For the last few years, I’ve been writing a mock schedule in the Source Weekly for the four days of the Bend Film Festival, and how I would circumnavigate the fest if I wasn’t working at the beautiful behemoth. But I’ve been doing it wrong. Instead of writing about what I would be going to see, I should have been shaping the schedule around the individual tastes of you, the patrons of the 20th Annual BendFilm Festival. In the form of a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure, here’s how YOU could do it.
Thursday, Oct. 12
At 2:30pm at Regal Old Mill is “Patrol” (83 minutes), a mesmerizing indigenous documentary about an emerging crisis in the Central American rainforest. HOWEVER, at the same location, is a 3:15 screening of “Q” (93 minutes), an achingly empathetic documentary that looks at a secretive matriarchal religious order while also being a deeply personal investigation from filmmaker Jude Chehab into her family history.
You can’t go wrong with either choice as long as you end up at the Tower Theatre at 5:30pm for the Opening Night Program: “Matters of Life and Death.” (83 minutes). This block of six shorts runs the gamut of human emotion and builds a rapport with the audience that walks through every stage of life and its many deaths. These six shorts are some of the finest examples of the form I can show you.
From here you can either go directly to Open Space at 8pm for the Opening Night Reception and schmooze with the filmmakers and festival producers OR stay at the Tower for “Sometimes I Think About Dying,” (91 minutes) a lovely and bittersweet gift starring Daisy Ridley that will stealthily take up room in your emotional piggybank without you even noticing.
No matter what you choose, go home and get some rest. You’ve got a big day tomorrow.
Friday, Oct. 13
Are you a morning person? If so, check out the “Ties That Bind” shorts block at 9:45am, located at the Regal Old Mill. As much as I love each of the shorts in this block, “Pop Tart Sugar Dip” from Ashley Amanda Chan and Josh Whalen gave me one of the most cathartic and genuinely life-affirming moments I’ve ever had while watching a film. Truly wonderful. OR go to Regal and check out the intense and incisive narrative, “Riley,” (93 minutes) which follows a high school athlete as he suffers a complex and heartbreaking crisis of identity.
If you hustle, you can then make it over to Somewhere That’s Green and catch the 11:45am panel on The State of Affairs in Distribution, featuring people from Neon, IFC and other mid to large film distributors. OR you can give yourself a little more time and stay at Regal for the 12:15pm screening of the shorts block “Art Against the Machine” (94 minutes). I realize I’m biased when it comes to these shorts blocks since I helped program them, but that doesn’t make them any less fun and amazing.
Now you have time to eat. Do it. Feed that brain. Then head directly to the Tower for a 3:30pm screening of the modern comedy classic “Friends with Money,” (88 minutes) with filmmaker Nicole Holofcener in attendance. OR, and this will be a tough choice, you could also go to Somewhere That’s Green for the 3:45pm panel on Pushing the Boundaries of Documentary Filmmaking led by filmmaker Nicole Newnham, whose brilliant and eye-opening doc “The Disappearance of Shere Hite,” premiered at Sundance and is also playing at Bend Film this year.
Now you’re hitting the point where there are a bunch of different paths. Will you hit the Meet the Filmmakers happy hour at Drake 5pm, OR the astonishing doc, “Patria Y Vida: The Power of Music,” (84 Minutes) at Tin Pan Theater at 5:30pm? BUT what about the “The Grab,” (104 minutes) at the Tower at 6pm, an infuriating and fascinating film focused on the seizing of natural resources by governments and private companies. ALSO, you have to make it to the Friday Night Afterparty at 8pm at Silver Moon, BUT don’t have too much fun because you could also try and make it to the 9:30pm screening of “Another Body” (80 minutes) at Regal about a college woman who discovers herself the victim of a disgusting and insidious deepfake. SO many choices. Whatever path will you follow??
Saturday, Oct. 14
Were you overwhelmed with choices on Friday? Let’s simplify today.
Take the kids to see the beautiful “Four Souls of Coyote” (106 minutes) at Cascades Theatrical company at 10am. They deserve good movies, too. NOW go to the Tower for the 12:30pm screening of “Anima: My Father’s Dresses (94 minutes), one of the most authentic and compassionate docs I’ve seen in a long time.
Here’s another hard choice: EITHER 3pm at Somewhere That’s Green for the panel on SAG/AFTRA and the WGA OR 3pm at the Tower for a screening of this year’s hilarious Julia Louis Dreyfus comedy, “You Hurt My Feelings,” (93 minutes) with writer/director Nicole Holofcener in attendance. I do not envy you this choice. Directly after the screening of “You Hurt My Feelings” is then a conversation with Indie Filmmaker of the Year, Nicole Holofcener, which you really shouldn’t miss.
At some point you need dinner and then to catch the Local Focus Shorts over at Open Space at 6:30pm, followed by the Awards Ceremony and Reception at 7pm at the Boys and Girls Club. You SHOULD then have enough time to get back over to the Tower for the 8:30pm screening of “Anatomy of a Fall” (152 minutes), a hauntingly intense and gorgeous psychological thriller. After that, run over to Bunk+Brew for the closing night party and dance your face off with the filmmakers and staff! Now get some rest. You’ve earned it.
Sunday, Oct. 15
Open play! This is the perfect day to catch all of the award winners that you’ve missed. They’re screening throughout the day with winners TBA on Saturday night/Sunday morning. HOWEVER, the closing night film is “May December” (113 minutes), the new film from master filmmaker Todd Haynes (“Velvet Goldmine”). This is one that will be in a lot of Oscar conversations next year, so try not to miss it.
OR don’t listen to me and follow your bliss. Build your own schedule and dance across the weekend like Kelly and Rogers. The freedom of choice is yours!
This article appears in Source Weekly October 12, 2023.
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