Portland Film Festival is a non-profit organization which hosts events and programs in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 2013 by Joshua Leake with the help of Jay Cornelius. Their main event called the Portland Film Festival is an annual independent film festival that is held in several local theaters in Portland. This event focuses on showcasing films, but also provide food, a range of events to participate in, and other forms of entertainment.

History

Jay Cornelius helped Leake set up the first festival by recruiting people that he knew from his previous job as a film instructor. There were over 148 volunteers that helped pull off the first Portland Film Festival. These volunteers helped with a wide range of activities from directing music, operations, other volunteers, and social media, to helping with legal advising, talking photos, and more. The first film festival was held from August 27 through September 1, 2013 and featured networking events, workshops, a beer garden, and food carts. 83 films were shown in the inaugural festival and over 600 were submitted for consideration at the festival.

Theaters and Venues

The festival has been hosted at a range of locations across Portland including Fifth Avenue Cinema, Clinton St. Theater,

Cinema 21 Cinema 21 is a movie theater in the Northwest District of Portland, Oregon, United States. The venue opened as State Theatre in 1925, and was known as Vista during 1941–1942 and 21st Avenue Theatre from 1942 to 1965. History The venue opened ...

, Crystal Ballroom, Crystal Ball & Restaurant, Hollywood Theater,

Laurelhurst Theater Laurelhurst Theater is a movie theater located in the Kerns neighborhood in northeast Portland, Oregon. Known for showing first and second-run films and for serving food and beer, the theater was constructed in 1923 with an Art Deco design. Hi ...

, Living Room Theater, McMenamin's Mission Theater, Plum Tree Mortgage Education Center, Pro Photo Supply Event Center, Wallace Park, Waterfront Park, White Space Gallery,

The Fields Park The Fields Park is an urban greenspace in Portland, Oregon's Pearl District. Construction of the 3.2-acre park began in 2012 and has been estimated to cost up to $4 million. History A ceremony to begin construction was held on March 6, 2012. Repr ...

, and the Hi-Lo Hotel.

2019 Award Winners

Best Narrative Feature: ''Princess of the Row'' by Max Carlson Best Documentary Feature: ''Fire on the Hill'' by Brett Fallentine Best Director: Gavin Nichael Booth for ''Last Call'' Best Short: ''Jane''by Kathryn Prescott Audience Award Winners: ''The First and the Last Time, Ashes to Ashes, Colour Code'' Two new award categories were added at the 2019 Portland Film Festival- Best New Director: Tim True for ''Here Awhile'' Best Midnight Feature: ''Crack House of the Dead'' by Jason Toler

Other Programs and Events

The Portland Film Festival nonprofit hosts other film festivals, events, and programs offered year round including the Portland Documentary Film Festival (PDOC) and the Portland Short Film Festival (PDXShorts), as well as others including:

#FutureFilmmakers

The #FutureFilmmakers program offers free educational workshops to children who are disadvantaged. In the workshops hosted in partner with the Boys and Girls Clubof Portland, children work with professionals in the film industry and are taught about movie making. A few short films are produced by the participants by the end of each workshop.

Kids Film Festival

The Kids Film Festival is a festival hosted by the Portland Film Festival that focuses on child films. All of the films shown at this event are performed and/or made by children.

Portland Film Club

Portland Film Club is the largest film club in Oregon with over 4 thousand members. The group claims to be set up like a bookclub, meeting each month to watch a film and have a discussion about it afterwards.

Portland Film Industry Speed Networking Event

The Portland Film Industry Speed Networking Event is the largest of its kind in Oregon. It is an event hosted annually to bring people in the film industry together to help expand their network. Those who attend the event are offered appetizers and drinks, and are eligible to join a members only Facebook group to continue to reach others.

Portland Film & Video Networking Group

With over 5 thousand members, the Portland Film & Video Networking Group unites people from the Portland area film industry together to talk in a public group on Facebook.

Portland Independent Film Networking Meetup

The Portland Independent Film Networking Meetup is a group of over 4 thousand members that host networking opportunities at bars and restaurants for people in the film industry.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Film festivals in Oregon Festivals in Portland, Oregon Documentary film festivals in the United States Experimental film festivals 2013 establishments in Oregon Annual events in Portland, Oregon Organizations based in Portland, Oregon Film archives in the United States