A CELEBRATION OF INDEPENDENT CINEMA

Welcome to the 19th Annual BendFilm Festival!

The State of Oregon celebrates and supports artists and the arts because we value the important role that the arts play in bringing people together from the valley to the high desert, and from urban centers to rural communities.

The arts help us navigate confusing and challenging times by refecting our world back to us in ways we may not normally consider.

The arts also add signifcantly to our regional economies; they create and sustain jobs and provide us with deep and meaningful experiences.

This Festival is that invitation to connect

. To engage in the lives of those we see onscreen, with the flmmakers who felt so moved to tell their stories, and to those who sit among us in theaters or virtually at home. Meaningful connection is only possible when we frst acknowledge mutual hardship and then attempt reconciliation with empathy, laughter, vibrancy and celebration. Yes, this

You all give us an enormous opportunity to host this Festival, and what will take place is our gift in return. We hope you will accept this invitation and gift, leaning in with the full weight of your head and heart to connect with us and each other. We certainly will.

Thank you for being here. Enjoy the Festival and each other!

The BendFilm Team

As we reemerge from the challenges of recent times to visit with our neighbors and engage in dialogue about issues and opportunities open to us all, the arts help inform our conversations.

BendFilm is Oregon’s frst and only “Academy Qualifying Film Festival” which elevates the rich quality of Oregon flm initiatives to the national level where it rightfully belongs.

We welcome any and all creators to take advantage of the natural beauty and the hard-working people in the flm industry to create more flms in Oregon. To learn more about our statewide flmmaking incentive programs, visit oregonflm.org and consider shooting your next masterpiece right here in Oregon.

By attending this festival, you are embracing positivity, celebrating diversity, and setting the tone to build a much stronger Oregon.

Thank you and enjoy the festival!

Sincerely,

Governor Kate Brown

Greetings,

I am beyond excited about the Indigenous representation at this year’s BendFilm Festival. When we created the Indigenous flms program in 2014, I had no idea it would become a yearly celebration of our presence in cinema. Growing up on the reservation in Warm Springs, we only had a few flms that we would watch over and over again, because that is simply all we had. With the Indigenous flms program at the BendFilm Festival, we have the opportunity for native youth to see themselves represented on the big screen. This wasn’t possible only a few years ago. With this program, we will let our presence be known.

This year we will host Gary Farmer and Tatanka Means, who are both legendary actors in their own right. We grew up watching Powwow Highway and Smoke Signals, both flms starring the powerhouse that is Gary Farmer. Tatanka Means is a rising star, comedian, and actor, fresh off the sets of Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon and Hulu’s Reservation Dogs.

KATE KAMAYA,

PRESIDENT

CJ FERARRI, TREASURER

ADYRON WONG, SECRETARY

A. GIANCARLO GATTO

LAWRENCE FISHER

MICHAEL CONFORTI

ALISON HOHENGARTEN

PATRICIA JULBER

CHRISTY WALKER

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: TODD LOOBY

HEAD OF FESTIVAL PROGRAMMING: SELIN SEVINC

OPERATIONS MANAGER AND ASSOCIATE PROGRAMMER: HANNA MASON

MARKETING AND CREATIVE CONTENT COORDINATOR: ELISE FURGURSON

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER AND SPECIAL PROGRAMMING: DOONE WILLIAMS

SUMMER INTERNS:

EMILY HICKS, JAYNA ROGERS, BETSY STONICH

TIN PAN TECHNOLOGY MANAGER & PROGRAMMER: TODD LEISER

TIN PAN PROGRAMMER: JARED RASIC

TIN PAN FILM SCREENING MANAGERS: EMILY HICKS, ROBERT MARQUEZ, MAX REISFAR, DOONE WILLIAMS

By having these talented creatives present with our community, our youth can learn from them and be inspired by the possibilities they may have not otherwise imagined. It is an honor to serve as a juror and advisor for the Indigenous flms program this year. We thank the Roundhouse Foundation, Oregon Cultural Trust, the Starview Foundation, NewSun Energy, and so many more who so generously made this opportunity possible.

I hope to see you at the Festival!

LaRonn Katchia Filmmaker, Director, Cinematographer Associate Programmer/Advisor Indigenous Films Program