Something I miss from pre-pandemic times is going to film festivals. I love settling into a cool theater, laminated pass in pocket, watching movies before they get official distribution. It’s a thrilling communal experience that’s slowly coming back to life as we edge closer to a fitful “normal.”
And with that, the North Bend Film Festival is back in action this summer with a hybrid approach to the year’s festivities. From July 15-18, you can catch independent films, shorts, and programs hosted by NBFF either in-person at the art deco North Bend Theatre OR from the now overly familiar comfort of your computer screen (geo-blocked to Washington, Oregon, and Idaho). According to a press release, there will be very little title overlap between their virtual and in-person programs, encouraging people to DJ their own unique festival experience.
Many of the biggest features in the festival will be in-person, such as their opening and closing films: Todd Stephens’s Swan Song starring Udo Kier and Carlson Young’s debut The Blazing World. Excitingly, Dash Shaw’s truly fantastic Cryptozoo, which Stranger editor Chase Burns wrote up during our coverage of Sundance, will screen IRL up at North Bend.
So will Jane Schoenbrun’s We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, which is the inaugural winner of NBFF’s Dulac Vanguard Filmmaker Award. Named after French filmmaker Germaine Dulac, the award honors “an extraordinary achievement in groundbreaking filmmaking with a director’s first or sophomore feature.” Check out the full lineup of in-person and virtual films and shorts here.
Some other festival programming highlights:
