One of the only things Toledo’s art community lacks in comparison to Ann Arbor, Cleveland and Detroit is a solid, continuous film festival. The closest being the Silver Screen Classics at the Valentine–and bless them for it.

There was the Black Swamp Film Festival in 2009–which fizzed out–and the ongoing Film Focus showings in the McMaster Center of the Main Library–which receives only blips or short write ups. The most strenuous of mediums has lagged behind in the race. People such as Gabe Rios-Hannon still look to change that as he spearheads Toledo’s 1st on Friday, October 4.

“Our festival, which we plan to hold every year around this time, stems from when my friends Justin Keyes, Catie Montgomery, Steve Rodojev and my brother Alex and I decided to make a short film,” Rios-Hannon said. “We thought it wouldn’t be too hard to do. So we set our first budget and moved forward.”

Growing up on movies and always wanting to make one prompted the group’s “motivation to see if we could pull it off”. They made the basic equipment acquisitions, such as the Canon XL2 and handy Go-Pro cameras, and began writing.

“When we had three shorts shot and edited as a group, I decided to research if other people were doing the same. Turns out quite a few people in Toledo were working their own short films,” said Rios-Hannon. “That’s when I began receiving links to submissions from people around town. I was able to make contacts through friends like local filmmaker Dustin Mills, who knew people wanting to show their film.”

The festival will take place at the infamous Collingwood Arts Center, a venue always friendly to showcase events with its dense corridors and 600 seat theater. Best part is the locals look out for each other, especially for premieres.

“Collingwood was secured with the help of my good friend Nic Botek. We all thought it’d be great to have a local festival at a local landmark. Hopefully us showing there will bring in more people associated with the building and its residents,” said Rios-Hannon.

The attraction to any festival, regardless of its status, is the diversity of what is shown. When Rios-Hannon sent out his invitation for submissions, he not only received the numbers, but the variety as well. The variety has him feeling positive the festival will attract curious patrons.

“The only theme is that they are all short films. It’s all over the place. Horror, action, sci-fi and a romantic drama shot at the Botanical Gardens,” he said. “We literally have a little bit of everything for everybody. Except the horror films. The kids shouldn’t watch the horror films.” Annual Local Film Festival Toledo’s 1st ticket prices. Donations are welcomed as always.

“The cost of a movie ticket now is disgusting. If we can shoot a movie on less than one percent of a studio budget then we can hold this festival for free,” Rios-Hannon said.

Some in the community question why Ann Arbor comes out for its film festivals and Toledo stays inside. It’s obvious: A.A. is more compact and is an arts-based town. So in the every few years that a quaint festival pops up with its fingers crossed, everyone involved has to hope and pray for success.

And although he and those involved want to see the festival flourish, Gabe’s expectations are modest even as his excitement is through the roof. “I’ve been tracking people through Facebook and 63 said they were going. If we can get that, then we can definitely get 100 people to show up. That’d be nice,” he said.

Friday, October 4. 7pm. Free. The Collingwood Arts Center. 2413 Collingwood Blvd facebook.com/events/408756472559737/