Last weekend, Jenn and Morgen took a virtual dive into the brand-new Reel Love Film Fest. Coming up for air back in reality, we chatted about our experiences and festival highlights.
Morgen: I’ve taken part in a few virtual festivals this year. It’s been another adjustment amongst thousands that we’ve all made but despite it all, feel pretty warm and fuzzy about the fact that art is still created, distributed, and celebrated in this way. Film festivals are the life-blood of indie and small production works. That was especially true for the Reel Love Fest being its first year and hosting generally locally based artists. Compared to other festivals, this one was much more open and liberal with your ability to watch the films. While they had timely interactive aspects (Q&A’s and podcasts) you were able to take a little more time to watch the films. Despite the short length of the festival itself, it has been one of the best experiences I’ve had over the last year.
Jenn: As press, we were given access to a screener library provided by this festival that included most of the titles of the fest, so our virtual experience was fairly unlike what the general audience experience would have been. I know I personally really didn’t have any interaction with their use of the Eventive app (although when I’ve used that in the past I’ve always found it to be totally good and effective on the consumer end), and didn’t encounter any of the more potentially social elements of the fest much at all. This also meant we never had access to the films’ Q&As, which is often something I feel like I benefit from, but hey it’s hard to argue with free film festival access, I’ll take what I’m given! Being able to survey the fest’s content like that was really cool!
There were just two films I didn’t end up with access to that way, so I ended up watching ten of the fest’s twelve features over the course of the long weekend. It was interesting to see that they could be divided pretty neatly up into thematically-cohesive segments: I saw international features, documentaries, stories of romantic love between outsider weirdos, stories about familial love, and stories about non-romantic love between friends or strangers. All kinds of love were represented in many different ways. I liked that!
The Sunbreak’s Reel Love Fest Favorites
Jenn: There was quite a bit of good stuff in this fest that I saw and liked, but I guess in the end, my favorite was the one film I’d also gone in having already seen beforehand: Dinner in America. Its blend of warm-hearted sweetness with pitch-black comedy just hits me just right! What were your favorites?
Morgen: This is SO tough. While several of the films I watched were heartbreakers, they were really well-done and affected me long after the credits rolled up the screen. I’ll go with my gut reaction feature True Mothers. It was a departure from films in it’s same genre and storyline. Beautifully shot and used pregnant pauses with as much intention as the dialogue.
As for the shorts, it was such a mixed bag from brooding to giggly, heartwarming to heartbreaking. If I had to choose just one then I’ll go with Still Wylde, with just the right combination of dark humor and light-heartedness while still plumbing the emotional depths of loss. Well-acted and written, you can’t ask for much more from a short, but smart film.
Reel Love Fest’s Big Winners
Jenn: I did get the chance to see all four features that won any of the awards for features (that’s the jury awards + audience awards), and I do generally agree with their choices!
I think Dinner in America is a major standout, just based on the caliber of film it is, so it makes sense that it took home the most awards.
I liked the big swing Emma Seligman took with setting Shiva Baby all in one location and ratcheting up the tension like she did, and she both wrote and directed the film along with the short it originated from, so I have no argument against her taking home Best Director.
“Breakout Performance” is exactly the phrase I’d use to describe Betsy Sodaro’s turn in Golden Arm, so I’m happy with that award as well!
All the kids of Lorelei did an impressive job, although I’m surprised to see Amelia Borgerding was singled out as the standout, when Parker Pascoe-Sheppard was right there playing a complex, gender-non-conforming kid who’s desperate for a father.
Morgen: I sadly wasn’t able to see every film in the festival and there are quite a few that I’m still eager to see. The one short I was unable to access was Your Monster and if you saw my preview it was the one I was most excited for, so now I’m even more eager with it winning a “best of” at the fest.
While the title is intriguing in and of itself, Sloan Hearts Neckface is a quirky and twisting story that feels like it packs a feature length story in the length of a short film. Definitely glad it got some attention.
I’m not surprised Lorelei won the Audience Award and it’s definitely deserving, but I don’t know that it was the best film at the festival. With well-known and talented actors, and a unique storyline that ends in mermaids swimming at a bar in California, it’s obviously going to be a hit. I’m with Jenn on Amelia Borgerding’s performance. Emotional depth I wouldn’t have expected in someone so young, this isn’t the last time we’ll see her.
Our virtual experiences
Jenn: I did have one fest experience outside of strictly viewing film screeners: was happy to get to pop in live for the Strange Storytelling Hour on Thursday, which was co-presented by our locals pals at Northwest Film Forum and the North Bend Film Festival, and hosted by Seattle’s true weirdo sweetheart, Emmett Montgomery. I wish I’d been able to do a bit more of the fest’s non-feature-film activities, but that one, as that show always is, was a kooky, warm-hearted delight.
Morgen: I didn’t end up stepping outside the screening room, but I’m glad that Jenn was able to experience some of them. In my opinion it’s what helped this fest stand out for me, with a combination of time-sensitive and more slow-access items it allows for everyone’s timelines and schedules.
Looking forward
Jenn: Although I got to see everything of the fest that was a top priority for me, I wouldn’t mind catching the last two features I didn’t end up with access to, which were Sophie Jones and So Late So Soon. Sophie Jones has Nicole Holofcener as an executive producer, and I generally love her work, so that’s definitely something to look forward to when it hits a wider release. I also didn’t catch any of the shorts of the fest, so may still take a little spin through the links we’ve got to catch up on some of those, especially the ones you recommended and the ones that won awards. Is there anything you’re still looking forward to catching up with?
Morgen: Yes, 100%! There are several features that look fantastic but I didn’t have the opportunity to enjoy them at this festival. The two that really stick out are Golden Arm and Shiva Baby (in addition to Your Monster of course). Thankfully, from some of the research I did in preparation, it looks like many of these films have been part of the festival circuit, so at least I’ll have more opportunities to check them out.
Jenn: Yeah, a beautiful thing about missing stuff at film festivals is that you know it’s only at the beginning of its lifespan, so I’m sure we’ll have plenty of opportunities to catch up on our viewing gaps from this fest! Cheers to Reel Love Fest for giving us some rich experiences this Valentine’s Day as well as even more to look forward to for the future!