Different. Experimental. “The weird stuff.”
These are all descriptors of the upcoming inaugural Long Beach Underground Film Fest, blazing its own path through the city and inviting the weirdos along for the ride.
The experimental festival will take place July 18-20, Friday evening through Sunday afternoon, in any place that can hold chairs, people and films. Non-traditional venues like parking lots, small businesses and empty hallways felt like the perfect fit for the Underground Film Fest, said co-founder Richard Martinez.
“Following a punk rock ethos where these communities didn’t have a place to play, they kind of created their own spaces,” Martinez said. Now 43 years old, Martinez has decades of experience in unconventional art spaces, forging a way where there is none. He’s been making films since he was a teen, worked on a number of independent films and directed a few of his own.
“I just thought it would be cool if there was a place to show the type of films that I was making and I was watching,” he said.
The goal to run his own film festival was always on his mind, and eventually made its way to his coworker’s ear at Harbor House Cafe in Sunset Beach. Jay Contreras is community-oriented herself, and the two have often bonded over their shared interest in independent, underground art.
One day, Martinez was writing short stories about Jay and her pet chameleon taking over the world, while Contreras was drawing cartoons on napkins in the cafe. Shortly after, they were pitching ideas for a film festival. The two formally launched their plans for the Long Beach Underground Film Fest last September.
Their startup event, hosted at Harbor House, threw them out of their comfort zone and into the world of festival founders. The reactions to their launch have been heartwarming, the two friends and founders said. Though the Instagram numbers don’t reflect it, filmmakers and movie fans have embraced the unconventional film fest setting.
Their logo, featuring a retro television set and old school film clap board, was created by a friend of Contreras, Long Beach artist Jaela Coleman. It’s now been plastered on hats, tote bags and T-shirts, printed by Anthony Dunn with Long Beach’s Press Industries. The venues are still under wraps, but rest assured they will be community-focused as well. At the beginning, Contreras looked to her neighbors and small businesses to learn how to create an LLC (limited liability company), and spent evenings researching film clubs and conducting the odd Google search.
“We’re trying to connect on a community basis; meeting these new people, networking and showing that it’s for everyone and we don’t have any high standards for anything. We really want to see what people are capable of in every aspect, whether it’s in the films or how they’re presenting themselves,” Contreras said. “We just want to see what our name means to you, and it’s been really exciting to see what people are coming up with, because even now we still get messages like, ‘What do you mean experimental, like what can I submit?’ and it’s anything! That’s the whole point, that there are no limitations.”
To prepare for his first time hosting, Martinez began attending more film festivals, noting what he liked and didn’t like, what filmmakers were saying about the environment and how accessible it was for visitors. At his most recent film festival trip, he felt a tinge of validation that the films were shown “just in a room with a projector,” no grandiose venue required.
“I want to build a sense of community, even if it’s on a little corner,” Martinez said.
The festival is still accepting film submissions, and since the event is meant to serve artists and the surrounding community, there’s no limit on screenings at the moment. Entries have come in the form of short films and full-length features, and Martinez said there’s no guidelines for length, filmmakers or context.
Categories for entries include: shorts (under 30 minutes), half-movies (between 30 and 60 minutes) and features (over 60 minutes) for experimental, underground, animation, LGBTQIA+ and horror films.
In the spirit of connection, the Long Beach Underground Film Fest will aim to spread throughout the city to reach all kinds of people, and to spotlight even more artists through accompanying live performances from independent artists. The festival is a great place for first-time filmmakers and students, and will offer parties, workshops and a filmmaker’s lounge.
Prizes and awards are still being developed, but a few that have been decided are:
- Best Picture
- Weirdest Scene
- Best Actor (any gender)
- Best Prop
- Best Opening Scene
- Best Final Scene
“It’s a little bit insane that there’s so many creative individuals out there … and it’s really inspiring to see people submitting to even something small like us,” Contreras said. “It’s nice to know that we’re making somewhat of a change, even if we can’t see the full picture yet.”
In the future, they envision a festival that serves filmmakers throughout the year, through events like script editing workshops, networking events and even speed dating. At the moment, the duo is focused on nailing down venues, reviewing submissions and spreading the word, but the eventual goal is to make the Long Beach Underground Film Festival an annual event.
“Taking that mentality as a filmmaker, there’s a sense of satisfaction when you complete a film, and I think if I can see this through and we run a successful event, for me it will be almost like we’re chasing that feeling,” Martinez said.
The Long Beach Underground Film Fest also has the potential to fill in the gap left as a result of the pandemic, where some of the city’s most popular film festivals were forced to shut down. The National Long Beach Film Festival brought big crowds, and the DIY Film Fest embraced the alternative, but most of Long Beach’s film fests now are centered on a specific culture.
“There isn’t something for creative weirdos and I would like to keep that going,” Martinez said.
Filmmakers can submit their work, of any length or subject matter, online. The late deadline for submissions is April 30.
For more information on the Long Beach Underground Film Fest, follow @lbundergroundfilmfest on Instagram.
The Long Beach Underground Film Fest sounds like a breath of fresh air for the indie film community, offering an inclusive and daring platform for “creative weirdos” to shine. I love how Martinez and Contreras are blending a punk DIY ethos with a community-driven approach to create something truly unique. The categories like “Weirdest Scene” and “Best Prop” are genius—they celebrate the quirks that traditional festivals often overlook.
This kind of experimental fest could be a game-changer, not just for Long Beach but for indie filmmakers everywhere. I’m curious—what kind of “weird stuff” do you hope to see showcased? Could this be the future of film festivals?