The studied film-maker, the casual creator, the avid movie fan — this weekend all of them will have their 15 minutes of fame.

The River’s Edge Film Festival, a Paducah-centered film fest that caters to local and national film makers, is set for this weekend. This is the seventh year for the festival, which has brought in more than150 submissions from across the country. Of those submissions 46 were chosen to be played in downtown Paducah. 

“We started sending out the information on this years’ festival, and we gave it to close to 500 different place,” said Maiden Alley Cinema director Landee Bryant said. “So we have colleges that work with the festival, and some groups that work together. The movies have such a wide range — from animations to documentaries to full length feature films.”

The festival starts Thursday night with a viewing of the documentary “Zeitgeist: Moving Forward,” and a kick-off party at Maiden Alley Cinema. Movies are played at three different locations — Maiden Alley Cinema, the Yeiser Art Center and the Market House Black Box Theatre.

“Thirty years ago, no one knew what Sundance was,” juror Eric Streit said. “Any film festival like this has the potential to become nationally and internationally known. It draws talent in and pulls in storytellers.”

Bryant said that festival organizers are expecting hundreds of people to visit the downtown area over the three days.

Organizers also provided movie-goers with a weekend planner which will help them make sure they can see all of the films. The 46 films include seven full-length films, then 12 sets of shorter films that are grouped together to help people on their quest to see every movie. There will be showings at all three locations from 1 p.m to 9 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

An “All Access” pass to the festival, which allows guests to view every movie over the three days, is $50. Tickets to individual screenings are $5 each.

Streit, a television producer, director and writer who is originally from Paducah but has since relocated to Los Angeles, will judge the films throughout the weekend. River’s Edge ends with a “Best of the Fest” showing at 7 p.m. Sunday. There, the winner of the festival will be crowned.

“The festival is important,” Bryant said. “Anything that brings creative, artistic minds to our city is a good thing.”

Want to go? Check out a full schedule and buy your tickets at riversedgefilmfestival.com