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Winners will be chosen on April 11, at noon EST.

The Second Annual Jim Thorpe Independent Film Festival organizers are thrilled to announce this year’s opening night feature film is BLAZE (2018), co-written and directed by Ethan Hawke, starring Ben Dickey, Alia Shawkat, Josh Hamilton, and Charlie Sexton. 

BLAZE is inspired by the life of Blaze Foley, the unsung songwriting legend of the Texas outlaw music movement that spawned the likes of Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson. The film weaves together three different periods of time, braiding re-imagined versions of Blaze’s past, present and future. The different strands explore his love affair with Sybil Rosen; his last, dark night on earth; and the impact his songs and death had on his fans, friends, and foes. The braided storyline terminates in a bittersweet ending that acknowledges Blaze’s profound highs and lows, as well as the impressions he made on the people who shared his journey.

JTIFF will present 93 films from 17 countries, eight world premieres, 16 East Coast premieres, 30 Pennsylvania premieres, and eight Lehigh Valley premieres on a 30-foot screen. The selections were culled from more than 750 submissions of every genre and subject – from gritty underground and experimental fare to bigger Hollywood level films.