Join us for our highly anticipated Fourteenth Annual Event, taking place in the picturesque town of La Grande, Oregon. As we mark this milestone year, we invite you to immerse yourself in a captivating lineup of thought-provoking films, engage with emerging talents, and be part of a vibrant community of film enthusiasts. From powerful narratives to groundbreaking visuals, our festival showcases the very best in independent cinema.

Schedule of Events

October 20, 2023

11 AM - 12:45 PM: American Thief at EOU Schwarz Theater

EOU student's - present the special scan code at the door for this event (look for it on campus) for free entry! A teen hacker seeking revenge for his father's murder becomes a pawn in a plot to derail the 2016 presidential elections.

11:15 AM - 12:40 PM: Shorts Block A at The Liberty Theater

At the apex of a heatwave and California’s fire season, 16-year-old Mae and her sisters become prey to a hidden camera at their hometown creek. As the fires intensify, the suffocating male gaze blurs with Mae’s desire to be watched. A sheet ghost is conjured -- Mae’s phantom representing the convergence of lust and violation within her girlhood.

- Ghost of you
- Ages of Man
- Dissonance
- Uncradled
- Above the Desert with No Name
- Thaw

12:45 - 2 PM: Shorts Block B at The Liberty Theater

Throughout Italy, dogs are abandoned casually. In rural Sicily, one man saves the dogs he can, especially those being poisoned. As fires erupt across Northern CA, Colin's dog disap- pears. Colin slips out of the house in hopes of quickly finding his lost companion in the blanket of smoke that has descended on the Bay Area. A film about a fictional island shaped like a human body that cannot be conquered or fully understood. 'Mountain Land' uses a mix of archive and newly filmed footage to te...

- Vagrant
- The Edge of the Light
- Mountain Land: A Celebration
- Bare Metal

1:05 - 2:35 PM: Kim's Video at EOU Schwarz Theater

Playing with the forms and tropes of various cinema genres, the filmmaker sets off on a quest to find a legendary lost video collection of 55,000 movies in Sicily.

2:45 - 3:55 PM: Shorts Block C at The Liberty Theater

After a night of heavy drinking, two 20-something siblings wake up hungover and realize they're late for a very important family gathering. Two sisters go on a road trip to visit their dad's grave and have to confront the emotional weight of the last six years. Lunch Tattoo comedically explores what happens when two friends get their first tattoo in an effort to break their family's anti-tattoo legacy. Two men. Too many emotions. A brother and sister bicker over the care of their ailing...

- The Greenwood Twins
- Lodi
- Lunch Tattoo
- Men Grieving
- Nose Goes
- Tunnel Rave

3 - 4:20 PM: Empty Orchestra at EOU Schwarz Theater

In the religiously homogeneous Provo, Utah, a group of self-proclaimed misfits try to replace the devotion and community they once found in the Mormon church with weekly karaoke singing.

4 - 6 PM: Shudderbugs at Lodge at Hot Lake Springs

Visiting artists in attendance. Samantha Cole returns to her childhood home in the wake of her mother's mysterious death, spiraling down a rabbit hole of grief, suspicion and isolation.

4 - 5:15 PM: Shorts Block D at The Liberty Theater

Two people on a first date mask and ignore their insecurities until an event forces them to say what they're really thinking. A romance at a Halloween rave becomes trippy when an Elvis Impersonator comes to the rescue. A woman meets a man in a bar and discovers that they have much more in common than they thought. When Elena and Cameron are ripped apart by an act of racism, both must stand up for what they believe to keep the door of love open. Earthling is a ten-minute animated docume...

- [subtext]
- Suspicious Minds
- The Unicorn that Never Lies
- Somewhere
- Earthling
- Facsimile Machines

4:30 - 6:30 PM: Like, Share, Comment, & Subscribe at EOU Schwarz Theater

A survivor of Shaken Baby Syndrome/Abusive Head Trauma confronts his past – all while maintaining his food-review channel on YouTube.

6 - 7:45 PM: Foil at Lodge at Hot Lake Springs

Visiting filmmakers in attendance. A piece of foil of potential alien origin causes a rift between two friends camping in the California desert.

