In 2011, Alan Hashimoto, a professor from Utah State University, created the Logan Film Festival with some of his students. Hashimoto passed away one year after the festival's premiere, leaving his students to continue the festival, along with producer Mason Johnson.
“So through the years we grew the film festival, but by year five we were challenged by multiple people on what could make a film festival experience truly unique for Cache Valley [and] also the state of Utah,” said Johnson.
He and the festival team decided to turn the Logan Film Festival into The Block film & art festival, a celebration of independent artistic expression, a quote originating from Hashimoto.
“When 2016 hit, we had really good success with the first year we introduced The Block as a concept," Johnson said. "We hosted it again last year, and now we’re in 2018 on year three of The Block, [and] year seven of the Logan Film Festival.”
The Block includes film premieres, live music and art installations in downtown Logan, taking place in many of the theaters and venues in that area.
“The complaint we hear all the time is, ‘There’s too many amazing things and we couldn’t get to everything. Could you please not stack something like this panel with this film, or that band, because I missed this?'" said Mary Urban Clarke, another producer for the festival. "Honestly, for a festival production team, that’s the best complaint we could get!”
The festival will be held on September 28th and 29th in downtown Logan.
