2020 Bend Film Festival

Directed by Nick Brandestini

A journey within a unique American island to tell the story of its matriarchal griot, Cornelia Walker Bailey, and her adopted sons, coming-of-age in the last remaining enclave of the Saltwater Geechee people.

Directed by Mario Furlon, Kate McLean

An aging pot farmer suddenly finds her world shattered as she races to bring in what could be her final harvest, fighting against the threat of eviction as the impact of the legalization of the cannabis industry rapidly destroys her idyllic way of life.

Directed by Takeshi Kushida
Cinematographer Yu Oishi

A misogynist photographer discovers the joy of loving a woman by using his photographic retouching skills to help her with her self-identity and self-esteem.

Directed by Nick Brandestini

A misogynist photographer discovers the joy of loving a woman by using his photographic retouching skills to help her with her self-identity and self-esteem.

Directed by Josefina Rotman Lyons
Editor Will Kitchings

A meditation on aging, dance, and community, the film follows four legendary older choreographers as they strive to create dances with New York City seniors.

Directed by Jaime Murciego and Pablo Iraburu

Five Bolivian indigenous women are involved in a unique expedition. As a symbol of liberation and empowerment, they propose to climb the highest mountain in America, The Aconcagua.

Directed by Annie Kaempfer

Rodney Stotts is on a mission to build a sanctuary for injured birds of prey. A falconer guided by the healing power of nature, Rodney becomes the unlikely hero of a new environmental movement in his stressed Washington DC community.

Directed by Thomas Horat

The wolf polarizes and fascinates. 150 years after the wolf was wiped out of Central Europe, it is inexorably conquering its place.

Directed by Nick Brandestini
Cinematography by Nick Brandestini

A journey within a unique American island to tell the story of its matriarchal griot, Cornelia Walker Bailey, and her adopted sons, coming-of-age in the last remaining enclave of the Saltwater Geechee people.

Directed by Jiayan “Jenny” Shi

A Chinese family travels to the U.S. for the first time to look for their daughter, an international student who vanished from a university campus.

Directed by David Gutnik

A closely observed psychological portrait of four women, whose lives are bound together by an incident on the New York City subway. Cast: Kate Lyn Sheil, Lindsay Burdge, Jade Eshete, Rory Culkin, Michael Chernus, Sturgill Simpson, Assol Abdullina.

Directed by Boise Esquerra

Years of reckless alcoholism, a country music star finally hits rock bottom and is court-ordered into wellness therapy with an offbeat group of misfits on her hometown reservation.

Directed by Kimi Howl Lee

A queer sixteen-year-old girl, Mahina, resides in the predominantly Native Hawaiʻian neighborhood of Wai’anae, Oahu. After suffering abuse from her stepfather, Mahina must navigate life on the streets, until she eventually finds refuge at the Pu’uhonua o Wai’anae – Hawaiʻi’s largest organized homeless encampment.

Directed by Ginew Benton (Ojibway)

After his father was murdered Benjamin Looking Glass II, a young Native American man, builds a time machine using modern science and ancient knowledge to prevent his fathers murder and ultimately discovers his true purpose in creation.

Directed by Tahmina Rafaella

A young, modern mother struggles to find her place in Baku, Azerbaijan, a culture simultaneously Muslim and secular, progressive as it is traditional, and like her at a crossroads of seeming contradictions. Navigating the trappings of both conventional and modern female roles, she straddles the space between choice and responsibility where in the course of one day she can be a mother, a daughter, a wife, and still be herself.

Directed by Max Marklund & Anders Jacobsson

Josef is involved in a car accident that throws him into a roller coaster of memories, large and small. He remembers his severely depressed father in a Santa suit, the angry neighbor shouting during a wild house party, his mother’s unconditional love, and the New Year’s Eve that ended in romance and vomit. Why all these memories appear, and what they mean, he won’t know until the end.

Directed by Francesca de Fusco

In the immediate aftermath of a break up, Maia seeks solace from her best ex, Alex. After spending the night, crafts get made and things get weird.

Directed by Sasha Sivan Bortnik

Narrated by Naftali Deutsch, A HEAD SHORTER begins in the spring of 1944 when Naftali and his entire family are forced to leave their home in Kimyat, a village in the Carpatho-Ukraine region, and sent to Auschwitz. The film takes us through Naftali’s journey as a 12 year old boy in the Holocaust and how he survived multiple concentration camps.

Directed by Brandon Holmes

A group of international artists explore the Arctic island chain of Svalbard. Set against dramatic natural backdrops, the artists share their hopes, fears, and insights on encountering an environment undergoing radical change.

Directed by Rebecca Hynes

Three river surfers turned obsessed free divers hunting for lost belongings in the Deschutes River. When not on a quest to reunite people with their lost belongings, they dive for trash. The most water logged and shreddy good samaritans in Oregon.

Directed by Sasha Sivan Bortnik
Animation by Soul Proprietor Studios

Narrated by Naftali Deutsch, A HEAD SHORTER begins in the spring of 1944 when Naftali and his entire family are forced to leave their home in Kimyat, a village in the Carpatho-Ukraine region, and sent to Auschwitz. The film takes us through Naftali’s journey as a 12 year old boy in the Holocaust and how he survived multiple concentration camps.

Directed by Kyung Sok Kim

In 1999, Novato, California, an 8-year-old girl named Jessie is enjoying what little time she has left with her best friend, Lucas. The two of them have difficulty conveying it, but they’re both aware as to what is about to happen. The trailer park they live in will be closed, and the whole community will be forced to evacuate, as a result of the MTBE water contamination. For Jessie, this means facing an unwanted change and learning to say goodbye to that which tethers her to her little pink trailer.

Directed by Allonzo Armijo

92-year-old Howard Henry chooses to stay busy and avoid aging by going to work every day.

Director of The Missfits

An all-girls robotics team based in San Francisco is taking on the male-dominated field of engineering. They are determined to show other girls how fun and rewarding STEM can be, one robot at a time. The documentary follows The Missfits as they confront growing pains, build their robot, and travel to competitions. The diverse team is made up of twenty girls from high schools around the Bay Area ranging in age from fifteen to eighteen and coming from a variety of backgrounds. On their own, they are outsiders, misfits. But together, on the team, they build each other up and learn to embrace their own identities.

Directed by Kyle Stebbins

Nature isn’t perfect, but that’s exactly what makes it perfect. When we embrace flaws, we create even more beauty. That’s what woodturner Bill Karow believes, and what drives him in his craft: to reshape people’s opinions about the things they perceive as worthless, and to find joy in that process.

Directed by Will Cuddy and Zach Feiner

A deceased lover leaves behind a bit of romance for a ferocious meeting between her suitors.

The (indie) Women of the Year award in honor of Pamela Hulse Andrews was presented virtually to director Anna Boden. (Half Nelson, Captain Marvel, Mrs. America). BendFilm celebrated her illustrious career with deep indie film roots, her episodic work in television and her diverse experience in the Marvel franchise. Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck and Andrew Bujalski were celebrated as First Features Honorees during the Festival for their authentic filmmaking styles and impact on the independent film world.