The North Bend Film Festival is entering its second edition August 15-18, returning once again to the historic town of North Bend, WA: the destination of the original shooting location for cult sensation Twin Peaks, and still featuring many of the iconic landmarks.
Celebrating avant-garde, art house, and all things weird, The North Bend Film Festival brings together the perfect mix of mind-bending films, cutting-edge VR, immersive experiences, and a plethora of events that engage with the local community and town surroundings. Back on the slate of events is the beloved Twin Peaks tour that covers locations from all three seasons, including stops at Salish lodge, Sheriff’s Department, and RR Diner!
Newly showcased is an exclusive first look at the teaser for hotly anticipated Twin Peaks documentary, I KNOW CATHERINE, THE LOG LADY, which will play for North Bend audiences before Spotlight films.
2019 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
The Incredible Shrinking Wknd
US Premiere/Opening Night Film
SPAIN | 2019 | 93 min | Dir. Jon Mikel Caballero
Knives and Skin
Washington Premiere
Narrative Centerpiece Film | Director Jennifer Reeder in attendance
USA | 2019 | 111 min | Dir. Jennifer Reeder
The El Duce Tapes
US Premiere/Documentary Centerpiece Film
USA | 2019 | 105 min | Dir. Rodney Ascher & David Lawrence, Interviews directed by Ryan Sexton
Circus of Books
Washington Premiere
Closing Night Film | Director Rachel Mason in attendance.
USA | 2019 | 92 min | Dir. Rachel Mason
Bliss
West Coast Premiere/Director Joe Begos in attendance
USA | 2019 | 80 min | Dir. Joe Begos
Monument
Pacific Northwest Premiere
Poland | 2019 | 108 min | Dir. Jagoda Szelc
The Gasoline Thieves
Pacific Northwest Premiere
Mexico, UK, USA, Spain | 2019 | 93 min | Dir. Edgar Nito
Extra Ordinary
Pacific Northwest Premiere
Ireland, Belgium | 2019 | 94 min | Dir. Mike Ahern, Enda Loughman
Searching Eva
Pacific Northwest Premiere
Germany | 2019 | 84 min | Dir. Pia Hellenthal
Feral
West Coast Premiere/Director Andrew Wonder in attendance
USA | 2019 | 73 min | Dir. Andrew Wonder
Villains
Pacific Northwest Premiere
USA | 2019 | 89 min | Dir. Dan Berk, Robert Olsen
Koko-Di Koko-Da
Sweden, Denmark | 2019 | 86 min | Dir. Johannes Nyholm
TRACES TO NOWHERE (VR Program #1)
VR has the unique ability to blur and the line between illusion and reality, creating false memories, associations and emotions. This eclectic collection of experiences questions what we know about our place in society and the world around us, through interactive and transformative experiences.
Manic VR
Canada | 2018 | 10 Min | Creator: Kalina Bertin
West Coast Premiere
Mindpalace
Germany | 2018 | 10 Min | Creator: Carl Krause & Dominik Stockhausen
WA Premiere
Die Fernweh Oper (The Fernweh Opera)
The Netherlands | 2019 | 7 Min | Creator: Daniel Ernst
West Coast Premiere
Gymnasia
Canada | 2019 | 6 Min | Creator: Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski
West Coast Premiere
Isle of the Dead
France | 2018 | 8 Min | Creator: Benjamin Nuel
WA Premiere
Unceded Territories
Canada | 2019 | 6 Min | Creator: Paisley Smith
WA Premiere
Bonfire
USA | 2019 | 15-20 Min | Creator: Eric Damell
WA Premiere
Destruction
USA | 2018 | 3 Min | Creator: Nicholas Van Buren
World Premiere
Lucidità
Italy | 2019 | 7 min 35 sec | Creator: Hannah Swayze, Daniel Contaldo
World Premiere
Ghost Reality
Japan | 2018 | 15 min 28 sec | Creator: Hajime Ohata
US Premiere
THE PAST DICTATES THE FUTURE (VR Program #2)
Moving away from traditional, linear narratives; this collection of 360-degree, immersive short films turn real-life experiences into intimate moments that can be ‘lived’.
Bembé
Cuba | 2019 | 14 Min | Creator: Marcos Louit/Patricia Diaz
World Premiere
4 Feet: Blind Date
Argentina | 2018 | 18 Min | Creator: María Belén Poncio/ Rosario Perazolo Masjoan / Damián Turkieh / Ezequiel Lenardón
West Coast Premiere
Accused No.2: Walter Sisulu
France | 2018 | 14 Min | Creator: Nicolas Champeaux, Gilles Porte
WA Premiere
Floodplain
Turkey | 2018 | 13 Min | Creator: Deniz Tortum
12 Seconds of Gunfire: The True Story of a School Shooting
USA | 2019 | 7 Min | Creator: Suzette Moyer, Seth Blanchard
Traveling While Black
USA | 2019 | 20 Min | Creator: Roger Ross Williams
The Evolution of Testicles
UK/USA | 2018 | 9 Min | Creator: Ryan Hartsell
West Coast Premiere
WORK-IN-PROGRESS EXHIBITION (VR Program #3)
Reinforcement (Work-in-Progress)
USA | 2019 | 30 Min | Creator: Brennan King
IMMERSIVE EVENTS
Follower
Immersive Theatre/World Premiere
Creators: Vinny DePonto, Elizabeth Carena
Set in a secret location in the Pacific Northwest, you are met by two vagabond healers. Notorious for their controversial techniques, they lead you on a journey inside their practice.
