Heavily weighted toward documentaries, BendFilm borrows strongly from the Sundance Film Fest, Slamdance, Newport and Tribecca Film Fests – but that’s a good thing. Many of the films selected (especially from Sundance) carry some great buzz, but were often overshadowed by breakaway films that hogged the headlines and, more importantly, the overtaxed film festival goers’ time. Like any film fest, there are simply more movies playing at BendFilm than time to see them. While I was able to jam up to 6 films a day into my time at Sundance, I’m expecting the breath-taking surroundings of Bend in the summer and the jaw-dropping views from Mount Bachelor Village to inspire more breaks between films than the freezing cold days and nights in Park City. After going over the schedule of films, here are my thoughts and expectations on some of the films playing this year at BendFilm: Opening Night Film Duane Hopwood ( Thursday 9/22 5:30pm – Tower, Opening Night Film) The first night of the festival features one film, Duane Hopwood. David Schwimmer and Janeane Garofalo star in a film about a down and out divorcee (Shwimmer) who struggles to pull his life and family together. Duane Hopwood, which got a lot of nice buzz at Sundance, is the second feature from director Matt Mulhern, whose last effort Walking The Waterline (1998) was well received but barely seen (it played only a few fests and aired on IFC but is still not on DVD). It’s surprising with Schwimmer and Garofalo in the film that it didn’t get picked up for distribution between Sundance and now. It’s entirely possible that Duane Hopwood is just one of those odd indie gems which takes a while to find a home. It’s a film I would have liked to have seen at Sundance but didn’t because of a lack of time, so I’m definitely looking forward to seeing it at BendFilm (and I’m not even a Friends fan). “Son” of Sundance/Slamdance In addition to Duane Hopwood, there are a number of other films which come to BendFilm from the 2005 Sundance and Slamdance film fests: Police Beat (Friday 9/23 5:00pm – Library, and Saturday 9/24, 11:40am – Midtown It’s been almost 8 months since I saw Police Beat at Sundance and I’m still glowing over this film. If there was one ‘hidden gem’ from Sundance 2005 this is it. Police Beat follows the life of ‘Z’, an immigrant from Somalia who works as a beat cop in Seattle. While the film is in English, it’s narrated by ‘Z’ in Somalian (with subtitles) – a bold but brilliant choice that gives an insight into the experience of an immigrant in America. Z moves from crime scene to crime scene while dealing with a broken relationship with his American girlfriend, never lingering too long at any one spot. Director Robinson Devor does a great job of balancing these two elements and gets a wonderful performance from Pape Sidy Niang, the first-time actor who plays Z. Surprisingly Police Beat didn’t find a distributor at Sundance, so it’s been making the festival circuit (including Seattle, Munich, Edinburgh). It’s a shame more people haven’t had the opportunity to see Police Beat and I’m glad I’ll have another chance at BendFilm. (Trailer) Shakespeare Behind Bars (Friday 9/23, 3:40pm – Tower) Festival goers buzzed about a lot of documentaries at Sundance 2005 and while some of them have taken flight (March of The Penguins, Murderball, and Aristocrats), some have yet to soar. I’m happy to see the video production company London , pop up on the BendFilm schedule and I’m really looking forward to finally seeing it. Shakespeare Behind Bars follows twenty inmates from the Luther Luckett Correctional Complex in LaGrange, Kentucky as they attempt to mount a production of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”. The film was well received at Sundance and people who I spoke to who had seen the film enjoyed the transformation of the inmates through their experience with the play. Love, Ludlow (Friday 9/23 9:00am – Midtown, and Saturday 9/24, 5:50pm – Midtown) This charming film has really been making the festival circuit, appearing at Sundance, Methodfest, Atlanta, and Newport to name a few. The film follows the story of a woman and her eccentric brother, and what happens when she falls for another guy. Taking a look at the Love, Ludlow trailer, the film looks quite enjoyable and worth checking out.