8 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
THE REEL WORLD
Astoria’s Columbian Theater screens Wandering Reel Traveling Film Festival on Nov. 12
By LAURA CHERAU
FOR COAST WEEKEND
T
he Wandering Reel Travel-
ing Film Festival makes its
fi rst pit-stop in Astoria at the
Columbian Theater during a matinee
screening Sunday, Nov. 12. Doors
open at 2:30 p.m.; the fi lms begin at 3
p.m.
Six independent short fi lms will
be shown, followed by a community
discussion and Q-and-A with festival
director Michael Harrington, a Lincoln
City native. Tickets are $5.
The festival’s program, “You. Me.
We.,” features fi lms from France,
Syria, Spain, Iran, the U.S. and Canada
that explore the complex relationships
among people and ask: “What tears us
apart? What brings us together?”
Harrington said these fi lms explore
topics such as “racial justice and iden-
tity, the refugee crisis, the importance
of community and friends at the end of
life” in a way that mainstream media
COURTESY MICHAEL HARRINGTON
“The Sugering Off ”
and cinema often fail to do.
“These fi lms have a humanity,”
he said. “They’re all great fi lms and
great pieces of art that you won’t see
elsewhere.”
Eff ect change, inspire
conversation
The festival has rolled through
Manzanita every year since its 2015
inception, but this is the fi rst year a
COURTESY MICHAEL HARRINGTON
“White Face”
venue could be found in Astoria.
The mission of Wandering Reel
— which tours cities throughout the
western U.S., including in Washington,
Colorado and California — is to bring
quality short fi lms to “communities
with limited or no access to compas-
sionate, thought-provoking cinema.”
The six fi lms screening in Astoria
come from a roster of 22 total fi lms,
chosen from about 200 considered by
the festival jury, that will screen at
various locations.
Sid Ganis, former president of the
Academy of Motion Pictures and Sci-
ences, is one of the jurors, as is Rosa
Tran, the award-winning producer of
“Anomalisa,” and Kate Purdy, the tele-
vision writer of “BoJack Horseman”
and “Cougar Town.”
The fi lm festival’s only requirement
is that the fi lms “demonstrate the pow-
er of the medium to effect change and
inspire conversation,” Harrington said.
This allows the festival to accept
international submissions or short fi lms