HDFest KICKS OFF TONIGHT @ LIVING ROOM THEATERS

Portland certainly has no shortage of film festivals going on throughout the year.  Blink and you've probably missed a few already.  What our town doesn't have many of, however, is an influx of traveling festivals, curated omnibuses of cinematic goodness brought to our fair city from without.  Enter HDFest, a "digital cinema festival" that's crawled all over the globe since its inception some twelve years back.

To quote the statement of purpose from HDFest webpage:

Since 2000, HDFEST has known that high-def and digital cinema are the future of the entertainment industry. Since that time, the festival has been at the heart and core of this revolution. HDFEST has been responsible for numerous historic digital cinema landmark events and technological firsts. Since HDFEST's inception, there have been 23 HDFEST events in 10 cities including LA, NYC, London, Helsinki, Seoul, South Korea and Sydney, Australia.

A still from Leh Wi Tok (Let Us Talk)

Well, add Portland to the above list, as HDFest kicks off this year's series in Portland tonight (5/15) at Living Room Theaters.  Over the course of three nights, the festival will host multiple features, including Amy Alyson Fans, DisCONNECTED and Light of Mine (directed by Portland native, Brett Eichenberger).  HDFest also has several themed showcases in store for PDX audiences: "romantic relationships & intrigue," hd indie shorts, gay-themed shorts, etc.

A still from Two Boys

Of the films that I was able to preview, I most admired fun and playful animated piece, Place Stamp Here.  But I was also taken by the honesty and simplicity of Two Boys, a no-nonsense look at loss that overcomes its lack of visual flair via a commitment to emotional truths.  Le Wi Tok (Let Us Talk), focusing on the healing process in the aftermath of war, was, likewise, gripping to encounter.

A still from Place Stamp Here

HDFest opens tonight, Tuesday, May 15th, at Living Room Theaters.  More info about the festival available here.

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THE RAIN FALLS DOWN ON PDX: WEEKEND ROUNDUP FOR 5/11

Here we go again...it's the weekend roundup of films opening in and around PDX.

First up, Cinema 21 hosts Portland's theatrical run of the Norwegian crime-thriller Headhunters.  I'm still kicking myself for not being able to make the press screening for this one.  Dan Halsted, programmer for the Hollywood Theatre and the Grindhouse Film Festival personally chose it for one of his single night PIFF After Dark screenings back in February.  By all accounts from those who attended, it was a unique take on the genre.  Cinema 21's Tom Ranieri commented via e-mail that it's "a lot of fun, some of it gruesome fun certainly."

The NW Film Center continues their month-long Studio Ghibli retrospective, Castles in the Sky: Miyazaki, Takahata, and the Masters of Studio Ghibli, with Kiki's Delivery Service (reviewed here), Only Yesterday and Princess Mononoke.  It's a rare chance to see these films on the big screen; Only Yesterday has never had an official North American release!  And I believe that two out of the three features will be 35mm prints!  More info on the Studio Ghibli series available here.

Over at the Hollywood Theatre, the annual H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival & CthuluCon runs through the weekend.  Highlights include It's in the Blood, starring Lance Henriksen (Aliens, The Terminator),  and The Horror Express with Christopher Lee (The Wicker Man) and Peter Cushing (Star Wars).  All info pertaining to tickets and passes can be found here.

Living Room Theaters begins showing Jesus Henry Christ with Michael Sheen and Toni Collette today.  They're also getting the magnificent The Deep Blue Sea (reviewed here), which just finished a two week run at Cinema 21.

The Laurelhurst Theater & Pub continues its winning series of classic screenings with John Ford's eternally great 1956 anti-western The Searchers, starring John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter and Natalie Wood.

And, finally, PSU's student-run 5th Avenue Cinema has a three-day screening of Michael Haneke's incredible (as well as incredibly disturbing) 1997 home-invasion classic Funny Games.

A lot on the horizon for next week, including a 35mm print of Jaws at the Hollywood Theater, Cinema Project's latest event (reviewed here), the opening of QDoc (Portland Queer Documentary Festival), HD Fest at the Living Room Theaters, etc.  Keep your eyes on the blog as we'll be following all of these and more over the coming days.

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