The Fourth Annual North Bend Film Festival is happening both in-person as well as virtually this week, and Jenn and Chase will be covering the goings on in the festival here for The SunBreak. From a Donnie Darko retrospective to looks at the new up-and-coming visionary filmmakers of tomorrow, there is a lot to dig into so let’s get started!
What’s the deal with this festival?
This new iteration of our semi-local Twin Peaks-adjacent genre film fest will be showcasing (by our count) 16 feature films, 4 shorts programs, and a wide array of other events – some in-person, some virtual, and some either/or. The live screenings will be held once again at the character-rich North Bend Theatre, which sits right across the street from Volition Brewing (a festival partner and host of a Thursday night storytelling event) and kitty-corner from Twede’s (the “RR Diner” of Twin Peaks fame). Mount Si looms above the proceedings. The virtual events will be held on the fest’s Eventive platform, which has convenient apps for most home viewers’ setups (Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV, etc). Attendees can purchase individual tickets to each screening or event they want to attend, or can buy a “Vista Badge” that gets them into 10 film screenings (can be a mix of virtual and IRL), and a majority of the events as well, for $95. Those events include the aforementioned talk with Richard Kelly, director of Donnie Darko (the film is playing live in the theater on Saturday; the talk is virtual; unfortunately no filmmakers will be making IRL appearances at this year’s fest); several intriguing-looking podcasts and panels; a wild-sounding swinging-themed mystery game; a scavenger hunt that can be played out either virtually or in person; and all kinds of other wacky stuff. There’s also a North Bend walking tour available to kick off the beginning of each day before the screenings start.
Mini Roundtable: What’s High On Our List?
Jenn is looking forward to:
The Blazing World: this one made a splash at Sundance this year, and I’m excited for the chance to check it out in person as the fest’s Closing Night Film. “A dream-like world with dazzling arthouse visuals filled with neon lights and kitsch décor, completed with a chilling special appearance by Udo Kier”? Sign. Me. Up.
The Strange Storytelling Hour, a live event hosted by beloved Seattle comic Emmett Montgomery and co-sponsored by the Northwest Film Forum, is running as an in-person live show at Volition Brewery and thereafter being posted to view as a virtual event as well. At the moment it looks like the in-person event is sold out, but the virtual event still has space available – this is always a highlight of the fest for me; warm and loving and silly and strange in all the best ways.
Chase is looking forward to:
We’re All Going To The World’s Fair: Another film that made a huge mark on the Sundance Film Festival is one I regretfully missed though am looking forward to now. It is about young Casey who becomes immersed in an online role-played community before deciding to undertake a challenge that will upend her reality. It is a debut from director Jane Schoenbrun that is top of mind as being a fresh new voice that is a must see.
Potato Dreams of America: I had originally seen the documentary short about this real-life story, though a feature length film about a young boy and his mail-order bride mother who are looking to imagine a life in America is something the story deserves. I’ve talked with Wes Hurley, the Russian-Born and Seattle-based mind behind the webseries “Capitol Hill,” who is also just as excited as I am to see this one with a crowd.
How will you be approaching this fest/what’s your history with NBFF?
Jenn: I love that I’ve gotten to be a part of this fest each year in totally different ways. In 2018, I was a happy attendee for a few of the fest’s inaugural screenings: just drove out from Seattle for an evening with a friend, a little dipping in of the toes. I’m a huge Twin Peaks fan (and always get excited about experimental, horror, and genre cinema), and North Bend & Snoqualmie (and especially Snoqualmie Falls) is maybe my favorite area in the world, so that 30-mile commute from Seattle is not a big ask. In 2019, I was hired as a venue manager for the festival, and got a closer look at the inner workings and behind-the-scenes operations (and loved every minute of it). Both years, the fest’s scrappy community spirit really spoke to me – the programming was interesting and excellent, and the crowds attending weren’t super large, but they were quality folks who were absolutely in the right place for this little oddity, and it was so fun to get to know so many of them over the course of each weekend. And then in 2020, which I’m assuming is being counted as the “third annual” iteration of this fest, thanks to the coronavirus it couldn’t be held in person. Instead, the organizers combined efforts with several other fests, into the joint October virtual genre fest NIGHTSTREAM – which I was thrilled to again be able to work, this time in a virtual customer-service capacity, and again had a great time.
This year, I’m again back on the audience side, although this time with my press pass, which is a new exciting twist – can’t wait to take full advantage of it! My plans at the moment are to head out to North Bend IRL for three out of the four festival days (that’ll be more social interaction than I’ll have had all year thus far, so I know I am going to need a break/chill-out day in the middle!), catching most of the theatrical screenings of those days (which will be my first time in a theater since March 2020!) and some of the live events, and then also tuning in for the virtual side of the fest quite a bit as well.
Really love that it’s a hybrid fest this time, with lots of great stuff on both sides of that fence but also with neither side so overwhelmingly packed as to exclude the possibility of doing both. And consciously including those who aren’t comfortable or safe attending movie theaters yet, or who can’t travel to North Bend (although must still be in the NW; I believe all film screenings are geolocked to WA/OR/ID locations, although the virtual non-film “events” seem to have even wider geographical availability): very cool.
Chase: This is my first time at the festival and the first time I have been on a real trip in more than a year. The combination of the in-person and virtual components is something Senior Film Programmer Joseph Hernandez told me may mark the future of what festivals look like. He also said that “this is one of the first if not the first in-person film festivals that’s happening in the region” and he “looking forward to being in that theatre when the lights go down on opening night and really appreciating that moment because it was gone for a little bit.” Honestly, that is the exact same feeling I am having. I have been to a few small press screenings though the experience of being in a theatre and getting to see the lights go down is exactly what I have been missing.
It also will be nice to hear from filmmakers who feel more of a connection with audiences then they could when things were solely virtual. Wes Hurley, the Russian-Born and Seattle-based director of Potato Dreams of America, told me he is excited to show his “autobiographical dark comedy about a gay boy growing up in the Soviet Union, his mail-order bride mother and their adventurous escape to America.” He also said that it “feels great to finally be able to share it with live audiences because our premiere at SXSW and then the following Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), all of that was virtual” and that made it so “it really didn’t feel quite real.” I also look forward to that feeling of realness and connection with people who are passionate about film. There is so much that is still going on in regards to the pandemic, so I’ll be taking precautions, though the opportunity to do this festival safely is one I couldn’t miss out on.
I also do share in the Twin Peaks love so getting to see where all the magic happened for the most iconic series of all time is going to be a treat. I have determined I will be only drinking coffee and only eating donuts in order to get the full experience.
Jenn: a slice of cherry pie from Twede’s couldn’t hurt as well!
Previous SunBreak Coverage
SunBreakers have actually already contributed a few reviews about films that are showing during this festival; we probably won’t be adding new reviews for these in this round, but encourage readers to check out our pre-existing coverage on:
- Cryptozoo, from Sundance, by Jenn
- Potato Dreams of America, from SXSW, by Jenn
- Swan Song, from SXSW, by Chase
- Ninjababy, from SXSW, by Morgen
Images courtesy of NBFF.