Lebanon County shines at second annual international film festival in Mount Gretna

Judy Williams Henry has been an influential force in the lives of so many of her students.

What’s even more amazing is the impact that the Lebanon-based dance teacher has had on those who have never even stepped onto her dance floor. 

Eighteen-year-old filmmaker Olivia Wickenheiser, who falls into that latter category, is so enamored with Henry’s life that she made a short documentary film about her many achievements and the proteges she treats as if they were her own children.

Read More: Meet Lebanon mover and shaker Judy Williams Henry

“I think for me, growing up in Lebanon, you would always hear about Miss Judy and all the amazing things she would do around the world and here, and I have friends that dance with her, so it was just such a cool opportunity to get to tell her story and make a documentary for the first time,” Wickenheiser said.

Wickenheiser’s inaugural film, “Judy Williams Henry: Goodwill Through Dance,” was recognized Sunday as the best high school film at the second annual Mount Gretna International Film Festival. It bested a tough field of nine other student films – including one submitted by fellow Cedar Crest classmate Noah Bensing – to win top honors.

Read More: Comedy short wins Best in Show at Mount Gretna International Film Festival

Wickenheiser, the daughter of Michael and Jennifer Wickenheiser of Lebanon, said after the awards ceremony she was grateful for recognition of her passion project.

“It means a lot because I put so much love and time into it, and it was really a passion project for my whole senior year, from the first marking period when filming began,” said Wickenheiser, a 2025 Cedar Crest graduate. “It was such a labor of love, and (she) has such a cool community and an artsy place. To have it (the film) recognized here really means a lot because of the strong (filmmaking) community that’s here at the festival is really a cool thing.” 

Henry said she never thought her life’s work in the arts would be featured in such an artistic way.

“I was just a kid from a small town in Connecticut but I always saw the arts in everything, in nature, everywhere,” said Henry, whose many accomplishments include serving as choreographer at Mount Gretna Theatre for over three decades. “It makes me happy that my story is able to spark creativity and inspire someone else.”

The Lebanon County connection

Lebanon County was well-represented at the film festival held at the two-day Mount Gretna Outdoor Art Show. The film festival featured short movies of up to 15 minutes across five categories: drama, horror, comedy, documentary and high school.

Four films by local filmmakers were featured at the festival. 

In addition to Wickenheiser’s and Bensing’s films in the high school division, two others were entered in the horror category: “Diakonia” by Erik Souillard and “Reversion” by Don Muritz, both of whom hail from Cornwall.

“Until Tomorrow”

Bensing’s film, “Until Tomorrow,” explores the subject of separation and loss through death. Bensing, the son of Kyle and Angie Bensing of South Lebanon Township, will be a senior this fall at Cedar Crest High School.

“I really didn’t want to do a happy film. I really wanted to try and challenge myself. Just try and pick something a little bit not as happy and try to really focus on somber feelings,” Bensing explained. “I didn’t lose anyone, but I was just going through (the idea of) what are things that are hard to go through and I landed on that (subject).”

Bensing’s and Wickenheiser’s film careers have been on the same trajectory. Both studied film in the broadcast program at Cedar Crest High School, with Wickenheiser saying she’ll major this fall in film at DePaul University in Chicago while Bensing is contemplating a film minor at Loyola School in New York next fall.

“We made a horror short film. We made an action/adventure. We’ve made comedy sketches and then I did a documentary,” said Wickenheiser. “So it is completely whatever you want to do and they are there to support you with what you need and if you need something just ask because they are there to support you.”

“Diakonia”

Souillard, who is the owner of Lebanon-based Annubis Productions, said “Diakonia” is part of a larger project he hopes will become a television series on a streaming service.

“I’m trying to get a streaming series off the ground and I’ve shot all around Lebanon. We shot in a mall and all sorts of places and I’ve made what’s called a sizzle reel,” Souillard said. “That’s what you use to pitch to production companies.” 

Souillard said his three- to five-minute short film was born from a larger project that is more thriller than horror.

“When this (festival) came up I took a scene from ‘Diakonia’ that we had shot and kind of redid it to make it like its own little short piece. To kind of just put it in for this festival to see if they wanted it and hopefully liked it,” he said.

“Reversion”

The horror/psychological thriller flick “Reversion” examines a “man desperately searching for a missing mythologist before he is charged with her disappearance. When he finds the object of her research, time becomes his enemy.”

There’s a saying to write what you know, and in the case of Muritz, he lived up to that adage.

“The inspiration is kind of a personal homage to the nightmares I used to have as a little kid,” he said. “I’d be dreaming, and all of a sudden this monster would get me and I’d wake up in my bed and I’d still be asleep. And I’d get up and go down the hall and then the monster would get me again.

“I’d had a few of those types of experiences. And my film kind of touches on that a little bit.”

Hometown scenery

As might be expected, various scenes around Lebanon County are featured prominently in these local films. 

Wickenheiser’s film was shot at Henry’s Movement Laboratory on Cumberland Street while the horror films show scenes in Lebanon city, Mount Gretna, and the woods around the artistic community located in southern Lebanon County that’s home to the film festival.

“I worked with Logan Balmer and Logan’s family said you can use our backyard for any film if you ever wanted to film something back there,” Murtiz said. “We went over and took a look and it looked pretty good. It was a big area that we could film for the night scenes out in the forest and so that’s what we did.” 

In honor of Evan

The film festival is held in memory of Michael “Evan” Deitzler, an actor and passionate filmmaker who grew up in Lebanon and Mount Gretna.

Deitzler had a career at Warren Lotas in California after participating in Cedar Crest High School’s broadcast program and graduating magna cum laude with a film degree from Temple University. Evan died in March 2023 at age 30.

The Best in Show, or “Vita Maxima,” short movie at the film festival is given in honor of Evan, whose mother Vicki said always wanted to launch his own film festival in his hometown.

Best in Show went to a film titled “The Callback,” which was made by New York filmmaker Kara Herold, a film professor at Syracuse University. The entry is described as a “comedy about following a dream into a waking nightmare.”

A panel of judges vetted the films selected for the film festival, and the Deitzler family chose the “Vita Maxima” winner.

“I am absolutely amazed by the quality of these films and I am glad I was not the one who had to narrow it down because there were so many great submissions,” said Vicki.