Randi Emerman remembers walking into a movie theater as a little girl. She remembers the excitement running rampant through her veins as the theater lights turned down and the screen lights turned up. She remembers her heartbeat racing with each passing second as she waited to be whisked away on a journey to the unknown. She remembers the setting – an environment shared with people of all walks of life coming together to watch a single film. She remembers all of it as if it were yesterday. And today as the president of the Palm Beach International Film Festival, it only seems natural that Emerman’s zest for film gives a new meaning to the term “movie buff.”

 “I’m a little bit nuts,” says Emerman, laughing. But after hearing her speak about films, filmmakers and the festival itself, “nuts” is not an accurate description; “passionate” is. Her perspective is so drenched with intensity,it’s easy to be inspired. “Not everybody will read a newspaper, we know that. … Not everybody watches the news, we know that, too. But you can get anybody to watch a film and take those experiences,” Emerman, 53, says. “It’s so important we all come together and understand the world.”

 As the leader of a non-profit organization, Emerman believes the Palm Beach International Film Festival is a great forum to bring in films from all over the world to not only raise money for schools, but to provide a cultural awareness as well. So beginning April 4, 2013, the 18th annual film festival will showcase five shows a day comprised of feature length films, documentaries, shorts and as of last year, music videos. “Music videos were my son’s idea; these are films telling a story and they need feedback from the audience as well,” says Emerman of her son, Jeremy, who at 25 years old is a filmmaker in Los Angeles.

 For eight days the festival will screen anywhere from 90 to 130 films.The movies will be shown at four to five theaters; theaters such as Muvico in CityPlace, Frank Theatres in Delray Beach, and Cobb Theatres at Downtown at the Gardens. According to Emerman, film festival directors typically travel the world in search of films to bring back to their own festivals as well as to build awareness for submissions.

 Unfortunately, Emerman doesn’t have that luxury in her budget; she’s practically on her own. So for 365 days, the organization requires her undivided attention, time and resources. And even with a great interning program she has established with the students from Palm Beach Atlantic University – a program that is very hands-on – it can still be stressful. “There are times I question whether or not the festival can go on, but I tell myself, ‘OK, you’ve had your little moment, now figure it out,’” Emerman says.

 Luckily, Emerman has spearheaded a festival that is known around the world. And because of this, she has been invited to other film festivals – festivals such as the Marrakech International Film Festival in Morocco, where she met an actor who was in a movie called “Goodbye Mothers.” It was a Jewish film about the exodus, but it took place in a Muslim country. “We’re all brought together with the same stories,” Emerman says.

In October 2012, Emerman was also invited to go to Moscow by the Russian Cinema Fund. Emerman says they invited 100 people from around the world to experience Russian cinema and she was one of them. So this year the festival will be playing a selection of Eastern European films. “Being in Russia and seeing the different stories from different regions is interesting, but it all boils down to human nature, human plight and human struggle,” Emerman says.

Emerman is a firm believer in the industry. She still loves going to the movies; a love that perhaps is hereditary. According to Emerman, her grandfather, Ben Biben, was involved in starting the nationwide movie theaters, General Cinema. He was also a sound engineer who decided how sound would get into movie theaters and went around the country figuring out how to engineer the first generation of 3-D movies. “I always knew I was meant for this world,” Emerman says.

 Originally from Philadelphia, Emerman moved to South Florida in 1968 and grew up in Miami. She went to Miami Dade College and later attended the University of Miami to study business. As the president of the president’s council, an active member of sororities, and a community leader, she was very involved in her school. Her college experience ultimately prepared her for the career she has today. “I was always interested in the business side of the industry.

“I consider the business side of what I do entertaining. … Without the business side of it there would be no show,” says Emerman, whose vast career has delved into the fashion industry, entertainment editor for a newspaper in Miami, and branding the well-known Muvico as a company with friend Hamid Hashemi.

Even though the film festival fosters a cultural awareness, there is an economic impact as well. Since 2002, Emerman says 6,300 hotel rooms have been used due to the festival. “That’s not us bringing in people and paying for their hotel room; that’s the filmmakers and friends coming to Palm Beach and experiencing their time here,” she says.

 In fact, the festival is stimulating the economy. Emerman even recalls a year they used 1,100 hotel rooms. “This is a business. Yes, it has a cultural value, but it has business element as well,” she says.

 After years of being in the industry, and after years of being involved in industry-related charities, such as Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation and the National Association of Theatre Owners, her mission boils down to a simple statement: “I want to engage the community and educate them about the world around us in an entertaining format.”