Festival History
Festival Founder
Cory Lash
Professor and independent filmmaker Cory Lash founded the Western Film Festival in 1995. Prior to that time, as a student at Kent State University in the 1970s, Lash was an important part of the Kent Film Festival as well as the touring component of the Ann Arbor Film Festival. In addition, he has attended and seen his work featured in the Atlanta, Chicago International, Cleveland International, Nashville and Cannes Film Festivals, among others.
An independent producer in his own right, Cory owns and operates a commercial film production company and has written and directed numerous documentary, narrative and corporate projects. His documentaries have been featured on PBS, his corporate image work contracted by Fortune 500 companies and his commercials and music videos broadcast nationwide. He has directed network TV episodes and has served as Director of Photography on three feature films. His numerous awards include the Gold Hugo of the Chicago International Film Festival, the Gold Remi of the Houston WorldFest and several Telly awards.
As a professor of film and video production at Western Kentucky University, Lash now has the opportunity to pass along his experiences and expertise to future filmmakers and broadcast professionals. He sees the Western Film Festival as an extension of those same goals.
For fifteen years, the Western Film Festival has been a showcase of the best in regional and national film and video production. Gifted student and independent filmmakers have seen their works screened in Bowling Green, Kentucky, since 1995, in an enduring festival created by Western Kentucky University professor Cory Lash. Originally a two-day event, the festivities have swelled to as many as five days, featuring experimental and documentary cinema, as well as music videos, animation and traditional narrative films.
From a national standpoint, the “Western” in Western Film Festival is not a reflection of geography or genre, but rather of the collaboration and support of Western Kentucky University. Since its inception, WKU and the Bowling Green community have provided the festival a critical financial and emotional foundation.
Though short films have always been the mainstay of the Western Film Festival, the screening and premiering of 
feature-length films has also become an essential and popular part of the event. Notable screenings have included The Blair Witch Project (Gregg Hale), Trudell (Elyse Katz), Southern Haunts (Zac Adams), Uncounted (David Earnhardt) and Keep Your Distance (Stu Pollard), among many others. Regional premieres have included Stranger (Scott Crowell), The Perfect Stranger (Jefferson Moore) and The Greatest Adventure of My Life (Dorian Walker).
Professional seminars by industry insiders and distinguished filmmakers have been another essential aspect of the festival. Over the years, participants have included a wide variety of producers, 
directors and writers, including all of the filmmakers listed above, as well as horror master and Bowling Green native John Carpenter (Halloween, The Fog, Escape from New York). And since 2007, student filmmakers have had the unique opportunity to pitch their film and television ideas to industry professionals in a simulated studio setting.
Beginning in 2000, the Western Film Festival High School Video Competition was founded, extending the event to another generation of filmmakers. The top high school producers in the region submit their work in a variety of categories. All of the entries are screened, judged and scored, and the competition culminates in a mid-week screening and awards ceremony, recognizing the top high school talent in Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana.
Since 1995, the Western Film Festival has featured the work of the best filmmakers of our generation – all the while striving to recognize and nurture the talent of the next.