BendFilm Announces 2018 Short Film Lineup

BendFilm announced the 73 short films selected to screen in the 2018 BendFilm Festival running October 11 – 14, 2018 at iconic locations around Bend including the historic Tower Theatre, Tin Pan Alley Theater and McMenamins – Old St. Francis, Cascades Theatrical Company, the Volcanic Theatre Pub and the Regal at the Old Mill District.

The 2018 BendFilm Festival will also present 44 feature films and award over $10,500 in prizes directly to independent filmmakers. The Festival schedule is live and tickets are on sale now.

Erik Jambor, BendFilm Festival Programmer, said, “This year’s short film line up is packed with a diverse slate of hilarious comedies, nail-biting action, handcrafted animation and documentaries that will rip your heart out. I am not exaggerating when I say everyone must see at least one shorts program this year.”

The Short Films Selected to Screen in the 2018 BendFilm Festival are:

NARRATIVE SHORTS ONE:

The Lightkeeper
Directed by Zach Bandler | 16 min.
Set on a remote stretch of stormy coastline, a hardened young woman agrees to dinner at the home of an aging recluse.

Weekends
Directed by Trevor Jimenez | 15 min.
Surreal, dreamlike moments mix with the domestic realities of a broken-up family in this hand-animated film set in 1980s Toronto.

Zero-Zero
Directed by Randall Whittinghill | 15 min.
A down and out dad is ready to do just about anything to watch his team play the World Series—and that includes hanging out with his neighbor’s daughter.

Geoff
Directed by Michael Rouse & Will Kenning | 20 min.
Geoff has gephyrophobia, a fear of crossing bridges and has constructed an ingenious, sometimes ridiculous, daily routine to avoid them. When the woman he loves offers an opportunity to change, Geoff must confront his fear or lose everything.

Gloria Talks Funny
Directed by Kendall Goldberg | 19 min.
When a struggling voice actress discovers her agent failed to tell her that her claim-to-fame cartoon is being remade, she sets her sights on reprising the role.

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NARRATIVE SHORTS TWO:

Wale
Directed by Barnaby Blackburn | 20 min.
An 18-year-old youth offender is trying to start his own business as a mobile mechanic, but enterprise isn’t so easy when you’re a young, black male with a criminal past.

Who Decides
Directed by Mylissa Fitzsimmons | 8 min.
A sick woman and a young girl engage in a discussion about who decides when it’s your time to die.

The Peculiar Abilities of Mr. Mahler
Directed by Paul Philipp | 29 min.
Set in East Germany in 1987, special investigator Mahler is said to have paranormal abilities. He is assigned to solve the case of a missing 6-year-old before the issue leads to political tension with the West. Presented in German with English subtitles.

I See Through You
Directed by Lael Rogers | 5 min.
The story of two people at different stages of their relationship in a universe where women wear synthetic masks that never age.

Souls of Totality
Directed by Richard Raymond | 19 min.
Lady 18 and Guy 3 have a secret. They are members of a cult that believes if they die during a solar eclipse their souls will be taken to paradise. But that’s not their secret; they are also profoundly in love.

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DOCUMENTARY SHORTS ONE:

David’s Voice
Directed by Graham Hill | 14 min.
An intimate portrait of a 26-year-old classically trained vocalist pursuing his passion for musical theater on a miniature stage using action figures as his performers.

My Paintbrush Bites
Directed by Joel Pincosy, Co-directed by Joe Egender | 16 min.
A man battling reclusion and a racehorse on the brink of death save each other in unexpected ways.

Angela Wilson: A Butcher’s Story
Directed by Gabby Scott | 7 min.
An intimate portrayal of Angela Wilson, butcher and owner of Avedano’s Holly Park Market located in San Francisco.

Burton Before and After
Directed by Courtney Hermann | 15 min.
Fifteen years after Burton began his gender-affirming transition, his longtime friend Courtney calls him up with the news that she has uncovered a cache of home video footage from that time period.

Junction
Directed by Brendan Young | 25 min.
On the Navajo Nation, basketball is as much a part of life as the surrounding natural beauty and ancient traditions. This is especially true for Nahatabaa Nacona, whose talent could prove to be her only path to college.

