'The Office' actor, Brian Baumgartner among guests at South Dakota Film Festival

The Aberdeen Capitol Theatre will be hopping in mid-September for the South Dakota Film Festival, where more than 30 filmmakers plan to attend to talk about their films.

The South Dakota Film Festival is Sept. 16-18 and features 57 films as well as a selection of short films to be featured in the Be Kind Trope Shrine Film Festival at the Red Rooster Coffee House Aug. 28. The film festival returns to the Capital Theatre with a live film screening event following two years of a virtual program.

Tickets for the Film Festival are now on sale at southdakotafilmfest.org.

Brian Baumgartner among those representing 'Electric Jesus' film

Brian Baumgartner, best known for playing Kevin in NBC's long-running sitcom "The Office," is one of those honored guests on Sept. 17. He and four others involved in the production of this year's feature-length film "Electric Jesus" will gather on stage following the show to talk about the movie, according to a news release from the Film Festival.

More: After two years of going virtual, South Dakota Film Festival hoping to return to Capitol

Steven Huber, executive director of the South Dakota Film Festival, said "Electric Jesus" is set in the 1980s and follows the story of a group of teenagers who form a metal Christian rock band that ends up getting a manager and touring the South.

"The soundtrack is fantastic," Huber said.

Music was composed by Daniel Smith, who will also be in attendance at the film festival along with the film's director, Chris White. Smith has worked in a variety of mediums, but first gained notoriety as a member of Danielson Famile with his siblings in the independent music arena. He has now produced music for dozens of artists. "Electric Jesus" is his first film score.

In addition to writing, producing and directing "Electric Jesus," White also collaborated with Smith and co-wrote original songs for the film. White's previous films include "Unbecoming," a Southern Gothic comedy; "Cinema Purgatorio," an independent film farce; and family dramedies "Get Better" and "Taken In." He is also writer, director and producer of the web series "Star Trek Continues."

Baumgartner has also appeared in television shows that include Amazon's "Hand of God"; TNT's "Good Behavior"; and the Dreamworks Animation reboot of "Mr. Peabody and Sherman." His film credits include: "License to Wed", "Four Christmases", "The Last Push", and "Into Temptation."

Baumgartner, who plays the manager for the band, will be joined by two of his co-stars Shannon Hutchinson and Wyatt Lenhart. Hutchinson's first lead role was in the science fiction adventure "Assassinaut." Lenhart, has had leading roles in numerous musical theatre productions and also plays Pavel Chekov in the web series "Star Trek Continues."

The five will be on stage in a forum hosted by Lori Walsh from South Dakota Public Broadcasting's "In the Moment with Lori Walsh."

Film Festival organizers excited for live event

After planning virtual events the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Huber said, it's exciting to plan a live event in Aberdeen.

"It was kind of a this is what we have to do, but it kind of worked out in the end," Huber said referring to the need to plan a virtual event.

More: 'Homebody' will be shot in Aberdeen, feature local talent

With the virtual event, selected films were available for viewing for a limited time online along with virtual interviews with those involved in the films. Huber said with that format, a broader audience across the nation and internationally became aware of the Film Festival.

That broader awareness meant Huber was fielding calls from people in multiple countries asking about the 2022 Film Festival before organizers even started talking about it.

"We have some great international submissions this year," he said.

Finalists for Film Fest selected from 140 submissions

The 57 films that will be shown this year were selected from 140 entries. Huber said while that's fewer submissions compared to events prior to 2020, it's significantly higher than submissions from 2020 and 2021.

"We have filmmakers from California and New York City," Huber said. "They saw it online, got interested and submitted and got selected."

Huber said this year's Film Festival also features two feature-length documentaries — "The Long Rider" and "The Fight over Sioux".

"The Long Rider" is about a man's journey on horseback from Canada to Brazil, a venture that took 2-1/2 years. "The Fight over Sioux" takes a look at the debate around the University of North Dakota mascot name change, which was once the Fighting Sioux and are now the Fighting Hawks.

Return of the lead butt award

A live event also means an end-of-the-festival awards ceremony, including bestowing the honorary lead butt award — typically given to someone who sat through all the film festival sessions. This year that's 11 curated sessions over three days.

Huber said this year, the name of that award has been amended to the Curt Gienger Lead Butt Award, in honor of Gienger, a long-time festival supporter who died in April. Even when the event was virtual, Huber said, Gienger watched every film in the festival.

Other awards this year include the MONA Award, being given in memory of Monica Wickre whose 1983 death in Brown County remains unsolved.

As always, a family-friendly session is planned. That session is on Sept. 18.

As the film festival nears, Huber said, sponsorship opportunities are still available. For more information, call 605-226-5494.

This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: South Dakota Film Festival 2022 features actor Brian Baumgartner