La Grande, Ore. – Eastern Oregon Film Festival will present its eighth annual edition October 19-21 in La Grande, Oregon. Fifteen feature films, nearly fifty short films, and multiple special events will be presented throughout the three-day event. Recently hailed as one of the “Top 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World”, festival-goers will enjoy an intimate and ‘down-home’ style of events and after-parties.
The festival will open and close with fiction and nonfiction offerings that explore possibilities of the near-future. Opening night will feature Pete Ohs and Andrea Sisson’s gorgeous desert fable, Everything Beautiful Is Far Away, and the festival will close with Mila Aung-Thwin and Van Royko’s essential documentary about nuclear fusion, Let There Be Light.
Music acts offer a variety of style and fun for each night’s after-party. The Depot Street Syncopators will play Thursday night. Friday night, October 20, EOFF welcomes visiting artists SISTERS from Seattle, Wa. and Holiday Friends hailing from Astoria, Ore.
To wrap up the weekend, Kory Quinn (Portland, OR) will bring together a full line-up of stellar musicians to the EOFF stage. Featuring Elwood, Joey Carper, Jay Colton Hughes and David Lipkind. From Big City Beats to High Lonesome Country Blues he “Puts The True In Troubadour.” All after-party events will take place at hq – 112 Depot Street.
Special events this year are brought in part by support from EOU’s Ars Poetica and MFA program and offer FREE opportunities for EOU students to engage in festival events.
On campus, Friday, October 20 at 4pm in the McKenzie Theater Portland director Andy Mingo will shed light on bringing Chuck Palahniuk’s “Lullaby” to life, and similarly, author Lidia Yuknavitch will discuss her award-winning novel, “The Book of Joan.” Both artists will discuss their seventeen-year collaboration of bringing Lidia’s memoir, The Chronology of Water (now in development) to the screen. They will show a variety of media around their projects and discuss the creative process of adapting literature for the silver screen.
Earlier that day join Jonathon Raymond to discuss how a story becomes a movie in this insightful conversation and screenplay workshop. Portland-based author Jonathan Raymond’s first novel brought his work to the attention of Kelly Reichardt and together they made four movies, including Meek’s Cutoff and Night Moves.
As a special treat we will be hosting State of Wonder for a LIVE radio show on Saturday at NOON and is free and open to the public. State of Wonder is OPB’s weekly radio show about arts and creativity. For the live taping host April Baer will sit down with festival organizers and several visiting filmmakers to talk about what they’re screening, what they’re watching, and what exactly an Albino Bumblebee is.
Venues will include the The Granada 3 Cinema, McKenzie Theater at Eastern Oregon University, Jax Dog Café & Books, and festival headquarters and informational center will be located at hq in the heart of La Grande’s historical downtown cultural district. General admissions festival passes are on sale at http://www.eofilmfest.com/tickets.
The event is manifest each year by a huge list of volunteers. Eastern Oregon University students, local businesses, and the community at large worked to overcome major logistical hurdles this year while achieving major successes in community outreach and engagement. EOFF is a 501c3 non profit and looks to garner sustainable operational support to develop and enhance annual program.
Major support this year comes from Eastern Oregon University, Blue Mountain Outfitters, and Side A Brewing.
- Official website: http://www.eofilmfest.com
- Full schedule of events can be found here: http://eofilmfest.com/2017-schedule/
- Full list of films w/ images & trailers: http://eofilmfest.com/2017-official-selections/