Overview Portland Film Festival is an independent film festival run by a volunteer-driven non-profit in Portland, Oregon. Filmmaker Josh Leake started it out of the Portland Film Club, a group that met weekly to watch a movie and argue about it afterward. Each fall the festival runs five days of features, documentaries and shorts in curated competitions, and the directors come to town to present them. Between editions, a year-round Indie Film Series keeps the screens lit. On site The festival works out of the Portland Film Society on NW Marshall Street in the Pearl District. Two screening rooms, Bucktooth and The Den, run films from midday until past midnight. Days open with a Director's Chat, and the afternoons bring craft panels on directing and producing. A filmmaker brunch and a sparkling-wine reception open the week. Advance tickets cost a few dollars and beer and popcorn sell for a dollar. Photos happen at the step-and-repeat, while VIP guests get a lounge and a swag bag. Audience The crowd is film lovers and filmmakers, mostly from Oregon and Washington, with a good share of industry people mixed in. In the festival's survey 58% were 35 or older and 52% were women. 78% held a college or professional degree. Seven in ten would send a friend. Its network of fans and followers tops 35,000. Talent and Influencers Filmmakers present their own work here and then sit on the panels. Past attendees and alumni include Gary Oldman, Rosamund Pike, Jason Momoa, Aisha Tyler, Mario Van Peebles, k.d. lang, Eli Roth, Justin Long, Haley Joel Osment and Chuck Palahniuk. Hellboy creator Mike Mignola has hosted events there. Local film-world regulars turn up too, among them Portlandia's David Cress. Track record MovieMaker Magazine called it "one of the coolest film festivals in the world" and has put it on its list of 50 film festivals worth the entry fee more than once. USA TODAY 10Best readers have nominated it among the country's best film festivals. The #FutureFilmmakers program, run with Comcast NBCUniversal and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Portland Metro, takes kids from script to a red-carpet premiere. Brand presence Comcast is the presenting sponsor. Xfinity has hosted a branded lounge, and Koerner Camera has presented the cinematographers panel. Sponsor slides play on the big screen before every screening, a spot Tito's Handmade Vodka has used. Portland makers such as Westward Whiskey and Jacobsen Salt Co. have stocked the parties and VIP bags. Sponsor logos also run in the festival guide and on street banners hung around Portland.