Picture Festivals honor the rich cinematic history and tradition of movie-going in Pittsburgh, PA by providing exhibition opportunities for features and short films by independent filmmakers around the world. Together with the acclaimed film criticism journal What Sleeps Beneath, Image 987 present two film festivals during the year: The Thriller Picture Show and Trailer Bash/Raging Pages.
Thriller Picture Show
Thriller Picture Show is a genre festival with an emphasis on horror, thriller, dark comedy, and science fiction films held in the fall every year.
trailer bash/raging pages
Trailer Bash/Raging Pages is a trailer and screenplay competition that occurs in the early summer ever year.
pittsburgh’s cinematic history
Early in the 20th century, Pittsburgh was a worldwide manufacturing leader in iron and, later, steel. The labor requirements to produce such output was enormous, with much of the manpower being supplied by the immigrant populations living in and around the mills.
The need to live close to the mills (given the lack of access to public transportation) combined with the onerous demands placed on the workers (including 72-hour work weeks) and the low pay, in many ways limited what leisure activities were available to the people.
Local movie theaters emerged to offer a brief respite from the mundane mill-to-home routine. In essence, the theaters became community meeting places by offering an accessible escape from the drudgery of mill life. In much the same way, cinema still serves as that communal experience for people to come together, to share experiences, and be entertained.
In celebrating both the art of cinema and the rich motion picture exhibition tradition of Pittsburgh we produce two major festivals per year.
