Portland attended the NW Documentary Fest 2010 - video and slideshow included

Friday, April 24th 2010 was one of the coolest events of the year. It was the 2010 Homegrown DocFest - a festival of documentaries made by film students in the Portland and surrounding areas. Northwest Documentary offers workshops in many areas of film making and then the students show off their works at the Mission Theater in Northwest Portland.

There was a line out the door and down the street, it was so long. Luckily, we got press passes and were able to choose a table before they were all gone. If they were all gone, not to worry, as the Mission has a huge balcony and theater seat rows here and there to accommodate such a disaster.

We watched 13 movies from 3 minutes to 15 minutes long and the artists gave us their take on life from different points of view.

“Travel By Ground,” by Emily Morris relayed her vision of all transportation except air. At the beginning and end was an old blue Corvair in mint condition - it was vintage footage added in and made the film’s point very well.

“In League With Satan,” by Abraham King and Arthur Smid was about a group of young people who are fans of ‘death metal’ music forming a bowling league. Turns out it’s very popular.

“Rangoli” by Malini Kalki and Chaitanya Kola made a documentary about the Indian art of Rangoli; the decorative designs made outside homes and entrances of places people will visit.

“Red and Black Café” was about a worker-owned, all vegan café in East Portland. Interesting and informative about a unique way to run a business.

“My First Love,” by Cathy Schwab was about first loves, as the title indicates. There were different couples talking about their first loves and it was very humorous.

“Yoga Poet,” by Bill Ventres was about local Yoga instructor, Shaney Aalbers. She shares her art and how it makes a difference in her life.

“At Home in Forest Park,” by TK Goldenbaum and Michelle Mintmier was about the US’s largest forested city park that provides a natural environment for recreation and reflection.

“Red,” by Christine Robins was a take on all the things the color red conotates, like anger, stop, etc.

“Lilac Lady,” by Elly Shiro profiles the life of a woman who’d gotten everything out of life she could, lost it and got it all back again. Hulda Klager is the Lilac Lady the story’s about.

“Pollinating Daisy,” by LaTisha Strickland, was a light-hearted look at a woman trying to have a baby without a partner. She advertised on FaceBook for possible father figures and got a great response.

“Parts and Pieces,” by Nikki Peterson showcased historic archive footages along with home movies and some of her own footage to create a haunting, yet poetic collage.

“Into Darkness,” by John Waller was a great documentary about spelunking in a secret cave, exploring stalactites and crystals and other natural formations and holes to crawl through.

“Summer Snapshot,” by Ian McCluskey was a check of summer memories made between youth and adulthood.

Check out the video and slide show of photos, and plan to attend next year. It was very interesting and fun - but get your tickets early so you don’t have to stand in that long line to this popular event!