The hardest thing about attending a film festival is building the schedule. It’s a terrible feeling spending all that time and money to catch a bunch of films across three or four days of a fest and then find out that you missed all the ones garnering the most buzz. FOMO hits hard when everyone is asking if you’ve seen the talk of the fest and you’ve not only missed it completely, but it’s sold out the rest of the festival as well. I’ve had multiple people this year approach me and ask me if BendFilm would ever build an algorithm that would automatically build their schedule so they didn’t have to worry about missing anything and could instead just focus on the films, panels and parties themselves.
Since everyone is different and what people enjoy is subjective, an algorithm choosing your Bend Film Festival schedule wouldn’t take into consideration the different types of people and the varying degrees of love they have for different genres and styles. So, with that said, I’m going to try to build the ideal schedule for whatever type of person you might be. I’ll be running around the fest all weekend long, so if you have any questions, you can just run up and poke me. Let’s give it a shot.
Thursday, Oct. 10
It’s always a good idea not to overdo it on the opening night of a film festival. I usually try to only catch one or two films and then hit the opening night party so I can get a vibe check of the festival, which then informs how I schedule the rest of my weekend and whether I lean more heavily into panels, parties and discussions or whether I just mainline movies from top to bottom.
I always like starting with something life-affirming and inspiring, so I would start the week with the 2:45pm screening of “Firebreak,” a hugely crowd-pleasing documentary about formerly incarcerated folks becoming professional firefighters. With filmmaker Kenzie Bruce in attendance, this will be the perfect way to start the fest.
Follow this up with the opening night program, “Rez Ball” at the Tower Theater. Not only is it an amazing and inspirational film, but director Sydney Freeland will be in attendance as well. Catching the opening night film is always a good idea because it allows you to take the temperature of the festival from the jump, which you then really get a handle on at the opening night party. This year the party starts at 8:15pm at The Capitol downtown and will be the perfect venue in which to mingle with the filmmakers and festival producers. Don’t rage too hard because you have a busy day tomorrow.
Friday, Oct. 11
The shorts block titled “Encounters” is already close to, if not completely sold out at 10 am at Tin Pan Theater, but I have to recommend the block because shorts like the absurdest and hilarious “Tennis, Oranges,” the breathtaking “A Body Called Life” and the singularly delightful “im in love with edgar allen poe” shouldn’t be missed. This should also give you enough time to make it to The Capitol at 11:30am and the first panel of the fest: “Truth – The Final Frontier: How Docs Can Change the Face of America,” featuring a discussion among several of the doc filmmakers from the festival competition lineup, chatting with juror Bojana Sandic.
Now you should have time for some lunch and hydration before you head to the First Features panel back at The Capitol at 1:30pm. Visionary director Karyn Kusama (“Girlfight,” “Jennifer’s Body,” “Destroyer“) is in attendance, discussing the world of feature filmmaking with several of Bend Film Festival’s Narrative Competition filmmakers. These discussions are why film festivals exist in the first place, and this one in particular should not be missed. Kusama has been ahead of her time for her entire career, so much so that she has always been working on another level than most of her peers. Hearing her talk will be a privilege.
From here you can either head to Volcanic Theatre Pub for the 3:15pm screening of Kusama’s “Girlfight” (with her in attendance), or head to Regal for the 3:45pm screening of the “On the Verge” shorts block. Featuring blisteringly original shorts like “Loser,” “WOACA,” “Marion” and “Hoodie,” this block is unforgettable in about a dozen different ways.
Now we have several branches in which you could follow. You can either go to the 6 pm screening of “The Spirit of Halloweentown” at Regal (a joyous celebration of the wonderful weirdness of Oregon), the 6:30pm music videos block at VTP or the 6:30 pm screening of the touching and hilarious deconstruction of lifelong friendship: “Adult Best Friends.” All three screenings have filmmakers in attendance, so there will be fascinating Q&As following the films, no matter what you choose.
I think we’ve seen enough movies for today, so now it’s time to head to the 8 pm Friday Night Afterparty at Bunk & Brew. If you can only make one party at the fest, this is usually the one. Now go home and get some rest, you party monster.
Saturday, Oct. 12
There’s so much to do and so little time. I bet you’re gonna sleep in because you went so hard at Bunk & Brew (you’re an icon), so let’s plan for the first event to be the 11am panel at The Capitol “Conquering Indie Filmmaking” featuring the Sundance legend John Cooper moderating a discussion among Karyn Kusama, Effie (“Dear White People”) Brown and Rebecca (“The Kite Runner”) Yeldham about their work and how to sustain a career in indie filmmaking.
Next, either check out the 12:15pm screening of “Destroyer” with Karyn Kusama at the Tower, the 1 pm screening of gorgeous indigenous documentary “Sugarcane” in Madras or the 1:45pm shorts block “Art Every Day” (at Open Space). I’m obviously biased for the shorts, but “Art Every Day” has some of the best shorts in the entire festival, like the melancholic beauty of “Deep in My Heart is a Song” and the sneakily intense class struggle of “The Masterpiece.”
Somewhere in there you should eat and hydrate so you can enjoy the 4:45pm screening at Regal of “The Cigarette Surfboard” with filmmaker and surfboard in attendance. It’s a quirky and eye-opening doc, perfect for this community of people who genuinely care about the environment.
This will give you enough time to catch “Mamifera,” at 6:30pm (also at Regal) one of my absolute favorite narrative features of the year. The intimacy on display feels so real and so universal that I found myself completely lost in the story and never wanted to stop spending time with such lovely, flawed humans.
If you caught “Mamifera” it means you missed the awards ceremony, so now you have to choose between catching the new Sebastian Stan film “A Different Man” at 8:45pm at the Tower or hitting the Saturday Night Wrap Party at VTP (9pm). It depends on how partied out you are!
Sunday, Oct. 13
Sunday is the perfect day for catching all the award winners you missed during the festival. Just make sure to time everything perfectly enough to catch the 1 pm screening of the groundbreaking and mesmerizing documentary “!AITSA” at Open Space and then the closing night film at the Tower at 6:30pm, Sean Baker’s new masterpiece “Anora.” Other than those two movies, the day is yours.
Most years it feels like a lot of the movies submitted to the festival revolve around a few key thematic touchstones. This year I asked Bend Film Festival Programming Director Selin Sevinc if she found any similarities between the movies. Her answer not just describes the difference between the movies, but between those of us watching them: “When I scan the program, the keywords that jump out to me are chaos, turmoil, love, humor, joy and a lot of effort to reach out, heal, get better, do better, be better,” says Sevinc. “Many characters this year are rebelling against their circumstances in creative, unexpected and unpredictable ways, and somehow, thankfully, coming out the other side with a lot to say about where they’ve been and where they want to go. I personally find life to be an epic struggle, and I love the characters in this year’s program for their willingness to take on that challenge with humor, love and creativity. Hard not to be inspired by them in the face of our own personal struggles.”
This article appears in Source Weekly October 10, 2024.
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