The Confluence

The 2026 Tell Your Story Grant winners have been selected after a submission after review process that was filled with incredible projects by amazing artists. The submission rate for this year’s grant was very high and it is further evidence of the depth of talent that call Oregon home. Each Grantee will receive a $15,000 grant that is not tied to a specific project but is intended to help each artist/filmmaker move towards the next stage of their career.

The winners of this year’s grant are:

HASANI WALKER

Hasani Walker is a writer and animator living in Oregon.

Hinge Digital recently completed production on a unique spot for SOUND TRANSIT × COPACINO+FUJIKADO: “Your Connection is Out There.”

From Hinge:

We pitched a one-stop-shop solution — live action, practical SFX, seamless VFX through Post, all under one roof — built around a single creative truth: the best way to appreciate a human achievement is through alien eyes.

The comedy lives in the contrast — cosmic intelligence colliding with entirely human reactions. Confusion. Overconfidence. Exasperation. That only works if these aliens feel real.

BendFilm celebrates independent cinema’s unique power to enrich lives, amplify diverse voices, and inspire change while educating future storytellers and bringing vibrant festival experiences to communities across Central Oregon year round.

Check out the schedule and get your passes and tickets on BendFilm.org

The Official Selections have been announced for the Eastern Oregon Film Festival and the film guide is now available to browse! They’ll be adding some more trailers and details but start digging in to what is in store for October 14-17 in La Grande.

Browse the Guide.

Amanda Warren (The Leftovers) and Evan Jonigkeit (The Hunting Wives) are currently shooting lead roles in Door, an indie sci-fi horror film also starring Akira Jackson (It Ends), River Blossom (Abbott Elementary), Johnny Sibilly (Hacks), and Henry Ian Cusick (Lost).

Marking the feature directorial debut of Sara Magness and Wil Magness, who also wrote the screenplay, and shooting in Portland, Oregon, Door tells the story of a family whose world is shattered after a father unknowingly opens a door that leads to realities shaped by the subconscious of whoever enters.

Southern Oregon University’s Digital Cinema program made MovieMaker Magazine’s list of the “30 Best Film Schools in the U.S. and Canada” for the third year in a row.

According to the university, SOU Digital Cinema is the only program from Oregon, Washington or Idaho included in MovieMaker’s review. The Digital Cinema major launched in 2019 as part of SOU’s Communication, Media & Cinema Department and has grown steadily since then.

Students learn visual storytelling, creative problem-solving and professional collaboration using industry-standard production technologies.

Sonic Silents, a new festival curated by composer Mark Orton, brings four nights of newly commissioned scores for silent film to the Hollywood Theatre stage September 17-20. Each score will be performed live by the musicians who wrote it.

A SHARED CENTENNIAL
The inaugural festival pairs rare and canonical silent films with original music created expressly for Sonic Silents. The program culminates in a special dual-centennial presentation of Buster Keaton’s THE GENERAL, which was released in 1926, the same year The Hollywood Theatre opened as a Silent Film Palace.

Getting Back is premiering on Saturday, September 26, 2026 at 2pm at Salem Cinema. Intertwining youthful fantasy with the unflinching reality of loss, Getting Back explores how children use imaginative play to cope with hardship, presenting adult struggles through the imagination of a child. It is a heartfelt commentary on how we find our way back to love during the darkest times in life.

Tickets can be purchased through Salem Cinema. Attendees will be able to watch the movie alongside cast and crew, as well as participate in a Q&A with key members of production!

“Succession” star J. Smith-Cameron will star alongside “Yellowstone” actor Jefferson White in the upcoming independent feature film “In Our Own Sweet Way” from director, writer, and producer Jeff Rutherford.

The film recently wrapped and is being produced under Rutherford’s banner Fred Senior Films, in association with Stoner Ranch Productions, Echo & Add, and Fair Oaks Entertainment.

Read more here.