One of my personal favorites this year, says co-curator Shane Wahlund, is this very simple, very well photographed piece focusing in on small things like a wriggling bowl of Jell-O, or the click of a lighter lighting a pipe, or exploring nails tapping.

A screenshot from a very ASMR film in the 2020 festival.

SPLIFF, The Stranger‘s stoner film festival that runs April 17-20, was supposed to take place at the Egyptian movie theater this year, but obviously that’s not happening now. However, the festival is still on. How will it work? Will there still be cash prizes? Will there still be drag queen hosts?

To get answers, I talked first to SPLIFF executive director Tracey Cataldo about the nuts and bolts of streaming and prizes. Then, for a look at the artistic side of things, I talked to Shane Wahlund, who sits on the jury for selecting films and whose side gig is Collide-O-Scope, the hilarious film collage series he created with Michael Anderson. (Collide-O-Scope is doing their usual Monday night Re-bar shows on YouTube for the moment.) I asked Shane about trends he’s noticed in this year’s crop of films, what his favorite films in this year’s festival are, and his advice for filmmakers who have submitted films but haven’t been able to make the cut.

Christopher Frizzelle was The Stranger's print editor, and first joined the staff in 2003. He was the editor-in-chief from 2007 to 2016, and edited the story by Eli Sanders that won a 2012 Pulitzer...