It’s the time of year when all the money-scrounging and stress ulcers pay off for Northwest filmmakers. The 34th annual Northwest Film and Video Festival begins today, and those filmmakers will have a chance to show off their hard work.
The festival is showing an impressive variety of shorts, features and documentaries this year, from Fido, a horror comedy set in an alternate reality where zombies are domesticated, to Eloquent Nude: The Love and Legacy of Edward Weston and Charis Wilson, a documentary about a 92-year-old nude model and her life in photography.
The theme of this year’s festival is “Dedicated to the Dedicated,” a concept that stands for the Northwest Film Center’s overall mission, said the festival’s coordinator Thomas Phillipson.
“It’s really at the core of our mission here at the film center. It’s our pledge to be dedicated to the filmmakers that work really, really hard putting these films together.”
Phillipsons’ first Northwest Film and Video Festival was in 2000, and in the years since, he has seen changes in Northwest film culture. The film community has gotten broader, he said, and there are more venues available for independent local filmmakers to screen their works.
The Northwest Film and Video Festival has only one judge each year, who picks all the films. This year the judge is Heike Kuehn, a German writer and film critic. She has created a very interesting and diverse program.
A few things at the festival stand out. There is a high percentage of documentary features, which makes sense considering the increasing national popularity of the form. Films such as Finding Normal, about addicts in and out of detox, use a raw documentary form to speak on emotional and troubling themes. High and Outside, a documentary about the wild and possibly crazy former Red Sox pitcher Bill “Spaceman” Lee, looks as though it could be a crowd favorite.
Not all the films are winners. Make sure to stay away from Blood on the Flat Track, a repetitive and unnecessary documentary about the Seattle roller derby league The Rat City Rollergirls.
In addition to film screenings, there will be a number of free workshops during the festival for hopeful filmmakers to learn the craft.
There is something for everyone at this festival. Families may want to check out the family-friendly Shorts Program 2, playing Nov. 10 and Nov. 16. That program also has the most intriguing plot description of any short film in the festival: “On an ice flow where a penguin’s life is subject to a walrus’ appetite, a gun makes a difference,” reads the write-up for POTL: The Penguin on the Left.
The variety of films at the festival gives an accurate snapshot of the Northwest filmmaking culture at the moment. The quality of some of these films rivals the work coming out of larger cities and shows that Northwest cinema is a force to be reckoned with.
Three films to look for:All screenings at the Whitsell Auditorium, 1219 S.W. Park Ave.
Fido (Vancouver, British Columbia)Saturday, Nov. 178:30 p.m.It’s hard to go wrong when you combine zombies and comedy. Fido, a 1950s-style “boy and his dog” movie about the friendship between a child and his pet zombie looks as though it could be one of the most popular films in the festival.The film is violent when it needs to be, is weirdly sweet and has the right amount of subversive content. It’s not for everyone, but fans of weird cinema will be delighted.
Outsourced (Seattle)Monday, Nov. 128:30 p.m.Outsourced, a culture comedy about a Seattle man laid off from his job and forced to travel to India to train his replacement, is a light family-friendly film that should please fans of works such as Office Space and other corporate comedies. The film confronts cultural stereotypes and has very good performances from its cast, especially the lead, Josh Hamilton.
Monster Camp (Portland)Saturday, Nov. 109 p.m.A group of social freaks, nerds and role-playing dweebs go out into the woods and hit each other with foam swords. If that idea makes you laugh, then you’ll like Monster Camp, a documentary that follows a group of LARPers (Live Action Role Players) and their uncomfortable and awkward lives. The film doesn’t judge its subjects and is never mean-spirited, even when it should be.
The Northwest Film and Video Festival starts today and runs through Nov. 17. For more information and a detailed schedule visit www.nwfilm.org.
Festival passes can be purchased for $40. Individual tickets for films are $7 for general admission, or $6 for students and seniors.
The shorts
Short films make up a large part of the Northwest Film and Video Festival. By and large, the shorts at this year’s fest are enjoyable. The topics range from childhood depression to French new-wave parodies. Below are The Vanguard’s recommendations.
The Saddest Boy in the WorldA 14-minute film about one very sad little boy, by Canadian director Jamie Travis. This short touches on the serious issue of childhood depression in a humorous and heartfelt way. The production values are great, and the tone is cute and whimsical in that Wes Anderson kind of way.Saturday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. and Friday, Nov. 16 at 8:45 p.m.
Patterns 2 and Patterns 3Two more shorts from Jamie Travis, the Patterns series wraps up a trilogy about a relationship between a man and a woman. Again, these films are beautiful and interesting, taking a more surreal approach than Travis’ other short. Based on his work here, it seems as though the director from Vancouver, Canada is one of the standout talents of the festival.Friday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. and Thursday, Nov. 15 at 8:45 p.m.
MorrisA six-minute long film about an old man coming out the closet, Morris is a quick, humorous take on gay issues.Friday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. and Thursday, Nov. 15 at 8:45 p.m.