BendFilm Festival - Where filmmakers are Gods. On the second weekend of October 2007 Bend, Oregon was transformed from a recreational haven into a small-town possessed by the film industry’s soul. The nation gathers to behold the work of the most talented independent filmmakers. Downtown theaters, lecture sites, music rooms and party venues spark with the energy excited by the overwhelming presence of cinema. The event runs deeper than the marathon film-watching that fills guest’s schedules from dawn until, well, dawn. Everyone you see on the sidewalks, in the restaurants and bars makes, cares or has an opinion about film. It is the serendipitous encounters and ensuing discussions with the filmmakers and fellow passholders that makes the weekend so inspiring and affecting.