Ten years is a long time in the life of a film festival. Like restaurants, many Festivals start with the best intentions only to fall by the wayside a few years later.
However, as it prepares for its 10th Annual Festival, BendFilm has proven to have growing and staying power bulwarked by great programming for the Festival and year-round, strong juries, terrific local support and sponsorship, and its prizes and awards. In ten years, BendFilm has grown to become a beloved regional happening that established the central Oregon town in the national festival firmament featuring more than eighty films over four days. It was named one of Moviemaker Magazine’s “20 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee.”
The festival has just announced its call for entries for 2013. Filmmakers can submit at https://www.withoutabox.com/03film/03t_fin/03t_fin_fest_01over.php?festival_id=4813
“We’re confident in continuing our tradition of excellence for 2013,” says Festival Director Orit Schwartz. “We’ve been able to build a strong following among both our contributors, sponsors and most of all, our audience and are planning the best BendFilm ever for our 10th Annual year.”
BendFilm is also unusual in the scope and generosity of its prizing. This year they’ll again offer the Brooks Resources Corporation $5,000 cash prize (one of very few festivals that still does so) for Best of Show. Past winners include True Adolescents and This Way of Life. 2013 also marks the second consecutive year of the Best Narrative Feature juried award. That award carries a $60,000 camera rental package from Panavision.
Romy Mortensen, VP Sales and Marketing for Brooks, BendFilm’s founding sponsor, said, “Brooks Resources is very proud to be celebrating BendFilm’s 10th annual festival with them. [It’s] hard to believe that 10 years ago we all took a leap of faith in a creative, new arts and culture idea that has grown to be one of Bend’s best attractions, if not amenities.”
As the year progresses, BendFilm will announce its jury, additional sponsors and , in the fall, its 10th annual film slate. Past jurors have included: Two-time Oscar® nominee, writer/director Gus Van Sant; two-time Oscar® nominee, animator Bill Plympton; filmmaker Ondi Timoner (DIG! and WE LIVE IN PUBLIC); Christian Gaines, Festival Specialist at IMDb.com; Dana Harris, editor in chief and general manager of IndieWIRE.com; Jon Korn, Sundance shorts programmer; and Steve Wilson, VP of leading film public relations agency B|W|R.
About BendFilm:
BendFilm is a non-profit group inspired by the opportunity to open doors for artists and to cast Bend, Oregon as the cultural and economic beneficiary. The BendFilm Festival runs every October in downtown Bend, Oregon at the historic Tower Theatre; McMenamins; Regal Cinemas; The Oxford Hotel; the Cascades Theatrical Company and Tin Pan Theater. Plan now to attend October 10-13, 2013 for a long weekend of films, lectures and parties as filmmakers compete for cash awards in Bend’s charismatic setting of mountains, rivers and screaming blue skies. Follow us on Facebook.