The 34th Northwest Film & Video Festival runs November 9-November 17

The Northwest Film Center's annual showcase of new work by regional media artists takes center screen November 9-17, showing 44 feature, short and documentary films made by artists in Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Montana and Idaho.
As the oldest and largest Festival presenting regionally made work, the Festival offers an up-to-the minute snapshot of a rich and diverse media arts community drawing increasing international attention.

This year's Festival judge, German film writer and critic ,Heike Kuehn, selected 25 short films for public presentation, singling out four works for special awards she created in their honor. They include:

THE REGARDING THE PAIN OF OTHERS AWARD
SARI'S MOTHER-Director James Longley, Seattle, WA.

THE LIFE IS MORE SUBTLE THAN WE THINK AWARD
CREAMERY BIRDS-Director Brian Libby, Portland, OR

THE CHALLENGING HOLLYWOOD AWARD
BY MODERN MEASURE-Director Matthew Lessner, Nehalem, OR.

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL TROUBLED ENERGY AWARD
PATTERNS II and PATTERNS III-Jamie Travis, Vancouver, BC.
Many of the directors with works in this year's Festival are alumni of the event including the past award winners Vanessa Renwick, Joanna Priestley, Claudio Morgado Escanilla, and Ana Valine, John Jeffcoat and John Helde. From the wildly funny to deeply moving narratives, the diverse program offers surprises and discovery, including a new short film from Portland director Gus Van Sant.

Complimenting this year's short film selections are a strong selection of documentary features, including Irene Taylor Brodsky's HEAR AND NOW, Ian McCluskey's ELOQUENT NUDE, John Helde's MADE IN CHINA, Brian Lindstrom's FINDING NORMAL, Grant Asker and Josh Wallert's ARID LANDS, Peter J. Vogt's HIGH AND OUTSIDE and Lainey Bagwell and Lacey Leavitt's BLOOD ON THE FLAT TRACK: THE RISE OF THE RAT CITY ROLLER GIRLS.

The spirit and of this year's Festival is "DEDICATED TO THE DEDICATED," a declaration of support the Festival promises to the region's talented and passionate filmmakers who work in the pursuit of their uncompromising artistic expression. The Festival's "DEDICATED" creative campaign was developed by happylucky, Inc., a creative agency in Portland.
The Festival begins, Friday, November 9 with a screening of Festival Shorts at the Northwest Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium, followed by the Opening Night party at The Cleaners at the Ace Hotel. The Festival continues through Saturday, November 17 with a full schedule of screenings, workshops, discussions and social events celebrating the work and designed to illuminate the resources available to filmmakers of the Northwest. The full Festival schedule will be available at www.nwfilm.org October 23.

This year's Northwest Film & Video Festival Presenting Sponsors include the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, adidas, Laika, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Premiere Sponsors include TAZO Tea, Wieden + Kennedy, Willamette Week and Festival Sponsors include RexPost, Sierra Nevada, Ace Hotel, Oregon Film & Video Office, Comcast, happylucky Inc. and 94.7FM KNRK.