Davis Film Festival returns with annual showcase of local indie films
Festival featured live music, an award ceremony and movies from both local and international filmmakers
By BRIAN LI — city@theaggie.org
On Nov. 1, a crowd of directors, friends and family members from the local indie filmmaker community gathered at Veterans Memorial Theater for the annual Davis Film Festival. The festival, which took place from 2 to 9:30 p.m., featured 24 short films from a wide range of genres, including drama, comedy, documentary, animation and experimental film.
Judith Plank, the founder and organizer of the festival, began the tradition in 2003 after she was inspired to create a space for Davis filmmakers to showcase their work.
“I was volunteering all over the place at all kinds of film festivals,” Plank said. “And suddenly I realized that Davis does not have a film festival, so I said, ‘Excuse me, I need to change that.’”
Plank originally hosted the festival at the Varsity Theatre before relocating to Veterans Memorial Theater.
The festival was divided into two halves — the early afternoon portion offered family-friendly viewings, while the evening was reserved for mature audiences. In between the two portions, organizers held an awards ceremony during which trophies were presented to directors on stage. A dinner break before the evening program featured live music from local Americana band, According to Bazooka.
This year marked the final time the festival would be held on a single day, with an expansion to a two-day schedule being planned for 2027. The festival was originally held over the course of two days prior to the pandemic.
Additionally, the festival announced that it would be updating their artificial intelligence (AI) policy to prohibit any submissions that use generative AI, though organizers clarified that AI post-production tools, such as sound restoration, are still permitted. While the festival had previously adopted the Academy Awards’ stance of accepting AI films but limiting the award categories they could win, organizers decided to change the policy this year in support of the PauseAI movement. The movement advocates for a pause on AI training until safe development and democratic control over AI can be established.
The festival attracted many submissions from creatives outside the local film scene, some of whom traveled to Davis to present their films. Two such attendees include Los Angeles-based director Peter Valentino and Folsom high school student Ian Kim, who came with his family to showcase his first short film. Aside from submissions from other states, the festival also featured films from Japan, Brazil and Germany.
Many attendees expressed their admiration for the genuine passion they felt from the festival’s submissions, which they described as a core appeal of small local film festivals.
“I think there’s a lot of heart that goes into indie films and people really care,” Valentino said, “And that’s one of the great things about the festival.”
Erika de la Cruz, an Arbuckle resident, was impressed by the quality and creativity of submissions despite the lack of resources available to indie filmmakers.
“There’s a really good variety of different themes and production quality, and it’s really fun to see how people [who don’t have] the huge range of materials that you would have available in a Hollywood production can do some pretty magical stuff,” de la Cruz said.
De la Cruz asserted that the quality of the films featured at the festival was a testament to the resilience and ingenuity of the local filmmaking scene.
“The film industry here in Sacramento punches above its weight,” de la Cruz said. “There’s some really good stuff that comes out of here, [and] luckily the Davis Film Festival is a part of this whole scene.”
The Davis Film Festival is expected to return next fall for a two day festival, and will likely open for submissions in early 2027 on FilmFreeway. Prospective sponsors, volunteers or attendees can also inquire with the festival directly. More information about the Davis Film Festival can be found on their website.
Written by: Brian Li — city@theaggie.org