7:30 - 9:15 PM: Finding Groovopolis at EOU McKenzie Theater

Special PREVIEW CUT // Filmmaker in attendance. PREVIEW CUT. Finding his late father's unproduced script, a filmmaker sets out to make scenes from it to get closer to his dad (while unearthing some family secrets in the process).

8:15 - 9:45 PM: Mind Body Spirit at The Liberty Theater

An aspiring yoga influencer embarks on a ritual practice left behind by her estranged grandmother.

9:30 - 11:59 PM: After Party #2 w/ Abronia & MJ Upstairs at hq

Two guitars, pedal steel, tenor saxophone, bass, and a big drum.

October 21, 2023

10 - 11:15 AM: Shorts Block D at The Liberty Theater

Two people on a first date mask and ignore their insecurities until an event forces them to say what they're really thinking. A romance at a Halloween rave becomes trippy when an Elvis Impersonator comes to the rescue. A woman meets a man in a bar and discovers that they have much more in common than they thought. When Elena and Cameron are ripped apart by an act of racism, both must stand up for what they believe to keep the door of love open. Earthling is a ten-minute animated docume...

- [subtext]
- Suspicious Minds
- The Unicorn that Never Lies
- Somewhere
- Earthling
- Facsimile Machines

11 AM - 12:35 PM: Call Me Mule at EOU Schwarz Theater

Filmmaker in attendance. A man traveling with three mules fights to maintain his nomadic lifestyle in the American West.

11:30 AM - 12:40 PM: Shorts Block C at The Liberty Theater

After a night of heavy drinking, two 20-something siblings wake up hungover and realize they're late for a very important family gathering. Two sisters go on a road trip to visit their dad's grave and have to confront the emotional weight of the last six years. Lunch Tattoo comedically explores what happens when two friends get their first tattoo in an effort to break their family's anti-tattoo legacy. Two men. Too many emotions. A brother and sister bicker over the care of their ailing...

- The Greenwood Twins
- Lodi
- Lunch Tattoo
- Men Grieving
- Nose Goes
- Tunnel Rave

1 - 3 PM: Student Shorts Block at EOU McKenzie Theater
Student Short Competition

3 - 4:15 PM: Shorts Block B at The Liberty Theater

Throughout Italy, dogs are abandoned casually. In rural Sicily, one man saves the dogs he can, especially those being poisoned. As fires erupt across Northern CA, Colin's dog disap- pears. Colin slips out of the house in hopes of quickly finding his lost companion in the blanket of smoke that has descended on the Bay Area. A film about a fictional island shaped like a human body that cannot be conquered or fully understood. 'Mountain Land' uses a mix of archive and newly filmed footage to te...

- Vagrant
- The Edge of the Light
- Mountain Land: A Celebration
- Bare Metal

3:05 - 4 PM: Green Dreams at EOU Schwarz Theater

They all have one common passion - creating premium sun grown cannabis - whether for medicine, pleasure, or profit.

4:15 - 6:15 PM: We Will Speak at EOU McKenzie Theater

With fewer than 1,500 fluent speakers left, a small group of Cherokee activists race to save their language from extinction.

4:45 - 6:45 PM: Intermedium at Lodge at Hot Lake Springs

When an obsessive-compulsive teenager discovers her new home is haunted by the ghost of its previous occupant, she searches for a way to help him move on, only to discover they have far more in common than expected—and, in the process, forges a connection that makes it hard for both of them to let go.

5 - 6:25 PM: Shorts Block A at The Liberty Theater

At the apex of California's fire season, 16-year-old Mae is watched by a sheet ghost whose gaze represents the lust and violation within Mae's girlhood. Emotional labor bites back. After catching the blowback from his friend's violent altercation, a late-blooming Millennial seeks retribution for what has transpired. A young mother packs up the last box, a life never lived. After arriving illegally in the United States, a young Mexican girl's troubled life gets inspired by spying on an inc...

7:15 - 9:15 PM: The Secret Art of Human Flight at EOU McKenzie Theater

A grieving widower becomes obsessed with a mysterious self help book he finds on the dark web written by an eccentric guru, which promises to unlock the power to fly.

9:30 - 11:59 PM: Closing Night After Party w/ Hillfolk Noir at hq

Party hard, you deserve it.

Date: October 19-21, 2023

Location: Various Venues in La Grande, OR 97850.

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