Awesome Fest No Longer Suspended, Announces Summer Film Series at Liberty Lands

All films are intended for mature audiences.

By Josh Middleton· 6/4/2015, 11:44 a.m.

It was barely a month ago when we posted that Awesome Fest was suspended indefinitely due to a nasty legal battle, but it looks like indefinitely didn’t last very long. Creator Josh Goldbloom announced today that Awesome Fest is back with a new outdoor film series at Liberty Lands.

Every Friday at sundown from June 26th to August 14th, Awesome Fest will roll out a 40-foot screen for a free outdoor viewing at the public park in Northern Liberties. The festival returns thanks to a grant from the Penn Treaty Social Services District, which Goldbloom tells me he received over Veteran’s Day weekend.

“It’s been quite a miserable year,” he says, in regard to the ongoing litigation. “We’re doing everything we can to make it go away, but Awesome Fest has been my baby for five or six years, I couldn’t let it be held down any longer.”

He calls this film series one of the more challenging he’s had to put together in the history of Awesome Fest. The film lineup comprises eight Philadelphia premieres that, unlike family-friendly screenings at places like The Oval and Dilworth Park, are intended for grown-up audiences. “This will be a completely different experience in the sense that we’re showing R-rated, challenging material—definitely not a place to bring your kids.”

Although he was hesitant to pick a favorite from the lineup, he tells me the film he’s most proud of getting is Bobcat Goldthwait’s Call Me Lucky, which will open the festival on June 26th. Goldbloom calls the documentary, which chronicles the career of political satirist Barry Crimmins, Goldthwait’s masterpiece. “It’s one of the most powerful documentaries I’ve seen in a long time. Also, Deathgasm [closing the festival on August 14th] is unlike anything I’ve seen screened in Philly before.”