The 10th Santa Cruz Film Festival Opens Tonight

The 10th Santa Cruz Film Festival Opens Tonight, Thursday, May 5 at 7:30 PM at Del Mar Theatre, 1124 Pacific Avenue

SCFF is kicking off its 10th Season with the Sundance hit and delightfully offbeat dark comedy, Prairie Love, that has been described as a "lighter Fargo meets a darker Napoleon Dynamite." - COED Magazine

From the frozen plains of North Dakota comes this wonderfully bizarre story about three people searching for love in the oddest ways. Reminiscent of the absurdist comedic sensibilities of the Coen Brothers and Wes Anderson, Prairie Love is the story of a mysterious vagrant who rescues a nearly frozen local man while wandering through the snow-covered plains of North Dakota. He soon learns that the man was en route to collect his pen-pal girlfriend whom he has never met. Blinded by his desire for love, the vagrant decides to take matters into his own hands - forever changing the destinies of all three people.

Director Dusty Bias combines the Dakotas' harsh winter landscape with exquisite production design to create a world seemingly frozen in time. The absurdist humor and quirky onscreen oddities make the characters of this dark tale strangely lovable. Brazenly idiosyncratic, Prairie Love takes the love story into uncharted territory.

Dusty, as well as Producers Ted Speaker and local product, Doug Mueller of the Carmel Bach Festival, will be in attendance as well as members of the film's cast.

Following the screening, join us at the Museum of Art & History (MAH) at the McPherson Center to celebrate the launch of our 10th season. Meet and mingle with filmmakers and other film lovers while listening to music, enjoying a beverage, and feasting on culinary delights provided by local merchants.