Film festival lights up the West End

Barbara Mullaney, Maureen Ennis and Aileen Monahan walked the red carpet as the “Desperate Housewives of Long Beach” at the annual George Ennis Film Festival at the Inn on April 25.

Maureen Lennon/ Herald

Festival Master of Ceremonies John Barnes, left, with organizer George Ennis.

Maureen Lennon/ Herald

Joyce Dikranis was a judge at this year’s festival.

Maureen Lennon/ Herald

Hundreds stopped by the Inn to dress up and celebrate Hollywood.

Maureen Lennon/ Herald

Joe DiLello and Mari Plater were two of the event’s guest judges.

Maureen Lennon/ Herald

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The George Ennis Film Festival made its triumphant return on April 25 at the Inn. After taking the last three years off to deal with the damage his home incurred by Tropical Storm Irene and Hurricane Sandy, organizer George Ennis brought the wacky and colorful event back with a new category and lots of celebrity impersonators this year.

The festival specializes in short films and has a very laid-back atmosphere, focusing more on Hollywood glamor than serious filmmaking. Affectionately referred to as “Halloween meets the Oscars,” guests can walk the red carpet and win raffle prizes. Each year, the event benefits the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

“There were some kinks to work out,” Ennis said of organizing a festival after a three-year hiatus. “But all in all I was very pleased with how it turned out. Hopefully it will continue next year.”

For the first time, the festival screened the film entries in advance at the Inn on the Thursday night before the main event. “I thought it worked well considering the type of festival that we have,” Ennis said. “I think people expect more entertainment than films.” All of the movies would be shown then and the winners in each category were planned to play at the party on April 25.

He added that this allowed anyone interested in watching the films to do so without the distractions of the red carpet festivities. The Hollywood revelry at the Inn on Saturday was so much, Ennis said, that they weren’t able to screen any of the winners that day.

“Maybe next year we can make that a little clearer to the audience,” he admitted. “It was a work in progress this year.”

The festival introduced a category for parody films this year, along with regular entries in comedy, drama and documentary categories. Because the overwhelming majority of films were comedies, Ennis said, he tweaked the voting system to have the audience pick three overall winners regardless what category they entered in.

“Hot Stash 3,” by Long Beach filmmaker Danny Pyle, took home first place. “Bike for Sale,” by Ryan O’Leary, and “The Supper Club,” by Dayna D’Allessio, were also honored. Ennis said he was glad to see so many local directors enter the festival, and added that he’d like to see more entries try out the parody category next year.

“I think we’ve got a good blueprint in place for the next time,” he said.