8th Annual Lighthouse International Film Festival takes place this Friday through Sunday

Movie buffs are gearing up for the 8th Annual International Film Festival on Long Beach Island, featuring nearly 100 screenings this Friday through Sunday.

Viewers will recognize some familiar locations as a number of the films were shot on location in southern Ocean County and by local filmmakers.

Alex Markman has attended the event in the past, but will make his debut as Director of "Colby," a feature film about a drifter, with the title name, who meets a guy and breaks into a home in a small beach town.

"He gets caught and she gets away, and she ends up ingratiating herself to the family who lives there, unbeknownst to them that she broke in," said Markman.

"Colby" was inspired by an actual break-in at a home on LBI owned by Markman's parents.

"We didn't even really realize anyone broke in until we realized some alcohol was missing and a bed was unmade," Markman said.

Markman said the movie takes some twists and turns and will leave viewers on the edge of their seats. Jack Fuller co-directs "Colby." It plays Saturday night at 8.

Director Brendan Walsh of Tuckerton brings us and adaptation of the Television show "Space Cadet" based on a true story about the suspicious death of a man in marsh on LBI in 1987.

"It's sort of like a documentary with some staged artistic expression we'll call it," said Walsh.

Walsh noted the investigation into the man's death was inconclusive.

"To this day the brother of the deceased has been telling the story of his brother's life and untimely death," Walsh said. The film is based on the living brother's perspective that it was a murder, according to Walsh. "Space Cadet" plays Saturday afternoon at 3:30.

Another documentary "Yesterday's Fish Today's Challenges" is about the seafood production dock of Viking Village, Barnegat Light, by filmmaker David Kaltenbach. It's the compelling story of the Scandinavians settling at the northern tip of Long Beach Island and forging the roads to establish the commercial fishing industry.

A complete list of the movies and screening time can be found here: http://www.lighthousefilmfestival.org.