Ghosted
Augmented Reality/World Premiere
Creators: Allyson Morgan, Kevin Laibson
Produced by: Allyson Morgan, Kevin Laibson
Agile Lens: Immersive Design
Lead AR Developer: Alex Coulombe
Go on ten minutes of speed dating with partners who can’t see or hear you… or at least, they’ll pretend not to. They want to talk to you about their hobbies, work, blah blah blah ghost stuff, but more importantly, they have one minute to convince you to take them back.
FESTIVAL FAVES & LIVE SHOWS
The Witching Hour Podcast
Co-hosted by Perri Nemiroff and Haleigh Foutch, Collider’s horror podcast The Witching Hour digs into all things horror, from the biggest titles at the box office to under-the-radar gems, exclusive interviews, early reviews, deep-dive analysis, and all the need-to-know in genre film from two horror die-hards. On this live episode Haleigh and Perri will be joined by Jennifer Reeder, the director of KNIVES AND SKIN.
Twin Peaks Tour
Season 1+2 Saturday
Season 3 and Fire Walk With Me Sunday
Sit back and relax for an iconic journey to some of the original shooting locations of hit series TWIN PEAKS. Lead by local historian, David Israel, participants will walk away with a thorough history of both the town and its iconic locales that once sparked the imagines of David Lynch and Mark Frost.
Strange Storytelling Hour
Hosted by Emmett Montgomery
THEME: Hynagogia: Stories that make you question if you’re dreaming, awake or somewhere in between. Join fellow festival attendees for an hour of stories that explore dreamlike experiences that push the boundaries of reality and make you feel like all is not what it seems.
SHORTS PROGRAMS
NBFF will also be featuring 8 unpredictable and wonderfully demented short films:
BEYOND THE BLACK LODGE, dir: Matt Ralston
A portrait of two artists whose shared love of folklore led them to write a book about the bizarre and quirky history of the region that inspired David Lynch’s Twin Peaks.
TECHNOLOGY LAKE: MEDITATIONS ON DEATH AND SEX, dir. Brandon Daley
A cautionary tale in which a man and his dog indulge in VR experiences to disastrous results.
LICENSE AND REGISTRATION, dir. Jackson Ezinga
Police work is difficult, especially if you’re not actually a cop but, rather, a fun-loving impersonator.
THE OBLITERATION OF CHICKENS, dir. Izzy Lee
Imagine if Werner Herzog delivered the most cynical stance on humanity possible—and then add some poultry.
DIDDIE WA DIDDIE, dir. Joshua Erkman
When all else fails in a romantic partnership, why not seek relationship advice from an intergalactic creature? What could possibly go wrong?
SAFE SPACE, dir. Annabelle Attanasio
An all-male secret society reveals its bizarre initiation ritual.
KING WAH (I THINK I LOVE YOU), dir. Horatio Baltz
It’s an anything-but-typical night on the town for one Chinese food delivery man.
SWITCH, dir. Marion Renard
Losing your virginity can be awkward, but for this teenage girl, it’s truly reality-altering.
THE THIRD HAND, dir. Yoni Weisberg
Pulling an all-nighter at work, a quiet employee foolishly explores a new room in his office.
CINEMA VISTA
This provocative group of shorts explores the darker sides of identity, reality and mortality:
GRAND BOUQUET, dir. Nao Yoshigai
Presented with a series of questions by a mysterious black object, a woman answers them the only way she knows how.
SELFIES, dir. Claudius Gentinetta
A rapid-fire barrage of digital self-portraits forms a bleak look at mankind’s most self-absorbed impulses.
CHAOS, dir. Samuel Auer
A motley crew of individuals, including a hobo and pig-masked men, are part of a larger plan in this technically head-spinning one-shot gem.
THE FOLLOWER, dir. Stephanie Szerlip
A small-town teenage girl, fueled by the hope of leaving her boring surroundings, entertains the increasingly sinister advances of an Internet friend in this beguiling riff on Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”
DAUGHTER OF BABEL, dir. Ashlea Wessel
It’s the end of the world and only a lonely little girl on a rooftop knows it.
SOMETIMES, I THINK ABOUT DYING, dir. Stefanie Abel Horowitz
Detached and consumed by the possibility of ending her life, an antisocial woman makes an unexpected love connection.
NYMPHS, dir. Isabella Torre
After accidentally freeing three inhuman women, an archaeologist’s world turns upside down.
THE BOOGEYWOMAN, dir. Erica Scoggins
An enigmatic and potentially malevolent local legend comes full circle for a teen girl trying to grapple with her first period.
