The Orem Film Festival Approaches Life With Bold Enthusiasm

Almost every event I go to that has the word “festival” slapped on it turns out to be a uniquely underwhelming, overpriced experience. Many festivals, especially local ones, seem to exist as a way for an artist to promote their work to an audience that doesn’t know any better. It’s genius, really. If no one is watching or listening to your mediocre art form in action, you might as well just make a festival and sneakily shove yourself into it! Yay!

This is all to say that the Orem Film Festival has none of these more common festival sins. The festival’s creators aren’t shoving their own movies into the lineup; there is certainly no AI slop and every film in the 10-film lineup was clearly chosen with intentionality and thought for the overall audience experience. Tickets were $10 and included a 24-ounce Swig coupon. Swig and the Utah Film Commission sponsored the festival.

The Swig coupon I got from the festival is currently sleeping in the middle section of my slim, crosshatched Banana Republic wallet, next to a piece of paper that reads: “APPROACH LIFE WITH BOLD ENTHUSIASM — PANDA EXPRESS.” When I asked Trevor Allen, the creator of the Orem Film Festival, what he thought about the phrase “APPROACH LIFE WITH BOLD ENTHUSIASM,” he responded with the following statement:

“We take great pride in our film curation. One throughline across our entire selection is the intense passion behind every project. Each film has a unique point of view, but each artist was driven by an incredible enthusiasm for storytelling. Because these filmmakers used their own money and limited resources, they needed a profound level of enthusiasm for their craft just to push through and get these films made. I think this is one of the reasons these films resonate with audiences; they can tell how lovingly these projects were made.”

The festival featured a wide variety of films, some made in Utah and some made outside of Utah, but all shown on the big screen at the IMAX theater in Vineyard (notably not Orem, but we’ll let it slide).

The films ranged from the incredibly aesthetically pleasing LEGO animation And the Moon Bloomed, directed by Stanley Q-Brick (haha), to the cuteness of schoolchildren discussing and singing about American white pelicans in Dear Pelican, directed by John Meier. In the span of two hours and 20 minutes, I was able to laugh at the absurdity of a killer vacuum in Suction, directed by KoDie King Romero; cry at the universality of the human experience in Baggage, directed by Lucy Davidson; and grip my seat with white knuckles while watching one of the most uncomfortably intense yet important films I’ve seen in a long time, Moderator, directed by Eli Staub.

Each theater held three seven-minute Q&As with the directors. My theater hosted Q&As for Suction, I Hid My Heart Inside My Head directed by Luis Fernando Puente and Love Letter to My Parents directed by Mira Plummer. The other theater hosted Q&As for Dear Pelican, Moderator and Do Not Watch, directed by Andy Matthews and Aaron Tharp.

My favorite film of the festival was Moderator, a 15-minute drama depicting the anxieties and horrors of being a late-night social media content moderator. The most profound moment comes when the moderator’s daughter pulls out her iPad to scroll through social media after being unable to sleep.

After everything the moderator — and the audience — has just been forced to witness, seeing an innocent child casually scrolling through social media is absolutely gut-wrenching. At any moment, something terrible could come across her screen. And even if something terrible doesn’t, she is still being fed videos about slimming down women’s bodies, perfecting appearances, the best beauty products as well as countless other ways to become thinner, more attractive, or more desirable.

Of course, these are things no child,  and, frankly, no person, should have to constantly engage with. But the reality is that anyone who uses social media is subjected to this endless stream of insecurity-inducing content, whether they realize it or not. Moderator gives us a warning about what happens when that stream of content enters the lives of people who may not yet understand its effects.

After all 10 films finished, a QR code appeared on the screen, allowing the audience to vote for their favorite film. The Audience Award went to A Love Letter to My Parents, which wasn’t surprising. The film was wholesome, engaging and locally relevant.

Next came the Utah Emerging Filmmaker Award, which went to Do Not Watch, my least favorite film of the night. It was the only film that made me acutely aware that I was watching a locally made film. However, considering that the award was specifically for an emerging Utah filmmaker, perhaps that was exactly the point.

The final and most prestigious award, the Jury Prize, was judged on originality, technical execution and narrative strength. It went to Moderator, which, as I have said, was very deserving.

The Utah Emerging Filmmaker Award and the Jury Prize were decided by a jury comprised of Scott Renshaw, Derek Mellus, Jahanara Saleh, Mekhai Lee, Carli Mahas and Quian Redfern, all critics, filmmakers and movie lovers working in the film industry.

After the award ceremony ended and three $1,000 checks were handed out to the winners, I left the auditorium, walked past the beautiful OFF merchandise designed by my longtime friend Davis Dial and went home feeling satisfied with my experience. 

The Orem Film Festival is a fabulous addition to Utah’s movie festival circuit. It is a festival that understands the importance of having people who actually care about what they’re putting in front of an audience. You need curation. You need variety. You need people willing to take weird little projects seriously. It is a breath of fresh air to see a festival exist to serve a community and an art form, rather than functioning as a vehicle for the organizers to exhibit themselves.

I’m excited to see how this festival grows, and I hope to attend and support it for many years to come.

When I asked Edward Pollei, the creative producer of the Orem Film Festival, what he thought about the statement “APPROACH LIFE WITH BOLD ENTHUSIASM,” he responded with:

“One oughta try to.”

Read more about community events here: Room For One More: Salt Lake Film Festival – SLUG Magazine Last Reckoning Screening Review – SLUG Magazine

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