The fifth edition for the North Bend Film Festival (NBFF) is scheduled in North Bend, WA from August 4-7, 2022. The NBFF will honor Mali Elfman with the Dulac Vanguard Filmmaker Award, host the US premiere of Quentin Dupieux’s Incredible But True, and present a lineup of contemporary cinema. The NBFF will be held at the historic North Bend Theatre with a strong and diverse lineup of feature length and short films that offers unique voices and compelling perspectives that the festival has become to be known for.
Opening the festival in writer/director James Morosini’s I Love My Dad where he stars opposite Patton Oswalt in this shockingly autobiographical story. Synopsis: A desperate father does the unthinkable in order to stay in touch with his estranged, recently suicidal son—he creates a fake Facebook profile using pictures of a local diner waitress and catfishes him. Writer/director James Morosini stars opposite the great Patton Oswalt in this unbelievable yet autobiographical true story, laying bare his family’s trauma with both raucous and heartfelt results. (A Magnolia Pictures Release). This film was screened at this year’s SXSW Film Festival and won the Narrative Feature Competition audience award, as well as the Narrative Feature Competition jury prize.
This year’s first Centerpiece film comes from filmmaker Mali Elfman, who is also the recipient of the festival’s Dulac Vanguard Filmmaker Award. The award, named for French filmmaker, film theorist, and activist Germaine Dulac, whose 1928 film The Seashell and the Clergyman is regarded as the defining first film of the surrealist movement, honors an extraordinary achievement in filmmaking from a director as seen in their first or second feature.
In Elfman’s directorial debut feature Next Exit, a scientist proves the existence of an afterlife, causing two deeply tormented strangers to travel cross-country together to take part in the study and voluntarily end their lives. “Elfman has gifted us with a compassionate work of genre fiction, taking a bold premise and balancing terror, humor and empathy with a graceful hand,” says Senior Programmer Joseph Hernandez. “Dedicating her career to a love of genre film, championing female filmmakers and building a separate body of work in the medium of immersive experiences, Mali Elfman is the kind of multi-disciplinary artist that completely embodies the spirit of North Bend Film Festival. We’re elated to award her the second-ever Dulac.”
The Closing Night film is up-and-coming filmmaker Amanda Kramer’s vibrant musical Please Baby Please featuring a star-studded cast including the iconic Demi Moore, Andrea Riseborough (Mandy, Possessor), Harry Melling (Harry Potter franchise, The Queen’s Gambit) and Karl Glusman (Watcher, Love, Devs). Set in 1950s Manhattan, it explores themes of sexual identity and emotional fragility, accompanied by a wild neon aesthetic and hyper stylized, choreographed performances.
The second Centerpiece film is Swallowed from director Carter Smith (The Ruins). This disturbing tale of two best friends mixes drug smuggling, bugs and horrific intimacy that will leave audiences’ skin crawling. Returning to collaborate with Smith in this dirty and disturbing nightmare is Jena Malone, with an unforgettable supporting performance from the queer horror icon Mark Patton, as well.
The North Bend Film Festival will celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Don Coscarelli’s Bubba Ho-Tep, the real story (or is it?) of Elvis and JFK. This totally bizarre cult-comedy is proudly presented at the festival for attendees to discover or rediscover on the big screen.
Among the feature lineup is the US premiere of Incredible But True, the latest surreal vision from French auteur Quentin Dupieux; Sirens, a standout documentary about the Middle East’s first all-female thrash metal band; RAQUEL 1:1, Mariana Bastos’ tense tale of religious fanaticism; and supernatural buddy comedy The Civil Dead.
The shorts programs are once again highlighted by three different blocks; Home Transmissions, featuring shorts from filmmakers in the Pacific Northwest (PNW); Something Strange, bolstering short films that are wonderfully weird; and Cinema Vista, which highlights genre-bending shorts.
The North Bend Film Festival badges are on sale https://northbend2022.eventive.org/passes/buy
Source: NBFF, Magnolia Pictures