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DOCUMENTARY SHORTS TWO:

An Accidental Drowning
Directed by Matteo Servente | 7 min.
On April 28, 1939, Jesse Lee Bond was brutally lynched in Arlington, Tennessee. His official death certificate read: Accidentally Drowned.

The BLM Bridge Protest: One Year Later
Directed by Yalonda M. James | 7 min.
On July 10, 2016, more than 1,000 demonstrators shut down the Hernando de Soto Bridge during a Black Lives Matter protest in Memphis, Tennessee following the fatal police shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.

Reclamation: The Rise at Standing Rock
Directed by Michele Noble | 23 min.
In 2016, from the summer through the harsh winter at Standing Rock, North Dakota, the youth of many tribes united the Native Nations for the first time in 150 years and rose up in spiritual solidarity to non-violently fight for Unci Maka (Mother Earth) against the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Oil Pipeline.

Throwline
Directed by Mia Mullarkey | 14 min.
A group of taxi drivers in Kilkenny, Ireland join together to form a suicide prevention group. Uniquely positioned to patrol the night, the drivers keep vigil over the city’s streets and bridges and offer help to those who feel forlorn.

Lifeboat
Directed by Skye Fitzgerald | 34 min.
With few resources, a team of global volunteers risks the waves of the Mediterranean to pluck refugees from sinking rafts, providing a spark of hope for how civilians can intervene in the global refugee crisis in a meaningful way.

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NORTHWEST SHORTS:

Invisible Oregon
Directed by Sam Forencich | 6 min.
An art time-lapse piece three years in the making and created entirely with infrared converted cameras to reveal a landscape beyond the range of human perception.

Engaging the Curve
Directed by Graham Zimmerman | 12 min.
As a couple, Ultimate frisbee world champion Shannon McDowell and professional climber Graham Zimmerman decided they needed a new sport that they could learn together, on an even playing field.

Amateur Gladiator
Directed by Jesse Locke | 22 min.
The sport of fencing as seen through the eyes of an amateur athlete in Bend.

Sole Doctor
Directed by Paula Bernstein | 5 min.
The story of George’s Shoe Repair, a family-owned shoe repair shop in Portland that has served the community for over 50 years.

The Joy Block
Directed by Joanie Fox | 10 min.
In Portland, there is a thriving Samba community nurtured and cultivated by a diverse group of 30 community musicians and dancers known as “Bloco Alegria,” or The Joy Block.

Falling
Directed by Directed by Cullen Dallas, Delaney Walnofer, Dylan Welles, and Anthony Yamashiro | 1 min. | Pacific University
This cutout animation brings bites from Alan Watts’s “Love” speech to life.

George & Brenda
Directed by Kai Burley | 6 min.
A portrait of dementia and its effects on those we love.

Thou Shall Not Tailgate
Directed by Greg Hamilton | 25 min.
A profile of art car creator and Portland Cacophony Society co-founder Rev. Chuck Linville.

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FAMILY SHORTS:

Cinderella: According to Kids!
Directed by Chris Carlisle | 6 min.
The classic tale of Cinderella as told by kids and presented by professional actors.

Nodding Off
Directed by Kailey Choi | 3 min.
An ordinary commute home turns near-disastrous as an overworked employee falls asleep at the wheel.

Fast Food
Directed by Cullen Dallas, Delaney Walnofer, Dylan Welles & Anthony Yamashiro | 1 min. | Pacific University
Stop motion! One finicky burger meets its match.

Two Balloons
Directed by Mark C. Smith | 10 min.
Two adventurous lemurs navigate their dirigibles (a type of aircraft) halfway around the world.

Dream Homes According To Kids: Milo’s Mansion
Directed by Rebecca Blumhagen | 6 min.
Milo’s dream home has 7 rooms, 5 sets of flowers, a dog, a cat, and a fish — and a TV that’s as big as if you cut the house into four pieces, it would be as big as one of those pieces.

Space Girls
Directed by Carys Watford | 10 min.
During a sleepover, four space-obsessed 9-year-old girls embark on a secret mission in their cardboard rocket.

Weeds
Directed by Kevin Hudson | 3 min.
The story of a dandelion, rooted on the wrong side of the driveway in a barren yard surrounded by dry dirt and dead grass.

A Little Love Goes a Long Clay
Directed by Juliet Buckholdt | 4 min.
The claymation story of a teen who had a bad experience with cyberbullying and encourages viewers to use social media for love rather than hate.

