Ashland Independent Film Festival

06/12/2026

2026 Spring Film Fest Award Highlight: Best Narrative Short, The Art of Inflation, Brett Wietecha and Tim Hedberg

In 2018, Venezuela’s inflation skyrocketed to over 1,000,000%, driving more than seven million people to flee the country as refugees... Escaping this economic collapse, two brothers struggled for survival on a militia-operated coca farm. With their lives on the line, the younger brother gambled on a last ditch effort to rescue themselves and bring the girl he had fallen for.

For many Venezuelans, The Art of Inflation is more than just a film - it is a reflection of real experiences, loss, resilience, and hope... Congratulations Brett and Tim! We were beyond honored to spotlight this powerful story during this year's fest.

06/10/2026

Pssst... Check Out our Alum Films Now on PBS!

🍿 Assembly, Rashaad Newsome and Johnny Symons
🍿 Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World, Sasha Waters Freyer
🍿 Sun Ra: Do the Impossible, Christine Turner
🍿 The Librarians, Kim A. Snyder
🍿 True North, Michèle Stephenson

If you haven't had a chance to experience these films, or are itching to rewatch them again, head on over to www.pbs.org. Happy Indie Filming!

06/08/2026

Our Community Partners are THE BEST! 🥰

It truly takes a community to bring a film festival to life, and we couldn’t have done it without the beyond generous support of our Community Partners. From providing donated goods and services, to the many other ways that they showed up for our 2026 Spring Film Festival, each and every one of their contributions helped create a welcoming and memorable experience for both our filmmakers and audiences.

THANK YOU!

06/05/2026

2026 Spring Film Fest Award Highlight: Best Documentary Feature, Adam's Apple, Amy Jenkins

Adam's Apple is an intimate documentary told through the dual perspectives of Adam, a transgender teen, and his mother, Amy Jenkins. The film offers an authentic and tender counterpart to the hostility facing trans youth today, and through a visually poetic approach, transforms a deeply personal archive collected over two decades into a powerful and joyful testament to the beauty and difficulty of reckoning with profound change.

Adam's Apple will have its premiere in California at the Frameline Film Festival, celebrating their 50th Year of uplifting LGBTQ+ voices. Congratulations Amy and Team! We were beyond thrilled to celebrate you and all of your talent during this year's fest.

06/03/2026

"The festival doesn’t create the work itself. It creates the context for the work. The room. The people watching. The conversation after the credits roll..."

Oregon Film recently published an article on Substack about audiences and some interesting data around the unique film festival ecosystem in Oregon. The quote above especially resonated with those of us who are working behind-the-scenes, and we encourage you to check out the full article. Thank you so much for acknowledging all of the work that takes place to make our film festivals possible. This allows us to continue championing our filmmakers, which is such an immense privilege.

https://open.substack.com/pub/oregonfilm/p/audience?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

Some Data Around Oregon's Unique Film Festival Ecosystem

06/01/2026

We LOVE Our Programming Team! 🖤

Our 2026 Spring Film Festival wouldn't have been possible without all of the passion, dedication, and love of independent film of our beyond fabulous Programming Team. They are behind the scenes watching all of our submissions, discussing their favorites, taking meticulous notes, debating hidden gems, and helping us build a lineup that inspires, surprises, and sparks conversation. We are so beyond appreciative of our Programming Team and everything that they do.

THANK YOU!

05/29/2026

2026 Spring Film Fest Award Highlight: Best Narrative Feature, Trash Baby, Jacy Mairs

Local Jacy Mairs finally made her hometown premiere with her debut feature film, Trash Baby. Jacy shares, "I’m moved by how many people have connected with this story already, and I’m honored to make a film celebrating anyone who’s ever felt socially unclaimed. To the trailer park kids, this film is a love letter to you. We may have to work twice as hard to be half as good, but the wins earned taste sweeter than the wins bought and the truth is, we will always be hungrier.”

Congratulations, Jacy! We were beyond thrilled to celebrate you and all of your talent during this year's fest.

05/27/2026

Mark Your Calendars for the SOU Student Film Festival!

Our friends at the SOU Student Film Festival have a wonderful slate of films lined up to screen at the Varsity Theatre. Here's what you need to know...

🍿 Date and Time: Monday, June 1 and Thursday, June 11, 6:00 p.m.
🍿 Location: Varsity Theatre
🍿 Other: 14 Films, Q+As, Filmmakers Present

Tickets are free for students and $5.00 for non-students. To purchase tickets, please visit the SOU Digital Media Center. Hours are Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Saturday from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Come on out and support these amazing student filmmakers!

05/25/2026

We APPRECIATE Our Friends of the Fest! 🖤

Our Friends of the Fest went above and beyond to spread the word about all of the incredible films that screened during our 2026 Spring Film Festival. Who are Friends of the Fest, you might ask?

Friends of the Fest is a partnership that positions local businesses and nonprofit organizations as co-sponsors of our films. We identify films that we believe align with their mission and what they are all about, then they help promote the films. In return, we help promote them. It's a win-win and a wonderful way to expand our audiences and collaborate with our community more, because let's face it... We are all doing some AWESOME WORK!

05/22/2026

2026 Spring Film Fest Award Highlight: Indie Institution Awardees, Rick Prelinger and Craig Baldwin

This year, we paid tribute to two film archivists whose vast collections have been an indispensable resource to independent filmmakers: Rick Prelinger and Craig Baldwin. Rick Prelinger began collecting "ephemeral” or “useful” films (films made for specific purposes at specific times, such as advertising, educational, and industrial films) in 1983. His collection of 60,000 films was acquired by the Library of Congress in 2002, and since that time, Prelinger Archives has grown to include some 40,000 home movies and 7,000 other film items.

Craig Baldwin’s Other Cinema Archive, housed at Baldwin’s Other Cinema in the Mission District of San Francisco, has, according to Rick Prelinger, “violated almost every rule that traditional archivists venerate… His collection resembles a Japanese antiquarian bookstore, where nothing exists by chance and the arrangement is an artwork of its own… Baldwin’s collection has introduced generations of filmmakers, artists, and community members to the idea of an archive and much more importantly, to what an archive might be.”

Congratulations, Rick and Craig! We were beyond thrilled to celebrate you and all of your talent during this year's fest.