CINEMA BY THE SEA
August 13 - 16, 2026
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FILMS
FEATURED FILMS
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SUMMIT
Summit follows 6 veterans and their experiences climbing some of the tallest mountains in the world and building communities through extreme outdoor adventures.
Director: Sean James Spencer
Runtime: 1:05:00
EVERYONE CALLS ME MIKE
While sailing around the world, Jean, Isabelle, and her son Damien stop in Djibouti, where they meet Mike, a young African who helps them fix their boat. As they set sail for the dangerous Aden Gulf, Jean decides to embark with Mike, who wants to start a new life. A few days later off the Somalian coast, a fishing boat approaches, and their journey takes a dramatic turn.
Director: Guillaume Bonnier
Runtime: 1:28:00
IN THE SHADOW OF THE VALLEY
After the terror attacks of 9/11, the United States launched an invasion of Afghanistan to topple the Taliban regime and our longest war began. In the Shadow of the Valley tells the stories of the Soldiers who fought there–why they joined, what they experienced, and how they made it home. In the 25th Anniversary Year of the 9/11 Attacks and the 5th Year Anniversary of the Withdrawal from Afghanistan, this film and these Soldiers’ stories are more important than ever before.
Director: Paul Hofmeister
Runtime: 2:06:00
THROW AWAY HORSES
Through interviews, photos, and the use of both archival and new footage filmed by and/or obtained by Joshua Records, LLC, the filmmaker has divided the film into 4 to 5 sections portraying the multifaceted and sometimes tragic lives of the modern day horse. To tell the story and engage the audience in this critically needed feature film, the filmmaker explored modern day horse life from private ownership to commercial use. The filmmaker follows what happens to individual horses and the impact it has on the people in their lives. This film has a special focus on rescue operations, delving into both the journey of the horses and the people who run these organizations.
Director: Theresa Demarest
Runtime: 1:36:35
THE 100 YEAR EFFECT
A scientist and a Hollywood producer team up to get the word out about rising chronic disease, declining life expectancy and the urgent need to insure the well-being of future generations. Can a film about science both entertain and affect change?
Director: Andrew Hinton
Runtime: 1:14:00
TAMING THE MOUTH
At the mouth of the Columbia River lies one of the most dangerous stretches of water on Earth–an unpredictable collision of powerful currents, shifting sandbars, and violent Pacific storms. Taming the Mouth traces the dramatic history of this perilous river entrance, from early shipwrecks and heroic rescues to the monumental construction of the jetties that reshaped the region. Through the experiences of those who work, live, and navigate at the river’s edge, the documentary reveals a story of danger, ingenuity, and endurance. The Columbia River Bar remains a place where human determination meets the raw force of nature–and where that battle continues.
Director: Brett Eichenberger
Runtime: 1:29:00
LET US READ
This film was recently non-exclusively licensed to Amazon Prime Video (rent or buy).
Let Us Read follows a growing collaboration in Central California among the UCSF Dyslexia Center, Chartwell School, Rancho Cielo, and local public school districts. Together, they are implementing structured literacy and other evidence-based teaching practices, studying their impact not only on reading skills but also on students’ confidence, engagement, and educational opportunities beyond traditional school settings.
The project was inspired by the director’s own family experience–after his daughter was diagnosed with a learning difference, the family moved across the country to find a school using the teaching approach she needed to thrive–prompting a deeper investigation into how research-based reading instruction moves from the lab to classrooms and into communities. The film ultimately asks whether the methods once designed as remediation for students with dyslexia could, in fact, help all children learn to read more effectively.
Director: Daniel Vital
Runtime: 1:20:00
THE SEEDS OF PEACE
A survivor of the Hiroshima atom bomb confronts her trauma and gathers seeds of trees that survived the blast, planting symbols of hope, healing, and remembrance in towns across Oregon eighty years later.
As a ten year old girl, Hideko Tamura Snider was an eyewitness to the atomic bombing in Hiroshima. Suffering the loss of her mother and family, she dedicated her life to sharing a message of peace, resilience, and collective healing.
In 2017, Hideko joined a global effort to cultivate peace by collecting the seeds of trees that also survived the atomic bomb. But Hideko could not do this alone. A network of professionals stepped in at critical points to grow these seeds and
distribute over 55 trees to communities across Oregon. Plantings across the state are led by groups of differing backgrounds and experiences ranging from veterans groups to Japanese American families remembering incarceration. While each peace tree in Oregon began as a seed from Hideko’s message of peace, we discover that each has taken root in a community with its own unique and symbolic meaning of peace and reconciliation.
Director: David-Paul B. Herbert
Runtime: 1:06:08
ANNE PACKARD: AN ARTIST’S RESOLVE
A single mother of five becomes one of the most successful artists of her generation.
