The Confluence

PFCAT (Portland Festival of Cinema, Animation & Technology) today announced the first programming highlights for its 14th annual festival, taking place August 18–23, 2026 at OMSI. Now in its fourth year in Portland, the festival has expanded to six days in response to record film submissions. This annual event will bring together animators, filmmakers, and audiences for screenings, presentations, and networking events celebrating visionary filmmaking and animation.

Festival programming will take place throughout OMSI, utilizing the Empirical Theater, Kendall Planetarium, Auditorium, and Theory spaces.

A Work-in-Progress Screening of “Sea Rose Ashes”

Join us in celebrating and supporting the continued journey of “Sea Rose Ashes.” Experience an early look at the documentary, hear from the creative team behind it, and connect with others who are passionate about storytelling and independent film.

Friday, June 27th at Desert Island Studios
Doors at 7:00PM
Program at 7:30PM

The event will be produced and emceed by Jessica Daugherty and co-produced by Olivia Bayer.

The evening will feature two screenings:

• A special episode of Oregon Art Beat highlighting filmmaker Vu Pham and the making of Sea Rose Ashes
  An exclusive sneak peek of Vu Pham’s forthcoming docufiction, Sea Rose Ashes
• Following the screenings, Vu will be joined by special guest Jacob Pander, OPB producer and creator of the recent Oregon Art Beat segment on the project.

Oregon Film’s Director of Strategic Initiatives and Community, Jane Ridley recently wrote an guest post for the Oregon Heritage Exchange about her work with creating an Oral History collection as part of the Oregon Film Trail.

She says: “Last year, while participating in MentorCorps, I began shaping an idea that had been on my mind for some time: creating an oral history collection tied to the Oregon Film Trail and Oregon’s rich film history.”

Read the whole article here.

The Portland Events and Film Office at Prosper Portland, in partnership with Travel Portland, is excited to celebrate this year’s Post-Production Grant recipients. Four feature films have been selected to receive funding aimed at supporting the completion of locally made projects and empowering Portland filmmakers to grow toward larger, more resourced productions.

From a competitive pool of more than 30 applicants, four projects were selected to each receive $7,500 in post-production funding: “Dragathon: Meeting Hate with Joy,” “Sansei Sensibility,” “Albina Music Trust: Echoes of Albina,” and “Are We Cool.”

Famed IndieWire reporter Dana Harris-Bridson spent the last weekend in May in Portland witnessing for herself the Criterion Mobile Closet in Portland, the Tomorrow Theater and the Cinema Unbound Awards.

She notes: “Cinema Unbound honorees ranged from the James Beard-nominated chefs who catered the extraordinary Indonesian dinner to comedian Maria Bamford. Each table had themed objects aligned with the honorees. From the clappy hands to pom-poms and friendship bracelets, everything was cheap, cheerful, and interactive.

Energy was so high that when the fundraising portion arrived, Dotson started by asking who could give $25,000; four could.

Portland filmmaker Vu Pham has long been known for his work in the arena of narrative fiction.

During a 2020 trip to Juneau, Alaska, which coincided with the start of COVID-19 lockdowns in the U.S., Pham began to formulate the idea for his foray into feature-length documentary.

Oregon Art Beat highlights Vu’s journey and the project, “Sea Rose Ashes,” which explores Pham’s family history, including he and his mother’s escape from communist Vietnam and his mother’s murder in 1983.

“There was sort of the wellspring of a motivation to somehow seize control and regain agency of my life,” Pham said.

“Spilled Milk” the acclaimed 2025 horror short film produced by Monkeypaw Productions and directed by Portlander Jared Leaf,  won the prestigious HBO Short Film Award at the American Black Film Festival (ABFF).

“What really happened to all those deadbeat dads who went to the store to get milk? A father’s innocent errand leads him to an encounter with an enigmatic figure called ‘The Milk Man,’ where things quickly go sour.”

Portland shot “Horsegirls” has released a trailer and announced a release date of July 17. The film tells the story of Margarita, a young woman with autism, discovering the world of hobbyhorsing and the she sets out to prove her independence to her mother—stick horse and all.

Horsegirls premiered at last year’s Tribeca Festival. It was among the winners at the Seattle Film Festival and Cordillera International Film Festival.

Only in theaters July 17.

Submissions are now open for the inaugural Northwest Youth Film Festival
Presented by Northwest Children’s Theater and The Judy Kafoury Center for Youth Arts

Film Submission Deadline: Friday, June 19

The Northwest Youth Film Festival is a new film festival celebrating young filmmakers in Oregon and SW Washington*. Produced through Northwest Children’s Theater and The Judy Kafoury Center for Youth Arts, NWYFF is looking for original films under 10 minutes from youth filmmakers in grades 6-12.

NWYFF will screen it’s selected final films in person, August 15th and 16th, at The Judy.