2022 Bend Film Festival

directed by Justin Loiselle and Jonathan Ferguson

From a diffident youth to living legend, this is the story of wakeboarding champion Raph Derome as he retires from riding in front of crowds and cameras. Learn about Raph’s competitive family legacy, hear about the brotherly rivalry that fuelled his rise, and witness his last act on the water, the ride of a lifetime.

directed by Juliana Curi

Uýra, a trans-Indigenous artist, travels through the Amazon forest on a journey of self-discovery, using performance art and ancestral messages to teach Indigenous youth and confront structural racism and transphobia in Brazil. In the country with the highest murder rates of trans individuals, Indigenous people, and environmentalists, Uýra fosters unity and provides inspiration for these movements in the heart of the Amazon.

directed by Reed Harkness

Filmed over an expanse of 25 years, two brothers go on a 2,000-mile road trip to solve a family mystery. Shooting on nearly every camera format imaginable, from hand-developed Super-8 film to Arri 4K, Sam Harkness and his older half-brother Reed employ their creative world of fiction filmmaking to dive headfirst into dealing with the issue at hand: Sam’s mom is missing.

directed by Ana Lazarevic

Strahinja, a smuggler in the Balkans, aspires to buy a luxury apartment to fix his broken marriage. Shortly after, a routine smuggling trip to Hungary is interrupted by border police. Strahinja becomes stranded with refugee teens, led by Yousef, a beatboxer and a hopeless romantic from Yemen. Yousef’s open hearted approach to life makes Strahinja aware of the walls he has built around his own.

Jacir directed by Waheed AlQawasmi

Jacir, a resettled Syrian refugee, is in search of a new life in a rough Memphis neighborhood. He is faced with a challenging new environment and a host of interesting individuals, including Morty, his next-door neighbor’s cat, Meryl, a racist and opiod-addicted shut-in, and Jerome, a Memphis rapper. Jacir tries to win the affection of a new love interest, Nadia while dealing with her overzealous father and navigating suspicion from ICE.

Sam Now directed by Reed Harkness

Filmed over an expanse of 25 years, two brothers go on a 2,000-mile road trip to solve a family mystery. Shooting on nearly every camera format imaginable, from hand-developed Super-8 film to Arri 4K, Sam Harkness and his older half brother Reed employ their creative world of fiction filmmaking to dive headfirst into dealing with the issue at hand: Sam’s mom is missing.

Unidentified directed by Jude Chun

In 1993, enormous spherical UFOs appear over every major city in the world. They don’t attack. They don’t initiate communication. They just remain floating above each city. In 2022, twenty-nine years after the UFOs arrive, they have become a part of ordinary life, but there is a rumor going around that some people who look like ordinary humans are actually aliens and the mysterious Alien Mind Control Syndrome has taken hold of people in strange and unexpected ways.

Directed by Elisa Levine and Gabriel Miller

Four Seattle sex workers trapped in a never-ending spiral of addiction turn to a self-proclaimed healer offering friendship and a path to salvation from the streets. From the sanctuary of his roadside RV, he nurses all who are ready through the rollercoaster of heroin withdrawal. But just as the women begin to rebuild their lives, a shocking betrayal ripples through their world.

Directed by David Siev

A real-time portrait of 2020 unfolds as an Asian-American family in Trump’s rural America fights to keep their restaurant and American dream alive in the face of a pandemic, Neo-Nazis, and generational scars from the Cambodian Killing Fields.

Directed by Michael T. Workman

As an isolated winter takes hold, a son returns home to reckon with the past that haunts his father.

Directed by Saul Abraham

Progressive muscle relaxation, Lycra, spoken word. As Michael (Himesh Patel) seeks novel ways to halt his spiraling depression, a moment of hope arrives via an unexpected source.

Directed by Kanani Koster

A true-crime podcast host sits down with an Indigenous woman to record her sister’s cold case, but their intentions for telling this story come to a head as they examine the night in question.

Directed by Christopher Stoudt

Four Black teenagers in New Orleans support themselves by tap dancing for tips in the French Quarter, navigating the reckless optimism of youth and the bitter pains of growing up fast in the incarceration capital of America.

Directed by Yanis Belaid, Eliott Benard, Nicolas Mayeur, Etienne Moulin, Hadrien Pinot, Lisa Vicente, Philippine Singer, Alice Letailleur

On October 17, 1961, Algerian workers took to the Paris streets to protest the mandatory curfew imposed by the police.

Directed by João Gonzalez

Every day, a father and his son parachute from their cliff-top house to the village on the ground, where they sell the ice.

Directed by Patrick Noth

Working from home as a creative can be difficult, especially when you’re babysitting three kids.

Directed by Brian Olliver

A young couple comes to terms with social forces that drove them out of a utopian rural community.

Directed by Alexis C. Garcia

After the death of her grandfather, a young woman experiences a spiritual awakening when she is called by Yemaya, the orisha Goddess of the Sea.

Directed by Zahida Pirani

Nelly, who lives alone with her elderly father and makes ends meet by working as a street vendor, is forced to take a leap of faith or be resigned in her position forever.

Directed by Tim Kemple and Faith Briggs

For Rosalie Fish, Indigenous student-athlete and activist, running isn’t just a sport — it’s how she represents the strength and resilience of indigenous women within her tribe and beyond. As we look forward to #IndigenousPeoplesDay, we are honored to share Rosalie’s story in our second episode of “Who is a Runner” – a docu-series collaboration with Brooks Running.

Directed by Nancy Anne Svendsen

The story of Pasang Lhamu Sherpa, the Indigenous trailblazer who battled racism, gender discrimination, and political opposition in her quest to become the first Nepali woman to summit Mount Everest. Her courageous, tragic journey would greatly move her country, inspiring new generations to reach for their rights.