Anne is 92 years old and today will be the last day she visits the gallery that helped make her famous. At 41, Anne’s husband left her with five small children for a 19-year old, and her parents’ response was, “You made your bed, Anne, now lie in it”...leaving her the sole provider for her young family. As a woman in the 1970s, galleries and artists would not take her seriously. They scoffed when she hung her small paintings on the fence in front of her house. Nevertheless, she priced them between $5 and $15 on the honor system, and they sold, and sold…and sold. Galleries called and collectors swarmed to her work. Soon, she and her three daughters owned their own gallery, and her paintings were selling for thousands of dollars. Today, Anne has to give up that gallery, but she has not given up her will to create
Director: Arthur Egeli
Runtime: 1:13:28
THE BEND IN THE RIVER
Following and filming friends for over fifty-years. The Bend In The River is an exploration of the inexorable flow of aging and the unfinished project of living.
Director: Robb Moss
Runtime: 1:22:00
PANIC SETS IN
In one heightened moment, under duress, a man makes a split decision that explodes the most important relationship in his life. Blending suspense with savage dark comedy, "Panic Sets In" takes a twisted trip into the heart of one couple’s tenuous bond. No relationship has ever been tested quite like this.
Director: Dustin Morrow
Runtime: 1:27:02
WOWZER!
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After the passing of her wife, lover and life partner Carol Tierheimer, Joanie found a notebook they had written of their lives together, and it became NUN BETTER: An Amazing Love Story and made Joanie a Best-Selling Author. On her book tours, people spontaneously shared stories inspired by the book. Those stories came in two categories, Sexual Identity and Religious Hurts which led to the Trilogy of NUN BETTER, and written with co-author Elizabeth Ann Atkins, JOYOUSLY FREE! and HEALING RELIGIOUS HURTS. And to this film in which Joanie shares her WHYS and HOWS in living Joyously Free!
Director: Michael Edward Gorse
Runtime: 1:02:49
SHORTS PROGRAMS
BRIDGE-MY LITTLE FRIENDS
"I'll bring Shiro to you.I promise!" Jin, the cat, made this promise to Mugi, who is deeply sad about losing her beloved dog, Shiro.
Jin loves Mugi very much and, after hearing the story of the "Rainbow Bridge" from his owner Aki, he decides to take Mugi to meet Shiro at theRainbow Bridge! Can Jin heal Mugi's sadness? With the help of nearby pigeons and squirrels, Jin's great plan is now underway!
Director: Kazuyuki Ishihara
Runtime: 9:30
STAYING
Staying follows one woman's passage through suicidal ideation, despair, and the long climb back toward herself, unraveling the shame, silence, and hidden wounds she once believed made her unworthy of light. Through intimate reflection and unflinching honesty, it traces the fragile thread of survival-illuminated by small acts of grace and the extraordinary people who helped stitch her back together.
What emerges is both a personal reckoning and a universal offering: a hand extended through the darkness to anyone who feels unseen, too heavy, or too far gone. In transforming vulnerability into connection, the film becomes a quiet beacon-a reminder that even in our most private suffering, we are never truly alone.
Director: Brendan Cleak
Runtime: 12:28
SOMETHING I LIKE
Rain and Gus have always been best friends. Now that they’re in college, who will be the first to say that there seems to be something more?
Director: Brenna Whitsett
Runtime: 3:53
AS RARE AS I AM
Beyond the physical challenges of rock climbing lies a deeper struggle for Allyx Theus, as she confronts gender bias and the pressure to conform to narrow societal expectations of femininity.
Director: Aedin Powell
Runtime: 10:09
ADDIE
Desperate to get her life together, a young woman turns to a revolutionary AI assistant that promises to bring order to her chaotic life and solve all her problems.
Director: Antonina Boyaev
Runtime: 11:37
THE ELK
As protests consumed Portland, Oregon in 2020, the city removed a beloved elk sculpture for safekeeping. Five years later, the elk is the first of the city's damaged monuments to return, and the only sculpture without controversy. But in a city that never really stopped protesting, people remain divided over why the elk went away—and what it means for the dinged-up but refurbished symbol to finally return. Set in an American city reckoning with its symbols of westward expansion, the unfolding fate of the elk and other monuments tells the story of a nation divided over who and what belongs on a pedestal.
Director: Erika Bolstad
Runtime: 30:00
THE OUTCAST AT SANGER LAKE
When Dot Fisher-Smith witnessed a brutal murder at a remote lake in Northern California and was forced to spend a day with the killer, she survived through radical calm and connection. More than five decades later, she reveals the extraordinary story of survival and the power of nonviolence.
Directors: Patricia Somers and Dreen Campbell
Runtime: 33:53
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PORTRAIT OF THE FAMILY AS A DEFINITION
This video was inspired by Kerrin McCadden’s poem “Portrait of the Family as a Definition” as read by McCadden for the video. The video translates the brief and lyrical exchanges between loss, family, addiction, trauma, and that which otherwise haunts.
