Zombies! Madness! Faeries! Reggae!

Portland Film Fest returns, in its 3rd incarnation, cementing its place as a cultural tour de force and earning its reputation as one of the “Top 25 Coolest Film Festivals In The World 2014” from MovieMaker Magazine. Portland is at an interesting crossroads in its cultural evolution. On one hand, it is the run-down, rusted, gloomy, economically-depressed and overly-tattoed old school version of itself, which we all know and love. On the other, it is a shining mecca for the 21st Century, a beacon of progressiveness, DIY ethos, and collaborative creative communities.

While it may be a magnet for under-employed creative hopefuls, Portland is still not that known for its film-making scene, which remains frustratingly ensconced in SoCal. All of that stands to change with this year’s edition of Portland Film Festival, featuring world class talent and programming, much of which is sourced from the City Of Roses.

Running from Sept. 1 – Sept. 7, PFF15 will feature 214 feature-length and short films, many of them having world premiers, or showing for the first time in the Pacific Northwest. PFF15 will also feature two tributes to filmmaking legends – notorious Oscar-winning Oregonian animator Will Vinton, along with the amazing imagineer Wendy Froud, best known for bringing Yoda to life, as well as working with Jim Henson’s Studios on a number of their most beloved works.

As if this weren’t enough, there are over 50 hours of professional workshops happening throughout the week, from everything from motion capture animation to screenwriting, to boozing, schmoozing meet ‘n greets.

For the music lovers (which is to say everybody in Portland), there is a special focus on music documentaries, including full-length features on “Low Rockers” Morphine (RIP Mark Sandman), SF visionary anonymites The Residents, and the world premier of GRU-PDX, a candid look at Portland’s DIY underground music scene through the eyes of a Brazilian band, Quarto Negro.

As to be expected, PFF15 is a model of diversity, bringing in a fresh current of under-represented voices in cinema. One more thing that’s great about living, working, and appreciating art in Portland, OR.As a final capstone, PFF15 will culminate by attempting to set a world record, by having the most extras, ever, in a movie. The kicker? (or is that shambler…) The movie is called Zombie Day Apocalypse, directed by George C. Romero, son of legendary zombie-maker George Romero, the auteur behind Night Of The Living Dead. Finally, all of those zombie pub crawls are paying off, as morbid Portlanders pull out their best shuffling gait. Zombieday Apocalypse will culminate in a free screening of a zombie movie in a cemetery.