Look out Sundance, there’s a new film festival in town. This Friday, September 9 marks the opening night of the inaugural Film Fest Twain Harte. Twain Harte is a quaint little mountain town in the heart of California’s gold country. The town is no stranger to cinema. Over three hundred films have been filmed there including High Noon, Little House on the Prairie, The Big Country, The Lone Ranger and Back to the Future 3.

For its inaugural run Film Fest Twain Harte boasts an impressive lineup of films. I’m gonna run down my picks but be sure to check out their Film Guide for information on all the other great films they’re showing.
Friday, September 9

WARNING! This video contains explicit language
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VIP Opening Night Gala! Black Velvet (Director Tim Pape, 2011) The film guide describes this film as a cross between Bonnie and Clyde and Alice in Wonderland. The plot involves a young couple wreaking havoc on a number of small towns in a dystopian future. The film starts Ray Wise and Richard Riehle who will be participating in a Special Celebrity Q&A with the audience.

Saturday, September 10
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The Whisperer In Darkness (Director Sean Branney, 2011) Produced by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society (look for more on them later in the week on this blog!) this film follows folklore professor Albert Wilmarth as he investigates legends of strange creatures in the remote hills of Vermont. This film is filmed in the style of classic 1930s horror films such as Frankenstein, Dracula and King Kong this film returns audiences to the golden age of movies for a thrilling adventure of supernatural horror based on the writings of H.P. Lovecraft.

WARNING! This video contains explicit language
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=c17P80w3S1E]

Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone (Directors Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler, 2010) From the shifting faultiness of Hollywood fantasies and the economic and racial tensions of Reagan’s America, Fishbone rose to become one of the most original bands of the last 25 years. With a blistering combination of punk and funk they demolished the walls of genre and challenged the racial stereotypes and political order of the music industry and the nation. Telling it like it is, the iconic Laurence Fishburne narrates Everyday Sunshine, a story about music, history, fear, courage and funking on the one.

Sunday, September 11
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Survive (Director Ronald Jerry, 2009) On the ninth day of their great Alaskan expedition, a group of four backcountrycampers waits for their charter flight out of the wild. The party had scheduled an airplane for an afternoon pickup, and the weather is agreeable. Still, the plane never arrives. As their food begins to dwindle and spirits wane over the course of the next several days, the four must accept the fact their ride may never be coming. There is no way for them to know if this was some gross oversight by the air taxi service or due to a terrible accident. They only know they have apparently been abandoned. As the days turn into weeks the group is forced to endure an untamed wilderness and ultimately learn how to survive.

You can pick up tickets for individual shows here and all-access passes for the whole festival can be found right over here.

Don’t miss this inaugural run of a world-class film festival that’s sure to become a yearly tradition.