CUT to…The Levoy

The history and grandeur of The Levoy is front and center at this year’s CUT International Short Film Festival.

Millville’s contribution to the growing film festival world will celebrate its fourth annual event on September 19 and 20. The focus on opening night of the 2025 CUT International Short Film Festival revolves around the celebration of the house that screens films from around the world. Bill Horin, co-founder and executive director of CUT filmed Applause: The Story of the Historic Levoy Theatre, a look back on 117 years of history, warts and all.

Preceded by an anniversary party, the premiere of Applause leads the way to the first group of this year’s short films. The remainder of the shorts will play September 20. 

Sounds pretty straightforward. 

It isn’t. Not if you’re the head honcho. Horin faces hurdles no matter how often he crosses the t’s and dots the i’s. “Every year presents new challenges,” he says.

These problems aren’t unique to Horin or this particular festival. They go with the territory, of putting on a film festival. Getting enough submissions. Getting seats filled. And filming a documentary to lead off the festival.

Still, in all, 2025 has had fewer problems, Horin says. The staff added two new judges but lost two committee members.

“We have enough sponsors to cover costs, but we are hoping for more ticket sales this year,” Horin says.

The fluctuation of submissions has been a constant issue. “Last year we ran several promotions to attract submissions, and we were flooded with them,” Horin says. “It made it a real challenge to go through them all.”

The festival attracted fewer submissions for this year, but they were better quality overall. 

Last year, Marcus Graves, of Thorofare, screened Eager Heater Alone, a stop motion tale of a lone, eager-to-please space heater, with no person to heat, until he discovers he is not alone in an empty home.

“After 10 years of being a filmmaker, it was actually my first time ever seeing one of my films in a theater setting, which was a great experience,” Graves says. This year, Graves’ live action Bedbug will play. A miniature being springs to life out of a mattress to find the large world is full of wonder and terror.

Not too many festivals honor their home venue with an hour-long short the executive director produced and directed. “Call it a labor of love,” Horin says of doing so through his non-profit production company ArtC.  “But worth it.”

The quality of The Levoy and the films selected to play a festival here often surprise first-time attendees. “They are really impressed when they see the inside of the theater and how great the films look and sound. Filmmakers especially are impressed and many return,” Horin says.

Levoy Theatre has become Millville’s epicenter for film exhibition and performing arts so why not give it its own voice. The premiere of Applause: The Story of the Historic Levoy Theatre will show off its voice, be the star of the show. It is dedicated to the theater’s history, preservation and rebirth as a dynamic performing arts center. “The Levoy Theatre is a local treasure and a national model of theatrical preservation,” says Horin, executive director of both ArtC, which produced the film, and CUT. ArtC is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts in the southern counties of New Jersey.

As with so many theaters of that era (built 1908), The Levoy expanded over the years as demand for vaudeville and film entertainment grew. But by the 1970s, it had fallen on hard times and was in danger of being lost forever.

“In the mid-90s, some forward-thinking citizens launched a grassroots effort to save the old theater,” Horin says. “Those humble beginnings led to a true renaissance for the building, which has since been lovingly and meticulously restored to become a state-of-the-art exhibition space. We were privileged to have the opportunity to record its fascinating arc of birth, heyday, preservation and resurrection,” says Horin, himself a native of Millville.

The hour-long short, features interviews with author Jim Cook Jr. who wrote Roundabout, the book which serves as the basis for the documentary; current Levoy Theatre board members and leaders of the current renovation, Lauren Van Embden and her father Phil Van Embden; Joe Pierce Sr., father of the founder of the Levoy Preservation Society, Joe Pierce Jr.; Jim Quinn, former Millville mayor and owner of Quinn Broadcasting, and others.

“We’re sharing the story of how we breathed new life into The Levoy while also recognizing its history,” Cook says. “The city has such a storied past of being built by hard-working men and women in the glass industry, but when the local factory where everyone was employed closed, and business moved out, Millville had to reassess its identity. Artists, restaurateurs, and small business owners filled that void and rebuilt the downtown. The Levoy was very much a culmination of that revival.”

So it’s fitting that the premiere will be the spotlight of Third Friday, Millville’s monthly celebration of the arts and will include other events highlighting local arts and artists.

The film was made possible in part with a grant from the Cumberland County Cultural & Heritage Commission. For complete list of film schedule, visit njshorts.com

IF YOU GO:

September 19

6:30 p.m. Anniversary Party / Fundraiser

8 p:m: Screening of Applause

9 p.m. Group One Short

Tickets all day: $90 (Documentary only $18)

September 19-20: $41 (films only)

September 20: $23 (all day pass)