Bend Film Festival moviegoers celebrate two decades of captivating cinema
(Update: Adding video, comments from filmmaker, actor)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The Bend Film Festival is always a fun and interesting event, but there's a special reason to party hearty this weekend as the cinema showcase celebrates its 20th year of presenting entertaining, engaging movies and the people who make them.
The 2023 festival runs from Thursday through Sunday. For those who can't attend in person, mark your calendars for the virtual festival, happening from next Monday, October 16th through Sunday, October 22nd.
According to their website, the festival is a combination of in-person and virtual film screenings, filmmaker discussions, mentor sessions, festival honorees, awards and more. The festival has a remarkable track record of showcasing exceptional short films that often find their way to the Oscars.
Filmmaker Benjamin Howard is attending the festival for the US premiere of his movie, "Riley." The movie follows high school athlete Dakota Riley, who struggles with his queer identity.
"I was a high school football player all four years in high school. So staying within that allowed me to kind of build a world that I knew and was intimate with.” Howard said.
He hopes that his film will help others feel less alone when struggling with their identity.
“I wanted to make this for particularly like young queer questioning youth, maybe those who are athletes to say like, 'Hey, you're not alone,'" Howard said.
Jacob Holley, who plays Dakota Riley, attended the film's screening and Q&A session. He talked about how much he enjoyed being a part of the production and playing the title character.
“It was one of those indies, where everybody's so passionate and really loves the story, so everybody brought themselves to it that much more," Holley said.
Passes this year range from $100 to $300. Individual tickets are an option, as well for $12 online and for standby.
For more information about the schedule and tickets, visit https://bendfilm.org/.
