Recently my short film The Round Table premiered at the 2021 Oregon Short Film Festival. If you’ve seen my other videos, you’ve probably seen lots and lots of behind the scenes footage for The Round Table, so I thought this might be the perfect time to share with you my adventure outside, review the Oregon Short Film Festival, and go over what it’s like to go to a film festival right now. So let’s get into it!
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First off, it was my first time getting on a plane in over a year and a half so I was a little nervous and the airport was unusually crowded due to some canceled flights. But once I got used to being surrounded by people, I started to relax.
One pro tip I’d say if you’re planning to take your first plane ride since you know the almost apocalypse happened, is make sure you wear a comfortable k95 mask. I put a link to mine in the description below and they are super fun and come in different colors so you can match your outfit. That’s every filmmaker’s top concern when going to a film festival, right?
Once I landed in Portland I met up with friends who wine, dined, and ice creamed me. And that’s one big perk about the Oregon Short Film Festival is that you get to fly into Portland and enjoy the amazing food it has to offer. I mean bro, do you even Salt & Straw?
Now due to you know, that whole thing that’s happening, the Oregon Short Film Festival has moved from Portland to The Dalles, which is about an hour and 20 minutes drive away, so that’s something to consider if you’re traveling and don’t have nice local friends to drive you like I did. You’ll definitely have to rent a car.
However, it’s totally worth it as the film festival is at a drive in movie theater plus you get to drive past breathtaking scenery around Mount Hood, complete with waterfalls!
Pro tip, plan ahead and take some extra time to stop at Multnomah Falls which is a popular tourist destination that includes a waterfall and a picturesque bridge. You’ve probably seen it before on that post card your Oregon friend sent you.
Now as I said the festival now takes place at the Sunshine Mill Drive In Theater, which allows you to watch all the movies from the comfort and safety of your car. But more on that in a bit, because it’s not just a drive in theater, it’s also a winery. Yep you heard me.
So before the actual screenings filmmakers and attendees get to enjoy the absolutely beautiful indoor space of the winery. We snagged a super cute vintage table and ordered a cheese plate and wine which were both delicious.
What’s really nice is this gives you the opportunity to casually chat with other filmmakers and make connections. After all, don’t forget networking is a key part to filmmaking!
Once the socializing was done, it was on to the award show where the festival director Mikel Fair announced the winners, presented them with their awards, and filmmakers got the opportunity to talk a little bit about their films. And well… The Round Table won!
After that, we all moved outside for the film screenings and The Round Table premiered on the biggest screen I’ve ever had one of my films screened on! My film screened first but it was followed by several other wonderful films and it was really fun to see what all the other filmmakers I just met had worked on.
Another super fun aspect of the drive in theater was that instead of clapping, everyone honked their car horns at the end of each short film to show their appreciation. It was truly an experience I’ll never forget.
So yeah, if you’re looking for a short film festival to submit your film to I highly recommend the Oregon Short Film Festival. It’s a relatively safe festival to attend right now and it was so fun! I mean how often can you say your film screened at a drive in movie theater right? So I hope you enjoyed coming with me on my 2021 film festival adventure and let me know in the comments below if you’ve attended any film festivals this year. I’d love to hear about them!
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