For decades, three of them captured Schuylkill County’s stories through the local newspaper, both in words and photos. This past weekend, they joined a Penn State-Schuylkill film student to debut their cinematic work at the Pottsville Film Festival.
Johnathan Paroby, who worked as a news photographer at the Pottsville Republican Herald for 18 years, took home the Best of the Skook award at the festival, which took place this past weekend. His film, The Artist, showcased 200 photos of his over the past 15 years. In The Artist, Paroby says he’s questioning why he does what he does but goes about his work regardless.
The work was a departure for the experienced news and freelance photographer, who currently lives in Pottsville. And he tells Coal Region Canary he decided to enter his film as a way of showcasing his work to a different audience is a new way. He says the experience was “very rewarding.”
“Putting a film together was a lot more work than expected,” he says. “It was a different process to put together a movie. It was rewarding because it was a different experience.”
Paroby says he plans to enter new work at the 2027 Pottsville Film Festival. He says he walked away from this year’s event admiring the talents in the room with him this weekend.
For years, Paroby worked alongside Jacqueline Dormer at the newspaper’s photography department. Dormer has also focused mostly on still photos in her decades on the job at the newspaper but decided to work up the nerve and enter her short film, Porch Time with Eddie, in this year’s festival.
Although she didn’t come home with a physical reward, Dormer says she looks back on this weekend feeling very rewarded.
“I had no idea what to expect and I absolutely loved it. I loved all the talented and creative filmmakers. I was truly inspired by what I saw,” she tells The Canary, adding that she’s already planning an entry in next year’s festival as well.
Porch Time with Eddie was inspired a particularly stressful recent time in her life as she was thrust into the role of healthcare worker and caregiver for her father as he battled dementia. Eddie, her 6-year-old chihuahua/Min Pin mix, sensed the stress she was feeling and would lead her on their daily walks to her sister’s porch in Pottsville, where she could temporarily escape.
“It was a story that everybody could relate to in some way,” Dormer says. “We need a little reminder to take some time to find your peace, no matter what it is, whether it’s sitting on a porch, going for a walk, or reading a book. We need to be reminded of that.
“And what a thrill it was to see Eddie up on the big screen at The Majestic Threater and share his peaceful presence,” she says.
Stephen Pytak, of Port Carbon, who worked alongside Paroby and Dormer as a news reporter and feature writer at the paper, screened his film, Shadow and the Rabbit, on Saturday night at the festival. It’s made up of scenes from his latest novel, The Last Days of Valhalla.
While on stage Saturday night for a Q&A after the showing, Pytak was asked about some of his challenges while making the film.
“I had a few. Of course, there was money and time. When you make a film, you have to ask yourself how much money do you have, how much time do you have and what can you do with the time that you’re given,” he says. “How well you use what you have, that’s how you measure your worth in my opinion. And with all the films I saw here tonight, I saw something I liked.”
Pytak says he was unsure about entering his work in the Pottsville Film Festival but is happy he did in the end.
“I have to admit, when I heard about this event – a regional film festival staged in Pottsville – I was skeptical. Why would folks come to Pottsville for a film fest? The city wasn’t known for any cinema history. And it wasn’t home to a movie theater, like, say, Midtown Cinema in Harrisburg. So, how would this work exactly,” he says. “In the end, the organizers pulled off something kind of special, with events at local businesses, a celebrity guest and screenings at two locations.”
Pytak was particularly happy with the ability he had to explain his process and inspiration in making his film as well as the challenges he faced in its production.
“I was impressed with the set up. The presentations were really good. And it made me wish the theater would show movies more often. A class act.”
Though it’s been a few years since they worked together telling Schuylkill County’s stories in print, Paroby says it was nice sharing the screen with his former co-workers.
“It was good to see my work alongside theirs again,” he says.
Now, while the three former newspeople experienced something new and different in their careers with this year’s Pottsville Film Festival, it was the second year in a row entering work for Montana Confer, who recently wrapped his film studies at Penn State-Schuylkill before heading to Main Campus to pursue his degrees in film and international relations.
On Sunday, Confer – who has lived in New Ringgold – took home the prize for Best Student Film for his submission of Sturm und Stille – Between Storm and Silence at the festival.
Last year, during the event’s inaugural year, he says he entered a short film and decided to go bigger this year. Based in The Rhineland in 1945, Confer’s film centered on a convergance of an American recon unit and German Volkssturm militia during the final weeks of World War II. Sturm und Stille explores both sides of the conflict.
Confer says he wasn’t expecting to walk away this weekend with any hardware.
“I really wasn’t expecting to win because I don’t expect to win a whole lot,” he says. And whether he came away from this weekend as a winner or not, Confer says he’s already looking forward to 2027.
“Oh hell yeah,” he says on returning. Confer says he loves being around like-minded people in film when he’s at an event like Pottsville Film Festival. “The encouragement of people who have been in the industry, who have been experiencing production of films, critiquing films … listening to their critiques and hearing their praise lets me know I’m in the right direction.”
Pottsville Film Festival Winners
Here’s a look at all the winners from this past weekend’s Pottsville Film Festival:
Best of the Fest | $500 Award | To Orbit Around a Dying Star (Justin O’Neill)
Best Pennsylvania Film | $500 Award | My Last Sin (Eric Olmeda)
Best Director | $500 Award | Andrea Ashton (Margo for Real)
Best of the Skook | The Artist (Johnathan B. Paroby)
Best Actress | Amanda Greer and Denise Reed (The Fix)
Best Actor | Juan Teisaire (Cortado)
Best Cinematography | The Fix (Amanda Greer and Denise Reed)
Best Narrative | Resume of Regrets (Lori Hammel)
Best International | Blood or Water (Kristina Mileska)
Best Comedy | Margo For Real (Andrea Ashton)
Best Horror | Hide (Brenden Hubbard)
Best Student | Sturm und Stille – Between Storm and Silence (Montana Confer)
Best Documentary | Kielbasy Heaven (Carlos Alvarez)
Best Animation | Alice in Jerseyland (Jaewon Ryu)
ALSO READ: Second Pottsville Film Festival Deemed a Success Even Before One Film Was Shown
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