By Brock Seaman
Bellingham’s biggest horror film festival, Bleedingham, is back at the Pickford Film Center for the seventh year running.
Filmmakers from all over the world show their short horror movies at Bleedingham — however, many of the people who submitted are locals from Washington State.
Bleedingham has a diverse selection of events, including concerts, art shows, and Q&A’s with the participants.
The main event at Bleedingham, called the Official Selection Screening, showed on Oct. 27 and is limited to Washingtonian filmmakers.
Steven Chappell, a Whatcom Community College Alumni, showed his movie “Bring the Remains” at Bleedingham this year.
“It’s very exciting to have an opportunity to see [“Bring the Remains”] on a big cinema screen among a sold-out crowd of strangers,” Chappell said.
Bleedingham is a competition as well as a film festival. The awards include Scariest Film, Best Directing, and Best Picture, which fetches a cash prize of $1,000.
Among the events held during Bleedingham Night Gallery, a horror-themed art show, is one of the events held during Bleedingham. Another distinctive feature of the festival is the cosplayers, drawing them in from as far as Seattle.
The competition is judged by a panel of people well-versed in the industry.
One of the judges, Roman Stadtler, is a founder of the Whatcom Film Association and the owner Comics Place in downtown Bellingham. Other judges include special effects artists, composers, horror writers, and actors.
Chappell worked with Brian Glinski to create “Bring the Remains,” which the Bleedingham website describes as a psychological horror movie about an 1800s fur trapper in the Pacific Northwest who is sent on a futile journey to find his brother.
“We spent three full days in Leavenworth last winter, shooting long hours in the miserable snow, rain, wind, and darkness…it was absolutely worth every frozen toe,” Chappell said.
Chappell and Glinski won two awards: third place for best cinematography and third place for best story.
Submissions closed on Oct. 1 and nominees are decided in mid-October. The films must be 10-15 minutes long and must be made in the last two years.
All 18 films will be shown again at the Pickford on Nov. 4.
