Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and what better way to celebrate the most romantic day of the year than with the universal love language of the arts?

From February 10-14th, a brand new virtual film festival, Reel Love, will focus on presenting the newest love stories and honoring its powerful impact in cinema. The virtual event is founded by film festival veterans responsible for the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival and the North Bend Film Festival and is produced in collaboration with Indie Street Institute. The institute is dedicated to supporting and giving a platform to up and coming independent filmmakers with a portion of Reel Love’s proceedings going towards financing their mission. 

The festival highlights love in every spectrum. From romantic to platonic to familial love, fans of this genre can expect diversity within the storytelling in various short films, features, live events and even podcasts. 

This weekend, the love-themed festival will showcase twelve feature films, three short blocks, a collection of podcasts, more appropriately titled “lovecasts”, and two open-mic live events as an alternative commemoration for film lovers. 

Among this broad list of content, the festival’s opening night spotlight film tells a punk misfit love story in “Dinner In America“. As the centerpiece feature of Reel Love, “Funny Face” is an anarchist crime romance for all. And closing the festival will be a hilarious comedy involving a terrorizing group of lovers at a Jewish funeral reception in “Shiva Baby“. 

Along with those spotlight features, the festival presents two standout international Oscar submissions: the Swedish drama starring Homeland’s Nina Hoss, “My Little Sister“, which is a story about love, loss and the pursuit of your passions in life. “True Mothers“, Japan’s 2021 Oscar submission directed by renowned Naomi Kawase, is a motherhood drama with a mysterious flair that connects two different journeys in an emotional encounter.

With just under seventy percent of the festival entries being from female directors and fifty percent of the features being debuts from fresh voices in the industry, Reel Love Fest is sure to be a celebration of all aspects of love for the ages.

Reel Love Fest is geo-restricted to U.S. access with two types of festival passes currently on sale: a 6 feature or shorts program package for $55 and an all-access package for $85. All podcasts and live events are free to pass holders. Individual tickets options include $10 for features and shorts programs, $13 for spotlight films.

To buy a Reel Love Fest pass, visit: https://reellovefest.eventive.org/passes/buy