This past Memorial Day weekend, I had the rare pleasure of experiencing the very first edition of the
Bodega Bay Short Film Festival. This intimate showcase of cinematic works was set in a charming coastal town, home to Alfred Hitchcock’s well known film, The Birds. Hence, the festival logo…

I drove up to Bodega together with Attila Adam to premiere his debut film, June Gloom. We drove overnight and arrived just at sunrise, to discover lush, green cliffs overlooking large, crashing waves. We honestly couldn’t tell if we had arrived north of San Francisco, or somewhere in Ireland.

After getting a minimal amount of sleep, we downed some local coffee and made our way over to the Bodega Marine Lab, where the event was being held. The Bodega Bay Film Festival staff was absolutely wonderful. Headed by Kirk and Pamela Demorest, everyone on the Bodega team was full of passion, dedicated to making this first festival shine. We were greeted with a warm welcome and immediatly began to enjoy ourselves. Over the course of the weekend, we met some terrific filmmakers and also some great people who live in the town. We tried to watch for whales as well. But the cold was too much for our high maintenance L.A. blood, so we ran back inside.

June Gloom opened to a very strong reception and in the process, allowed us to see some extremely creative new films. There were so many good ones that it’s taken a while to settle on my favorites. One of them was Lily White, a short, dramatic story from New Zealand, directed by a pair of talented filmmakers with an affinity for visual detail and emotion. Keep an eye out for this film, as it is just starting to be screened in the U.S. This is the trailer:

Another of the pieces I truly enjoyed was an Italian film called Omero bello-di-nonna, which follows the fantastical world of an agoraphobic living with his grandmother. It’s a one of a kind story and luckily, available to watch in full (with subtitles). Click the poster below to check it out:

Last, but in no way least, was a uniquely crafted animated film called Lightheaded. I feel this one is enjoyed best without explanation. It too, is available online:

Overall, Bodega Bay was quite the experience. It proved once again how many incredible filmmakers are roaming the world with their respective cameras, trying to show audiences something new.