Mulvane’s Doc Sunback Film Festival returns

The Doc Sunback Film Festival, which originated in 2015, returns this weekend in Mulvane, offering film screening of all genres.

Films are programmed into themed “blocks,” and will be shown Friday, July 19, and Saturday, July 20, at the Pix Community Center, 101 E. Main, in Mulvane, about 16 miles southwest of Wichita. For a full schedule and other information, go to www.docsunbackfilmfest.com .

The festival gets its name from a man known as Doc Sunback, who was a local veterinarian born in the Mulvane community in 1879. He lived to be 81 and is still remembered fondly by some of the folks in Mulvane.

I had a virtual chat with the festival’s Executive Director, Malissa Long. Here are excerpts:

What are some highlights of this year’s festival?

Friday night there are two films I really liked that scored well (with judges): “Reinventing Recycling” at 8:20 p.m. and “The Strongest Man in Kansas” at 9:05 p.m. (both local documentaries).

Saturday starting at 11 a.m., we have a grouping of movies that use few words, with less than one sentence of dialog, that were all very impactful.

We also have a block of films that are about family dynamics — good, bad or indifferent — starting at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

Starting at 4:45 p.m. Saturday, we will commemorate the late local filmmaker Bret Jones, who lived in Derby and showed several films with us over the years, but his life was cut short (he passed away in January).

Will Kansas-made films be shown?

We have 15 Kansas films in multiple categories.

How did the festival get started?

It originated with a small group of three people who loved independent film and the Mulvane community.

About how many films were submitted and how many will be shown?

Unfortunately, submissions have been way down since the Covid pandemic. We used to have to sort through a couple hundred films. This year we received 47 submissions and are showing 25.

How has Mulvane reacted to the festival?

Really well, but again, Covid cut down on attendance. When I took over as director last year ticket sales were very minimal, so I asked the board to make the event pay-what-you-can. Last year, two middle-school-aged girls showed up asking if they could watch films for free or their mom wouldn’t let them stay. I said yes, and they watched several hours of films. One of them wanted to be an actress, so she had the opportunity to meet others doing what she wants to do.