Catch Best of Fest on April 16 at Tagaris Winery

Filmmaker Geoff Klein is making good his promise to bring the Tumbleweed Film Festival to the Tri-Cities.

The Best of Fest event will be April 16 at Tagaris Winery in Richland.

"Best of Fest brings top-rated films from Tumbleweed's annual film festival to other communities throughout Washington and British Columbia," Klein said.

"It's a great way to introduce other communities to the film festival experience. We plan on continuing to expand this festival within the Tri-Cities by bringing it to more wineries and other venues each year."

The event will be a sneak-peek at a handful of films that will be shown at the Aug. 4-6 Tumbleweed Film Festival in Oroville.

There will 10 short films shown at the Tri-City fest that range from comedy to animation to experimental, Klein said.

Doors open at 5 p.m., and showtime is at 7 p.m. Admission is $12, with advance tickets available at the winery, 844 Tulip Lane, Richland, or by calling 628-1619.

One of the films to be shown, The Crush, was nominated for an Oscar this year as best live action short. And one of Klein's films, Baxter's Big Day, will be shown.

Klein, who grew up in the Tri-Cities and now lives in Seattle, has been a storyteller since childhood. He took his storytelling to filmmaking in 1998 when he directed his first short film and has been hooked on filmmaking ever since.

Here's a list of the films to be shown:

-- Adelaide, a U.S. comedy directed by Liliana Greenfield-Sanders. The story follows Adelaide, who is looking for love and seeks attention by faking illnesses. Then she meets Brad, who turns her strategy and both their lives upside down.

-- Dishonesty, a U.S. comedy directed by Timothy Watkins. It's about a young married couple who have always been truthful to each other but decide, just for fun, to spend one day being dishonest to each other to see what it's like. The result is hilarious fun.

-- Wonder Hospital, an animated film from Korean filmmaker Beomsik Shimbe Shim. The film takes a surreal journey into oddity and empty illusion in a mysterious hospital that specializes in modifying physical beauty.

-- For A Few Marbles More, a comedy by Jelmar Hufen from the Netherlands. It's about four 10-year-old boys who are kicked out of their playground by two aggressive drunkards. The kids recruit the toughest boy in the neighborhood to help them take back their playground.

-- True Beauty This Night, a U.S. comedy by Peter Besson. The story centers around Rhett Somers, who just met the love of his life and must now convince her of that, which is not an easy feat considering how they met.

-- Alma, an animated Spanish film directed by Rodrigo Blaas. It's about a little girl named Alma who is always happily skipping through the streets of her small-town home. Then one day she is lured into a toy stop by a strange doll.

-- Last Hand Standing, a British comedy directed by Paul Cotter. During an endurance competition, one competitor falls for a fellow contestant and finds happiness without winning the prize he coveted.

-- Baxter's Big Day, a U.S. comedy directed by Geoff Klein. When McKenzie's car breaks down in the desert, he relies on a special friend to bail him out of a business presentation.

-- The Crush, an Irish comedy directed by Michael Creagh. The story follows 8-year-old Ardal Travis, who is besotted in love with his teacher and challenges her boyfriend to a duel to the death.

-- Mugs, an experimental U.S. film directed by Ronnie Cramer. You'll just have to see this one to get an explanation.

*Dori O'Neal: 582-1514; doneal@tricityherald.com

This story was originally published April 8, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Catch Best of Fest on April 16 at Tagaris Winery ."