Lights! Camera! Action! TRIFI film festival set Oct. 20-22 in Richland

Indie film lovers rejoice!

The Tri-Cities International Film Festival is back this year, with more than 75 feature films, documentaries and shorts to be screened during the three-day event.

The festival, known as TRIFI, runs Oct. 20-22 in Richland.

“Indie films are stories that are very original. Hollywood is all sequel now, pretty much. But even the short indie films — they’re short stories. They’re very original and well done,” said Nat Saenz, who puts on the film festival. “This is your chance to see something unique, that you can’t see anywhere other than a festival.”

TRIFI got its start in 2008 and has screened hundreds of films from around the world.

This year’s offerings range from sci-fi to animation, horror, documentary, comedy and fan films.

Festival highlights include the Washington state premiere of an acclaimed documentary about an animal rescue team, plus visits from filmmakers and performers.

Some of the films that were written, shot and edited during the festival’s 72-Hour Film Challenge also will be shown.

TRIFI kicks off at 5 p.m. Oct. 20 at the Uptown Theatre, 1300 Jadwin Ave.

The state premiere of SMART is that night, starting at 7 p.m. Writer and director Justin Zimmerman will answer questions after the screening.

SMART stands for Specialized Mobile Animal Rescue Team. It’s a unique team of animal control officers working in Los Angeles.

The festival continues at 1 p.m. Oct. 21 at the Uptown Theatre and Confluent Space Tri-Cities, 285 Williams Blvd. A highlight of that night is a screening of the dark comedy The Lady Killers at 6:45 p.m. at the Uptown, followed by a Q&A with writer/director Phil Leirness and producer/actor Lily Holleman.

The festival continues on Oct. 22 with film screenings at Confluent Space Tri-Cities. The screenings start at 1 p.m.

Tri-City Herald film critic Gary Wolcott, known as Mr. Movie, is the festival’s master of ceremonies.

Festival sponsors include Tri-Cities Life Real Estate, Scarlet Oak Barrels Winery, the city of Richland, Uptown Theatre, Confluent Space and Brandcraft Media.

Tickets are $10 for a single day or $25 for the entire festival. They’re available at trifi.org and at the door.

This story was originally published October 12, 2017 at 12:22 PM with the headline "Lights! Camera! Action! TRIFI film festival set Oct. 20-22 in Richland."