Bullies
Directed by Daniel Bydlowski | 28 min.
Eugene, a shy 10-year-old boy, is bullied every day until he discovers a secret underneath the school that keeps him safe…for now.

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LATE NIGHT SHORTS:

Trump Bites: Xenophobia
Created by Billy Shebar & David Roberts | Animated by Bill Plympton | 1 min.
One in a series of animated fantasies based on actual Donald Trump audio clips, hand-drawn by two-time Academy Award nominee Bill Plympton.

Lunch Ladies
Directed by JM Logan / A Clarissa Jacobson production | 19 min.
Two high school lunch ladies will do whatever it bloody takes to become Johnny Depp’s personal chefs.

S&M Love Company
Directed by J.P. Schlick | 4 min.
Jury-award winning entry from the 2018 BendFilm-ScaleHouse 72-Hour Filmmaker Scramble.

Trump Bites: Putin Romance
Created by Billy Shebar & David Roberts | Animated by Bill Plympton | 1 min.
Another in a series of fantasies based on actual Donald Trump audio clips, animated by Bill Plympton.

The Legend of the Flying Punani
Directed by Emily Hanson, Leandra Benson White & Jazmin Gentry-Kopacz | 2 min. | Pacific University
One of Hawaii’s scandalous folktales told in the silhouette cutout animation style of Lotte Reiniger.

Friend of a Friend
Directed by Timothy Jackson Stueve | 12 min.
When an Uber driver picks up a passenger, they soon discover they share a disturbing link.

What’s That in the Ground
Directed by Wally Chung | 3 min.
When you want one thing, sometimes you get the complete opposite—or something worse.

Tutu Grande
Directed by Derek Sitter | 13 min.
Pain is temporary, but trauma is forever. The tables are turned on a torturer.

The Pick Up
Directed by Taylor Morden | 3 min.
A young woman finds out why you should never go anywhere alone.

After Her
Directed by Aly Migliori | 14 min.
A wayward teenage girl goes missing and her friend is haunted by her disappearance.

Laboratory Conditions
Directed by Jocelyn Stamat | 17 min.
A physician investigating a missing body disrupts an unlawful experiment.

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SHORTS SCREENING WITH FEATURES:

Armor del Amor
Directed by Kirk Kelley | 2 min.
Screens with In Reality
A sort of nature ‘documentary’ that follows the mating rituals of Dasypus novemcinctus, the nine-banded female armadillo.

Beneath the Ink
Directed by Cy Dodson | 13 min.
Screens with Cartooning From The Deep End
In a time when society’s beliefs are in question, one Ohio tattoo artist is challenging his community by saying, “Bring me your mistakes.”

Blood Sky
Directed by LaRonn Katchia | 7 min.
Screens with Smoke Signals on Fri. 10/12
A deadly outbreak has quickly spread across the city of Portland as three survivors make their way to an infested laboratory in hopes of containing it. Made in 48 hours for Portland’s 48 Hour Film Project, 2018.

Ch’aak’ S’aagi (Eagle Bone)
Directed by Tracy Rector | 5 min.
Screens with Dawnland
A journey of remembrance and reflection on the lessons of the old ones — teachings that remind us we are all individual vessels of spirit and change, yet inextricably connected.

Community Patrol
Directed by Andrew James | 13 min.
Screens with Satan & Adam
A Detroit minister rallies the community to shut down a drug house in an inspiring display of collective action.

The Dishwasher
Directed by Jordan Jacinto | 14 min.
Screens with The Guilty
Inspired by true events, a young family is thrown into upheaval after receiving a sinister message from the local cartel in Puerto Penasco, Mexico.

A Dying Breed
Directed by Wes Coughlin | 12 min.
Screens with Sometimes a Great Notion
Humm Kombucha athlete and soon-to-be father Matthias Giraud suffers a near-fatal accident in the French Alps when a parachute stunt goes wrong.

Everything’s Gonna Be Okay
Directed by Matt Soson | 14 min.
Screens with Pet Names
Two hikers backpacking through the desert are forced to face the reality of a dire situation.

Funeral
Directed by Leah Shore | 8 min.
Screens with Unlovable
A bereaved woman delivers a convoluted speech to a gathering of family and close friends, then retreats to the waiting room.

