The Oregon film community's official blog.
Moviegoing is back. And Portland’s independent filmmakers are telling stories that many audiences—particularly white ones—have never seen before, including what it’s like to be a Black woman hiking with chronic pain or a Pakistani couple on a date at a McDonald’s.
Willamette Week profiles the storytellers and stories from a dynamic group of emerging local filmmakers.
We are excited to introduce you to our new and improved platform that will help us come together as a community, share information and shape the future of the industry. Creators welcome.
NEW AND IMPROVED DIRECTORY.
Take advantage of expanded categories, new search filters, links to social, banner images, favorites list and links to your work.
A TOOL TO PROMOTE OREGON.
The OMPA website and its Directory showcase all Oregon has to offer the world. Help demonstrate the depth and breadth of talent and resources here by being part of this promotional tool and ensuring it’s up to date.
Oregon plays Washington in this first installment of the Twilight saga coming on June 6 as part of the #OregonMade Film Series at The Hollywood Theatre.
St. Helens, Silver Falls SP and Ecola SP double for the Washington forests and coastline around Forks. It’s been about 15 years since the couple that recently caught accolades for playing Princess Di and The Batman came to our state to lay the ground work for that difficult choice between Team Edward and Team Jacob.
The 2022 Sustainability Labs applications are now open. This NEA funded program is in its second year and seeks to place focus on mid-career artists and creative makers themselves, rather than a specific project. Creative story-telling field can be a difficult one to continually navigate without fears of burn out and feeling overwhelmed. These labs were created for that very purpose, to give makers an edge as they move forward in their career, by being able to pitch themselves while expanding their talents to a multitude of creative pathways.
‘The College Girl’ was shot in 2015 and finally premiered on Amazon Prime on April 20th, 2022. Described stylistically as Jim Jarmusch meets Kevin Smith, this deadpan satire follows an innocent young girl from farm country who moves to the big city to pursue her dreams. But as time goes on, she finds that her expectations might be out of touch with cold, hard reality.
“Awkward friendships, awkward relationships, awkward classes, awkward calls to mom and dad, lame parties, nightmare internships, and—gasp—taking the bus are just a few of the rites of passage Jane faces with a weary and aloof resolve.”
Documentary filmmakers so often find themselves working in isolation, away from larger centers of filmmaking — Oregon Documentary Camp seeks to create an environment for learning, connecting, and support for filmmakers wherever they are. Doc Camp includes workshops, panel discussions, film screenings, filmmaker Q&As, and the chance to share stories with other filmmakers.
Doc Camp is crafted for working media professionals, ideally, those who have experience completing a documentary feature or short. Due to the pandemic, this year we’re offering both online and in-person programming.
This morning the 2022 Cannes Film Festival announced its Official Selection. We are excited to see #OregonMade, A24’s “Showing Up” nominated in the main competition group. “Showing Up,” was directed by Kelly Reichardt, written by Reichardt and Oregonian, Jonathan Raymond, and produced by Oregonians, Neil Kopp, Anish Savjani and Vincent Savino (see all cast and crew here).
This is Michelle Williams’s fourth collaboration with director Reichardt, following “Wendy and Lucy” (2008), “Meek’s Cutoff” (2010), and “Certain Women” (2016), and the 6th film Reichardt has shot in Oregon.
The #OregonMade documentary Feature “Buffalo Soldiers Fighting on Two Fronts” will be part of the Seattle International Film Festival. Come to an in-person screening April 16th or 17th, or see it in the virtual cinema from April 14th-24th.
Saturday, April 16th at 4:15pm
SIFF Cinema Egyptian (805 E Pine St, Seattle, WA 98122)
Sunday, April 17th at 3:30pm
Ark Lodge Cinemas (4816 Rainier Ave S, Seattle, WA 98118)
You can also watch the film online (US residents only)!
Read about virtual cinema streaming
Maxie, an award-winning independent film shot entirely on location in Eugene and Springfield will premiere on April 29, 2022, at the Broadway Metro in Downtown Eugene.
The film was shot in 2020, during the height of the pandemic, and follows two homeless adolescents over an eventful weekend, as they attempt to get clean and begin anew.
The cast and crew are all local talents from Eugene, Springfield, Roseburg, Florence, and a couple of transplants from California.
Maxie was written and directed by Jarrett Bryant, an ex-television writer, and transplant from Los Angeles.
Laika announced today they are teaming up with “Ozark” co-creator, Bill Dubuque, to bring a new stop-motion animated feature, “The Night Gardener” to the screen. Laika’s CEO, Travis Knight, will be directing.