A four-day celebration of independent cinema is underway in Cambria, bringing in filmmakers and fans from all over.
“It couldn’t be any better, but it seems to get better every year,” said Tanya L. Hildebrand, a Pismo Beach resident and attendee.
Hildebrand said that she has attended the Cambria Film Festival since it started in 2018. One part she enjoys is meeting the filmmakers who've traveled here.
“From all over the world, and they had 500 movies that were put forth and out of that I think they picked I think 90 or 50,” Hildebrand said.
Lilliana Montero Plummer and Jeff Plummer are the co-directors of the festival. They said they have a total of 97 films showing over the week, including international movies.
“We have four films from Iran this year, which is a first for us," Plummer said. "Those filmmakers we have corresponded with, they can’t come, but they are very excited because making a film there, even making a film there, is very difficult.”
They added that all submissions are watched along with screeners who watch and rate the films to narrow down the list.
“And then from there we have a selection committee and you know, as it whittles down due to ratings, we come down to the selection of 97," Montero Plummer said. "This is the most we’ve had in the festival ever.”
About 30 filmmakers are attending the festival this year, one being Wyatt Otero from San Diego. His film is a short documentary called "Ten Cents: The Photography of Mike Flynn."
“It’s about a photographer that I met randomly on Craigslist and then discovered that he had a lifetime of incredible work, but he never really valued his work more than the 10 cents that it cost to print it out," Otero said.
Otero added that his film is featured at other film festivals in New York and Paris but said he enjoys the smaller regional festivals as well.
“Everybody is really friendly. They’re here to watch movies. They’re here because they love movies," Otero said. "It’s not about, you know, necessarily the industry or the buying market. It’s just about loving movies."
Montero Plummer said that this is the first time they have many family films and are able to offer a family block for free at noon on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The festival ends on Sunday, Feb. 8.
