NORTHWEST FILMMAKERS READY FOR THEIR CLOSEUP

Festival week celebrates local independent cinema

Some of the region’s best will show their work at the Northwest Filmmakers’ Festival. Some of the region’s youngest will show at the Fresh Film Northwest festival.

It’s a big coming week for films in Portland, celebrating local on the big screen. And it’s not just for the cinephiles, or movie nerds.

“It’s for those who really look into the world of independent filmmaking in this region, getting a taste of what’s out there,” says Ben Popp, filmmaker services manager for Northwest Film Center, the festival’s presenter. “It’s so hard for these films to push into the realm of something else,” such as, say, distribution.

The 43rd Northwest Filmmakers’ Festival, Nov. 10-15, will be held at Whitsell Auditorium, 1219 S.W. Park Ave., as well as Portland State University’s 5th Avenue Cinema, 510 S.W. Hall St., and Skype Live Studio, 1211 S.W. Fifth Ave., No. 600.

Tickets are $50 for the festival or $6-$9 per show and available at www.nwfilm.org.

It starts with a new opening day Filmmaker Summit, an opportunity to discuss current topics, trends and technologies in the filmmaking world, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10, at Portland Art Museum’s Fields Ballroom, 1119 S.W. Park Ave.

There were about 360 films submitted for the festival, and 70 made the list. There are shorts and full-length features. Most filmmakers will be in attendance for the screenings of their movies.

A highlight will be the screening of “Beware the Slenderman,” Portlander Irene Taylor Brodsky’s documentary of a real-life attempted murder in Wisconsin of a girl by her friends who had been influenced by a fictional character on the internet. It’ll screen at 7:15 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14, at Whitsell.

The documentary will show on HBO early next year.

“It’s really good and brings up interesting topics about this mythos of what is created on the internet,” Popp says. “I think of myself when I was younger, and how I’d be scared of a horror movie character; my imagination would scare me. Now the whole world is chiming in (on the internet), and all the sudden things become more real.”

Some other full-length feature highlights:

• “The Devout,” by Connor Gaston (Victoria, B.C.), about personal faith and religious beliefs in a small town; it received 14 nominations, including Best Picture, for the British Columbia LEO Awards, 2:30 p.m. Nov. 12 (5th Ave.), 6 p.m. Nov. 13

(Whitsell).

• “Finding Bosnia,” by Ivana Horvat and Adrian Hopffgarten (Portland), a documentary about a family’s life in Sarajevo, 5:20 p.m. Nov. 11 (Skype Live), 2:30 p.m. Nov. 12 (Whitsell).

• “Customer 152,” by Jonathan Holbrook (Lake Stevens, Wash.), about Terrence and his credit card and creditors from hell, 5 p.m. Nov. 12 (5th Ave.), 7:15 p.m. Nov. 15 (Whitsell).

• “Finding October,” by Nick Terry, a narrative about two men and a woman and truth and innocence, 5 p.m. Nov. 11 (5th Ave.), 5:20 p.m. Nov. 12 (Skype Live).

• “Woodsrider,” by Cambria Matlow (Portland), a doucmentary about a camping young snowboarder and her dog and simple pleasures, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 12 (Skype Live), 3:10 p.m. Nov. 13 (Whitsell).

• “A Morning Light,” by Ian Clark (Portland), about a young couple’s supernatural encounter in a forest, 7:45 p.m. Nov. 11 (Skype Live), 5 p.m. Nov. 15 (Whitsell).

• “Brides To Be,” by Kris and Lindy Boustedt (Seattle), about two women and their anxiety-filled eternal commitment, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 12 (Whitsell), 5 p.m. Nov. 13 (Skype Live).

• “The Pearl,” by Christopher LaMarca and Jessica Dimmock (Portland), about four women coming out in a Northwest logging town, 5 p.m. Nov. 12 (Whitsell), 5:30 p.m. Nov. 13 (5th Ave.).

Meanwhile, the 40th Fresh Film Northwest Festival takes place at noon Saturday, Nov. 12, at Whitsell and featured about 130 shorts entries by teenagers, with 13 official and eight honorable mentions selected.

“It’s not just to create the next great filmmakers, but to connect culture back to film,” says Ellen Thomas, Northwest Film Center education director.

Teenagers who submitted work come from school programs, independent work (in basements and bedrooms), social service programs and more. Thomas acknowledges that filmmaking is easier and more accessible nowadays, thanks to technology — your phone is a movie camera, too.

“Film is supposed to be a democratic art, and it’s never been more democratic than now,” she says. “What we’re trying to do is move young people from spontaneous YouTube expression to something way more intentional, a conceived message for an intended audience. That’s quite a leap.”