Inaugural Northwest Flying Saucer Film Fest in Chehalis showcases 19 short films

Nineteen sci-fi films on Friday ushered in Chehalis’ third Flying Saucer Party with the inaugural “Northwest Flying Saucer Film Fest” at McFiler’s Chehalis Theater. 

The party continued with speakers and vendors in downtown Chehalis the following day. 

A total of 19 short films, ranging from documentaries to animations and music videos to cheesy sci-fi horror flicks, were showcased on McFiler’s screens. Entrants included locals and travelers from Seattle, Portland and communities in between.

One local entry, Stuck In Orbit, stole the show, winning an award for best documentary and another as the audience favorite. The movie features John Henricksen, under the moniker “Burt Burtson,” who claims to have been abducted, as he attempts to get people to believe his story.

Henrickson made the film with the help of his family, including his grandson Enoch Lui who directed the film. Stuck In Orbit can be viewed here https://vimeo.com/868014471. 

Other award-winners from the film festival include: 

• Fred Crisman: Cave of the Space Nazis!, which won the best animation award for its portrayal of one of Fred Lee Crisman’s many real-life paranormal claims which include fighting space aliens. It can be viewed here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdvZ007W9DY. 
• Two Little Men In A Flying Saucer, which won the best music video award and featured two aliens reacting to aspects of human life and society set to the 1951 song by Ella Fitzgerald by the same title. It can be viewed here https://vimeo.com/758167105. 
• The Pod People, which won the best alien award with its ode to b-movie horror classics like Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It can be viewed here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEQgtbDyhGs. 
• Sleestak’s Big Adventure, which won the best first-time filmmaker award for its interpretation of the iconic “tequila” scene from Pee Wee’s Big Adventure featuring the Portland Sleestak. It can be viewed here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsBOGkBw5tc.  
• Gravity Hill, which won the best film award for its story of a date at a local gravitational anomaly gone wrong. It can be viewed here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKM-vop2Xiw.  

Other films featured in the festival included Eggspecting (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFasabHEVlo), Everly, Beings (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccJTZUrlPpU), Cat Conquest, The Sasquatch/UFO Connection, Hello From Earth, UFOlympia, Delivery, Roswell Revisited, Don’t Get Picked Up, Identity Crisis, Have You Ever Seen An Alien? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HznF_8dSVbY) and The Invasion. 

While The Chronicle attempted to get access to the films it could not locate on YouTube or Vimeo, but Northwest Flying Saucer Film Fest organizer Vince Ynzunza explained in an email they only had screening rights to show the films at McFiler’s during the festival.  

Whether the rest of the filmmakers decide to upload their work online for others to view will be up to them. If you are one of those filmmakers whose work is not linked and would it linked in this article, please contact Owen Sexton at owen@chronline.com.  

For more information on the Northwest Flying Saucer Film Fest and the 19 films showcased, visit https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088689925016.