The second edition of the North Bend Film Festival came to a close in the scenic town of North Bend, Washington with closing night film Rachel Mason’s personal queer doc Circus of Books taking home the Audience Award. Villains won the prizes for Best Film along with Best Actor for Bill Skarsgård.

Year two saw a record number of filmmakers and creators in attendance including Joe Begos for the West Coast Premiere of the debaucherously psychedelic festival hit BLISS; Jennifer Reeder for the Pacific Northwest Premiere of her sensational Lynchian-by-way-of-girlhood epic KNIVES AND SKIN and First-time director Andrew Wonder for the subworldy FERAL.

Feature Film Awards 

Best Film: Villains

Best Director: Edgar Nito, The Gasoline Thieves

Best Screenplay: Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman, Extra Ordinary 

Best Actor: Bill Skarsgård, Villains

Best Actress: Maeve Higgins, Extra Ordinary

Honorable Mention: Annapurna Sriram, Feral

Audience Award: Circus of Books

Short Film Awards

Best Short: Sometimes, I Think About Dying

Best Director: Erica Scoggins, The Boogeywoman

Best Screenplay: Erica Scoggins, The Boogeywoman

Best Actor: Vincent Leong, King Wah (I Think I Love You) 

Best Actress: Katy Wright-Mead, Sometimes. I Think About Dying

The Good Boy Award a.k.a. Best Dog: Mars, Technology Lake: Meditations on Death & Sex

Honorable Mention: Marion Renard, Switch

Cinema Vista Shorts Program Audience Award: Sometimes, I Think About Dying

Something Strange Shorts Program Audience Award (tie between two films): Technology Lake and Switch

VR/Immersive Awards

Most Innovative Immersive Experience: Allyson Morgan & Kevin Laibson, Ghosted AR Special Mention for Immersive Storytelling: Kalina Bertin, Manic VR