Director: Adriane Little
Runtime: 2:57
PUMA MATRIARCHS OF TORRES DEL PAINE
The film chronicles the lives of three mother Pumas (aka Mountain Lions, Cougars) as they survive and thrive in the rugged terrain of Chilean Patagonia. These three matriarchs, Sarmiento, Rupestra and Petaca, drive the dynamics of living and dominating their respective territories. Raising their kits, teaching them how to catch prey and hunting that prey increase these cats’ chances of surviving in this beautiful but challenging habitat.
Directors: David P. Glatz and Shiela P. Glatz
Runtime: 12:16
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LOUsely Based
LOUsely Based is about Lou, a young man navigating family expectations, personal challenges, and quiet determination to live life on his own terms.
Director: Eric A. Eisenstein
Runtime: 14:07
EVER FLOWING
Voices from around the Pacific Northwest unite to make the case for the survival of wild salmon by breaching the lower-four Snake River dams.
Director: Mark Titus
Runtime: 6:33
RUNNING WILD: RETURN TO THE RIVER
Witness one of nature's most compelling sagas in Running Wild: Return to the River - the incredible life of Pacific Salmon. Prepare for a breathtaking immersion into a vital ecosystem, where the fate of wild salmon is intertwined with iconic wildlife and untamed beauty. From the grizzlies and wolves that patrol the rivers' edge to the orcas and eagles reliant on their ocean bounty, discover the profound influence of wild salmon across both land and sea.
Through stunning visuals and intimate storytelling, Running Wild: Return to the River follows the epic return of wild salmon to the streams where they began. Experience their remarkable resilience and the intricate web of life sustained by their seasonal journey. Along the way, encounter the deep interdependence of creatures – from sea lions to grizzly bears and even ourselves – each playing a crucial part in this vibrant and interconnected world.
Director: Myles Connolly
Runtime: 45:00
OWL HILL
A documentary shining a light on the community of owl box keepers and preservationists in the San Francisco Bay Area and surrounding areas.
Tagline: They build the boxes, so we can watch them grow.
Director: Sean Restivo
Runtime: 14:32
THE LAST JOURNEY
After 36 years of marriage built on curiosity and adventure, Jesse and Susanne face an impossible choice when Jesse is diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia. Before the disease progresses, Jesse decides to end his life by Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking (VSED), and together, they navigate the profound tenderness, conflict, and courage of loving and letting go, on their own terms.
Director: Lacy Coralline Green
Runtime: 26:21
GHOST
A Native American action short about redemption.
A former elite operative leaves a violent past behind to raise his daughter in peace. But when she’s taken by the shadows he once served, he’s forced to return to the life he tried to escape.
Now, with nothing but his skills and a heart full of regret, he fights not just to save her-but to redeem himself.
Director: Adam Conte
Runtime: 8:59
CORA DALE - A REDISCOVERED HARMONY
When mental illness derailed the promising career of early 20th century composer and pianist Cora Dale, her extraordinary musical legacy nearly vanished from history. Now, decades later, her former Goshen, Indiana home has been transformed into a beacon for mental wellness - ensuring that her story and music will never be forgotten.
Director Biography: Silas Immanuel, Isabel Massud Fariaa De Souza
Runtime: 16:00
SENZA SOSTA: (No Stopping)
“Some Things are too Important to Pause”
Senza Sosta, a documentary short by Scott Taylor about the healing power of music. The film is the story of the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra’s passion and perseverance in bringing live music to the community during COVID-19 pandemic, when people needed it most.
Director: Scott Bevan Taylor
Runtime: 12:40
THE 18TH HOLE
When a frustrated Florida husband, father, and weekend golfer steals a mysterious black book from the library, he thinks he has found the secret to getting his chaotic life under control. But the book does not fix his problems. It feeds his wounded pride, turning one man’s petty suburban meltdown into something much darker. Think Clark Griswold with the Necronomicon.
Director: Michael Ferrara
Runtime: 9:43
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An Act of War /A Mission of Peace
Length: 26 min 46 sec Submitted By: refresh quest show
Synopsis: Host Jeremy Maupin travels to Brookings, Oregon, with local guides Gregory Bailey and Steve Webster to uncover a remarkable and little-known chapter of American history. In the early hours of 1942, a Japanese pilot flew over the southern Oregon coast and dropped two incendiary bombs into the forest below - marking the only time the U.S. mainland was bombed by an enemy aircraft during World War Il. What began as an act of war would, decades later, evolve into an extraordinary story of reconciliation and peace. As Jeremy explores the breathtaking, rugged coastline and dense forest of Brookings, he retraces the events of that fateful day and searches for the very spot where history was made.