Mary Riser is a self-described movie buff who enjoys sharing her passion with the community.

Sharing her passion has evolved over the years. It began with a film series of 24 movies a year, 12 in the spring and 12 in the fall at a movie theater created by Riser at the University of Alabama Baldwin Campus. After 14 years, she decided it was time to do something different.

That "something different" was the creation of the Fairhope Film Festival 11 years ago. Riser laughed at the fact that she thought a four-day film festival would be easier than 24 movies spread across a year. While it may not be easier, it has become a popular annual event that welcomes 3,500 to 4,000 movie lovers (pre-COVID-19) along with movie directors and producers.

Like many things, the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way the movie festival worked, how many people attended and how we all watch movies at home.

"With COVID-19, to be honest with you, people started streaming more and streaming for really good," Riser said. "Big TVs for really cheap and we all got used to being at home with our wine watching movies."

Riser said that movie theaters and festivals around the world are still having a hard time coming back from COVID-19. The Fairhope Film Festival has decided to change things up and do things differently this year.

"What we are doing this year is we are having fewer movies than we usually have," Riser explained. "We usually have 40, and we have 22 this year plus 13 short films. We are having more events with them."

Riser and the festival team want to make sure the Fairhope Film Festival is worth leaving your couch and home TV for.

"There will be a lot of talks, and we have a lot of filmmakers coming. More than we have ever had really," she said. "They love coming here. Some of them have come almost every year, and they are people you would recognize."

New events

A new event for this year's festival is called Coffee Talks. Every morning from 9-10 a.m., filmmakers will pop into the Book Cellar at Page and Palette. Daily events are free to attend, and all are welcome. Go in, buy a coffee at Latta Da, enjoy a complimentary pastry in the Book Cellar and engage with three or four filmmakers.

Riser said she has added another new element that is an answer to complaints over the years.

"I try to answer as many complaints from over the years as possible," Riser said. "One of them is I let the audience vote on movies, but then maybe they didn't see the winner. The festival is over and they didn't get to see the winner. All the winners are going to be played on Sunday this year."

To get the budding filmmakers involved, there will be a movie scramble called 48 for Future Filmmakers' Competition or Fairhope 48 for short. The idea is the brainchild of Daphne High School film studies teacher Griffin Hood. The competition is open exclusively to high school students in Baldwin and Mobile counties and will run concurrently with other festival programming during the week of Nov. 9-12.

"Everyone will have the same four elements and the same amount of time to create a movie," Riser said. "I think it is really exciting and we are having that on Sunday as well. That is going to be different for us this year."

Registration closes Oct. 31. Details of the competition can be found at www.fairhopefilmfestival.org.

What To Expect

First-time Fairhope Film Festival goers can expect to see a selection of movies you won't see anywhere else for at least a year according to Riser. After 25 years, she prides herself on her skill of picking movies.

Along with reading a lot about movies that have won at small film festivals across the globe, she looks up the movies, contacts the distributor or filmmaker for a link, and she and her team of four programmers watch the films and determine if they are a fit for the festival.

Riser also attends film festivals, but not the film festivals you have heard about. She skips Toronto and Telluride for Annapolis and the Berkshires. Riser is looking for small independent films, not big-box movies.

Bring your readers or glasses because Riser and her team do pick some films that have subtitles.

While one film being shown this year is predicted to be a big blockbuster due to its A-list actors, (Maggie Smith, Laura Linniy and Kathy Bates), many will have actors you will only recognize if you frequently watch French films.

"I think we have gotten a really good reputation as being the real deal," Riser said. "We are not a children's festival. We are for an artistic audience. We have a good audience here in Fairhope and people that come from New Orleans and Montgomery and other places."

Riser said that first-time attendees will find comradery with other people talking about the films and connecting with the filmmakers.

"I think it (movies) is the ultimate art," Riser said. "It has everything; music, choreography, motion, acting, scripts, set, scenery. It has everything."

The 11th-annual Fairhope Film Festival is Nov. 9-12, at various times and locations throughout Fairhope. For more information on the upcoming events, films or to purchase tickets, visit www.fairhopefilmfestival.org.