Santa Cruz Film Festival to Open its 10th Season with Dusty Bias’ Prairie Love

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Quirky romantic black comedy to be followed by Opening Night Gala at Charts the History of Iconic Music Hall

The Santa Cruz Film Festival (SCFF), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the support and promotion of moving image arts in California’s Greater Monterey Bay Area, announces that the Santa Cruz Premiere of Dusty Bias’ independent film Prairie Love will be featured as the Festival’s Opening Night Film, Thursday, May 5 at 7:30 PM at the Del Mar Theatre, 1124 Pacific Avenue in Downtown Santa Cruz.

Reminiscent of the absurdist comedic sensibilities of the Coen Brothers and Wes Anderson, Prairie Love is the story of a mysterious vagrant who rescues a nearly frozen local man while wandering through the snow-covered plains of North Dakota. He soon learns that the man was en route to collect his pen-pal girlfriend whom he has never met. Blinded by his desire for love, the vagrant decides to take matters into his own hands – forever changing the destinies of all three people. Like a lighter version of Fargo meets a darker version of Napoleon Dynamite, Prairie Love is an exquisitely crafted blend of flawed and desperate, but lovable, characters and romantic misadventures. Find out more at prairielove.com.

The film had its World Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this past January where it was rated one of the “10 Must See Movies” by Coed Magazine and in which the Hollywood Reporter called the film a “gratifying departure from overly predictable indie dramas.”

“We are very excited about opening our 10th Season with this dark, funny comedy which was produced by Monterey’s Doug Mueller of the Carmel Bach Festival,” said Julian Soler, Director of Programming. He continued, “The film is a bit of a departure from what we have opened with historically, but, we think the audience will enjoy its quirky humor and fresh filmmaking perspective. We certainly did. We are also proud to support the work of one of the area’s own stable of talented filmmakers.”

Following the screening, walk on over to the Museum of Art and History at the MacPherson Center for the Festival’s Opening Night Gala. Food by local merchants will be provided with music and dancing all night. Members of the film’s cast and crew will be in attendance as well as filmmakers from the Festival’s other films.

The complete Festival lineup will be announced on Saturday, April 9 at SCFF’s Kick Off Extravaganza and Benefit Auction. Join SCFF for an evening of Old Hollywood Glamour featuring great food, music by Flor de Caña and salsa lessons by SalsaRuedaSantaCruz. The evening kicks off at 6:00 PM at the Top of the Ritt in Downtown Santa Cruz. Tickets can be purchased at santacruzfilmfestival.org

Festival Calendar
Now: Festival Passes on sale at santacruzfilmfestival.org
April 9: Kick-Off Party and Benefit Auction
April 10: Regular tickets on sale via the Festival website
May 5: Opening Night Film and Gala at the Del Mar Theatre and The Museum of Art & History
May 14: Closing Night Film and Awards Ceremony at the Rio Theatre

About the Santa Cruz Film Festival
Now in its 10th year, the Santa Cruz Film Festival celebrates innovative and original filmmaking in and for the Greater Monterey Bay community. Since 2002, SCFF has screened over 1,100 independent films and videos including scores of quality, locally-produced works to tens of thousands of enthusiastic and dedicated film lovers, generating over $1 million in revenue for Santa Cruz.

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