Here we go, ladies, gentlemen and everyone across the spectrum! On Oct. 10 the 21st Annual Bend Film Festival arrives, and I've seen an astonishing number of movies, not just in my duties as Lead Shorts Programmer for the fest, but in preparation to recommend some non-shorts related cinema to all of you.
From the end of last year until around June or July I watched over 800 Narrative and Animated Shorts for the festival and I regret absolutely nothing. In fact, I wish I could bottle the feeling of watching a brilliant short after watching like 50 bad ones in a row. It's an indescribable cinematic high I recommend everyone experience at least once in their life. That sense of discovery is sublime, and one of the reasons I've spent half my life writing about movies.
This week I highlight a few of the movies/shorts blocks I really enjoyed, and then I'll spend next week building a mock festival schedule to try to help you balance your weekend and maximize the number of movies you get to see. Let's dive in.
While there are several filmmakers I'm very excited to meet, I'm over the moon to meet Karyn Kusama, BendFilm's 2024 Indie Filmmaker of the Year. Her film "Girlfight" (2000) redefined indie film at the time and "Jennifer's Body" (2009) is one of the most iconic horror comedies of the century so far. Also, her work on "Yellowjackets" and "Halt and Catch Fire" is some of the most intelligent and tensely executed television directing I've ever seen. On Friday, Oct. 11, there will be a screening of "Girlfight" and Saturday, Oct. 12, there will be a screening of "Destroyer" (with Nicole Kidman and Sebastian Stan), both of which will have Kusama in attendance. These two screenings will not only be of singular and excellent films, but also a priceless window into the mind of a groundbreaking filmmaker.
Also in attendance will be Sydney Freeland, BendFilm's 2024 Indigenous Honoree. Her work on "Reservation Dogs," "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," the extremely underrated Marvel miniseries "Echo" and the upcoming "Rez Ball" (screening as the opening night film at the Tower Oct. 10) is always deeply thoughtful and empathetic, putting characters before spectacle or plot. She's a genuinely exciting emerging artist and filmmaker.
Another strong entry in this year's Indigenous Film Showcase is "Missing From Fire Trail Road," a crime documentary focused on a group of women from the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Washington searching for Mary Ellen Johnson-David, an indigenous woman who disappeared in 2020. The amount of abuse heaped on indigenous lives in America has been disturbing and rage-inducing for centuries, but to see how little of a shit the FBI gives about the actual epidemic of missing, murdered, assaulted and trafficked Native American women is disgusting and all-too-typical of a government that has always treated indigenous people as less-than. A giant wake-up call to the world to pay attention to the injustices being endlessly perpetrated on reservations across the country.
"Adult Best Friends" is a touching and hilarious look at female friendships that last from childhood to adulthood and the minefields inherent in being that close to someone for that long. Actor/Director Delaney Buffett, along with co-writer and co-star Katie Corwin, crafted a touching and hilarious movie with dialogue that feels so of-the-moment that we can imagine it happening just around the corner a week ago. Packed with great supporting characters (including a sadly hilarious Zachary Quinto) and a genuinely character-driven story that eschews manufactured drama for honest moments of beauty, "Adult Best Friends" will touch you in some weird and uncomfortable places.
"Mamifera" is probably my favorite Narrative in the competition. It's a Spanish dramedy focused on a 40-year-old woman living a delightful life with her partner and old blind dog — until an unexpected pregnancy reshapes what she imagines her future to be. There are scenes of such startling intimacy between the two leads that I immediately was captivated by their love story and desperate for their continued happiness. Filled with quiet and flawlessly observed character moments, the themes of reproductive rights and late-stage motherhood only strengthen — all of which is astonishingly brought to life by the incredible Maria Rodríguez Soto. Writer/director Liliana Torres just made a lifetime fan out of me.
Other Narrative Features I enjoyed are the GenZ Grimecore cringe comedy "Rent Free" and the still kinetics of the Oregon Noir fractured fairy tale "To Kill a Wolf." I also can't tell you how excited I am to finally watch the new Sebastian Stan-led dark dramedy "A Different Man," Andrea Arnold's new tone poem "Bird," the secretly filmed thriller "The Seed of the Sacred Fig" and Sean Baker's newest modern classic, "Anora."
On the documentary side, don't miss the love letter to National Geographic "The Wonder and the Worry," the quintessentially, classically Oregonated "The Spirit of Halloweentown" (which not only captures the weirdly irrepressibly nature of Oregonians, but also features an appearance by Bend's iconic Caressa Banana), the intense and powerful "Firebreak" focused on formerly incarcerated firefighters and the hauntingly transcendent work of art, "!AITSA," that manages to cover almost the entirety of human existence in 90 minutes.
Next week I'll talk about several more movies and shorts, build a schedule for the whole weekend and check in with Executive Director Giancarlo Gatto and Programming Director Selin Sevinc. Stay tuned!