The Happiness Machine
Directed by Rebecca B. Blumhagan | 24 min.
Screens with Ingrid
Carl grew up a sharecropper on 22 acres in rural Iowa, which he now calls The Promised Land. A philosopher, inventor, and farmer, he shares the deeply intricate workings of his projects, how they are connected to the land which was given to him as a promise, and what he hopes to pass on to his children as the gift of place.

Hula Girl
Directed by Chris Riess & Amy Hill | 11 min.
Screens with White Tide: The Legend of Culebra
At 94 years old, Joan Anderson has waited 60 years to prove that a “gentleman’s handshake” was hardly a deal, and it’s time to set the record straight.

Little Fiel
Directed by Irina Patkanian | 16 min.
Screens with The Rescue List
A stop-motion animation documentary that tells the story of peaceful people who have been coerced, conscripted, and enticed into killing each other during an unending civil war. Based on the life story of Mozambican artist Fiel dos Santos, who grew up during his country’s 16-year-old civil war and created all figures for the animation from dismantled AK47s and M16s.

Los Lecheros (Dairy Farmers)
Directed by Jim Cricchi | 21 min.
Screens with Soufra
The fates of undocumented immigrant workers and Wisconsin’s $43 billion dairy industry are closely intertwined, and both are grappling with their options for survival as fears of ICE raids and deportations under the Trump administration grow.

Lotte that Silhouette Girl
Directed by Carla Patullo & Elizabeth Beecherl | 10 min.
Screens with Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin
Once upon a time, long before Disney and the other animation giants, Lotte Reiniger ignited the screen with shadows, light, and a pair of magical scissors.

Lovely Legs
Directed by Abby Thompson | 10 min.
Screens with Silicone Soul
In a desperate attempt to start anew, a man living in the not-so-distant future transports his secret sex robot companion to a secluded forest for disposal.

My Once Life
Directed by Pamela Peters | 4 min.
Screens with The Blessing
A hybrid video poem about the continuing impact of colonization on tribal peoples.

Pour 585
Directed by Patrick Smith | 5 min.
Screens with This Teacher
A timid character with a wine glass for a head grows larger than his numbered peers while participating in a prosaic cycle of pouring.

Renewal: Think Like a Scientist
Directed by Jessica Plumb | 8 min.
Screens with Science Fair
A heartwarming story of transformation and restoration, featuring an emerging young scientist from the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe.

River Gold
Brady Holden, director | 11 min.
Screens with Rodents of Unusual Size
Not-so-typical angler Olivier Gandzadi is obsessed with catching what most Americans label as a trash fish: the common carp. Raised in Paris, Olivier has brought his passion to the Pacific Northwest where he’s found a deep connection with the Columbia River.

The Road Between Us
Directed by Joanne Feinberg & Katherine Roselli | 15 min.
Screens with Time Trial
A father and son bicycle 2,701 miles across America on Route 66. They discover that the road between them is the life path that connects them.

This is My Home
Directed by Joshua Miller | 7 min.
Screens with The Push
This documentary made in partnership with Oregon Adaptive Sports (OAS) features inspiring stories of three incredible OAS athletes and how OAS programs and volunteers change lives.

This is My Family
Directed by Taylor Morden | 6 min.
Screens with Sunday 3:15 PM TBA
This is the story of four Bend Spay + Neuter (BSNP) beneficiaries and volunteers who have unbreakable bonds with their pets and BSNP is the organization that makes it all happen.

What Happened to Evie
Directed by Kate Cheeseman | 11 min.
Screens with Roll Red Roll
A girl’s fractured memories distort the truth of a sexual assault in this multi-layered thriller.

Women are Mountains
Directed by Renata Calmon | 15 min.
Screens with Hold Fast
In the countryside of São Paulo, Brazil, climbers Mônica Filipini and Danielle Pinto are responsible for their children and domestic affairs, and are also able to enjoy their great passion: the mountains.

Wrangling Russia
Directed by Ilie Mitaru | 11 min.
Screens with All the Wild Horses
In 2011, Russia’s largest meat producer began recruiting American cowboys to help restart a national beef industry that had been destroyed during the Soviet era.

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Get your film festival passes today to see Shelton screen Bull Durham and revisit some of his classic films at this year’s festival OCT 10-13 in Bend, Oregon. 

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