Cinequest turns 21

The only film festival I've ever been to is the Cinequest Film Festival, hosted in downtown San Jose. It's not Sundance or Cannes, but it's close enough that I can usually hit a screening or two each year and it's affordable enough with tickets selling for $10 per screening (a little more for special events.)

It may be in the heart of Silicon Valley, but I've had the chance to see plenty of celebrities at the various events I've attended. Each year the film festival gives a Maverick Spirit Award to a filmmaker or actor of note. In recent years, they have also added events with "emerging" Mavericks, up and coming filmmakers to watch, such as AnnaSophia Robb.

Through the years I have seen William H. Macy, Michael Keaton, Lili Taylor,Edward James Olmos and Benjamin Bratt. This year's maverick is John Turturro, who is featured at tonight's opening night event.

One of the cool things about the festival is that even at the regular screenings, not just the special events, a lot of the filmmakers come into town so guests have a chance to ask about the films. I've heard from actors, directors and producers about what it was like to make the movies that are shown at the festival.

Each year I try to see a shorts program since it is one of the few opportunities to see short films. I like the way Cinequest comes up with new ways to group the short films into three or four programs. In addition to the short films, there are plenty of feature films and documentaries to watch as well.

The hardest thing about Cinequest is trying to decide what to see since there are so many movies from which to choose. The festival runs today through March 12. I won't be able to catch any of the showings on weeknights, but I am looking forward to catching a few this weekend. I plan to catch a shorts program, and hope to hear from at least a few filmmakers.

Cinequest is coming

For anyone in the Bay Area who is a big movie fan Cinequest is a must. The annual film festival runs Feb. 23 to March 7 this year and all the venues are in downtown San Jose, making it easy to hit a few movies in one day.

I've been to Cinequest quite a few times (and even wrote about it for the paper) usually taking in a shorts program and feature film. I've also attended quite a few of the Maverick Spirit Award events, where a filmmaker is honored for pretty much being super cool. The Maverick Spirit events I've attended have honored Lili Taylor, William H. Macy and Edward James Olmos. I am totally psyched about this year's honoree, Benjamin Bratt, and will be buying tickets as soon as I figure out who wants to go with me.

One of my favorite things about the film festival is that I get a chance to see some short films, which are hard to come by most of time (although I guess maybe YouTube has kind of made them more accessible.) The Cinequest staff organize the shorts into like categories so there is usually a comedy shorts viewing, among others. A couple year's ago one of the films was by Ed Helms and he played a Zombie-American fighting against discrimination. It was pretty funny and there is a hint of his turn in "The Hangover" in that performance.

One year I saw a shorts program that was entitled "Mind Benders." It was basically short films with unexpected endings. This year some of the shorts programs included "Through the Eyes of a Child" and "More Than You Bargained For."

The festival also has a variety of feature films and even has workshops for aspiring filmmakers. The worst thing about the festival is trying to decide which events to go and in the past some of the events have been a bit disorganized - it is run largely by volunteers after all and movie fans can get a bit rabid when they are fitting for front row seats to see someone like Edward James Olmos or William H. Macy.

I will probably stick to a few events this year, but I haven't looked over the program well enough to know which ones I will select. Check back in February for an update.