Technically, films combine elements of images, motion, dialogue, ideas and music. It's a combination of sensory stimuli that can evoke strong emotions and transport viewers to different places and times.

Ryan Shank, the founder of the Red Rose Film Festival, has been theatrically transported on many different occasions.

"(Films are) an escape," said Shank. "I've always loved stories. I grew up on Ninja Turtles, and I also grew up on 'Jaws.' I love to laugh. It's almost like therapy in a way. I'd rather listen to a story and relate to it than talk about myself."

This year's edition of Shank's annual Red Rose Film Festival will be staged on four days, from Thursday, Nov. 6, to Sunday, Nov. 9. The festival will include screenings of 60 films - feature-length movies, documentaries and shorts - from 20 countries, as well as a pair of formal gatherings.

On Nov. 6, the event will kick off with a welcome party from 5 to 9 p.m. at Zoetropolis Cinema Stillhouse, 112 N. Water St., Lancaster. Then, on Saturday, Nov. 8, the local film festival will present special awards at a gala from 6 to 10 p.m. at Penn Cinema IMAX, 541 Airport Road, Lititz.

"The welcome party is just that," said Shank, a 2004 graduate of Lancaster Catholic High School. "It's a happy hour for filmmakers. You're enjoying food, and you're talking about your projects and your passion. The gala is held after all the films have been screened at least twice over the weekend. Do I call it a red-carpet event? Yes. Is it a black-tie event? No."

"The highlight of the festival should be the works," continued Shank. "But it will be the Lancaster businesses and filmmakers coming together. It's really a networking event. The film industry, at its core, is collaborative."

The 60 films that the Red Rose Film Festival will feature were selected from a group of 200 submissions. Each film was viewed by five judges from a panel of 50 and then was assigned a rating from 1 to 10 based on 10 criteria.

The majority of the films that will be screened at the festival received ratings of 8 or higher.

Among the movies that will be presented are a film called "Adamstown," which was produced by Lancaster-based Rwandan filmmaker Andrew Bilindabagabo, and "Keep Quiet and Forgive," which was produced and directed by Lancaster cinematographer Sarah McClure.

In 2023, it was estimated that 9,500 films were produced around the world.

"They're thoughts and ideas that people have the courage to put on the screen," said Shank. "How many ideas are there? How many thoughts do you have in a day?"

"Lancaster and central Pennsylvania are underrepresented in the film community," he added. "Our goal is to advocate for the filmmakers. But we're more an extension of tourism than we are of just the arts."

Over the festival's four days, more than 1,000 people, mainly from the country's northeast corridor - Pennsylvania, New York and Baltimore - are expected to attend the Red Rose Film Festival. Many of them will experience feelings of escape.

"Our biggest audiences are the filmmakers and their families," said Shank, a resident of Marietta. "People who support the arts are typically 55 and older who want to send the elevator back down. They want to have conversations with these filmmakers, and those conversations matter. That's what this platform provides. This is why we're here."

Through his creative passion for films, Shank established the Red Rose Film Festival in 2019.

"We technically copied an idea for a film festival from Dubuque, Iowa," said Shank. "The Julien Dubuque International Film Festival is one of the top-rated film festivals in the country. They focus more on tourism than filmmaking. I was like, 'Why don't we have this in Lancaster? Let's take Lancaster's love of Lancaster and create a film festival.' Lancaster loves Lancaster."

"It keeps me in proximity of an industry for which I chose Lancaster over Los Angeles," Shank continued. "I didn't want that life, and now I'm very fulfilled. I didn't need fame to fulfill my dream. The Red Rose Film Festival has become my platform. This is my way to be connected to artists and filmmakers."

For additional information, go to https://redrosefilmfestival.com.