In two weeks, the University of Oregon is hosting their first major film festival in Eugene entitled Cinema Pacific http://cinemapacific.uoregon.edu/. Festival Director Richard Herskowitz has already effectively recruited several U of O alums who work as studio execs in Los Angeles to serve on his advisory board. Below is some information about the festival.
Cinema Pacific’s mission is to discover and foster the creativity of international films and new media from Pacific-bordering countries, with an emphasis this year on Korean and U.S. West Coast cinema. It has been conceived as an educational and community outreach event supplementing the new Cinema Studies Program at the University of Oregon. From May 5-9, nineteen film and arts events are scheduled to take place downtown at the Bijou Theater, DIVA, and Lord Leebrick and on campus at the Robinson Theater and Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. Among the highlights are the premiere of Cyrus, starring John C. Reilly and Marisa Tomei, a preview of the Web series $5 Cover: Seattle with a live concert featuring Seattle indie musicians, a staged reading of a screenplay set to be filmed in Eugene, Let’s Do It, and much more.
The Oregonian¹s film critic, Shawn Levy, wrote a piece last week (which you can read here: http://tinyurl.com/28zuueq) celebrating the arrival of our film festival in Eugene. Our hope is that our festival, like the Bach Festival, will become a major attraction to national and local audiences. We also aim to elevate the quality and vitality of regional film productions.
The festival is attracting a board of major industry figures and leading filmmakers who will present their works in Eugene, exposing them to the region’s production resources and geographical allure. Cinema Pacific, in addition to planning workshops, master classes, and class visits by its guests, is inaugurating the Adrenaline Film Project, a 72-hour production workshop for local filmmakers mentored by professionals. It will utilize the studios of Chambers Productions, giving these aspiring filmmakers a taste of the resources available to serious producers.
