MFA Alum Eric Acosta Exhibits Short Film “Gatekeeper” at the South Sound Experimental Film Fest

Eric Acosta (MFA ‘20) short film “Gatekeeper” was showcased at the South Sound Experimental Film Festival in November. The film was a collaboration with Eric’s friend, chef and writer – Rodrigo Sanchez and was created from a prompt for the multimedia creationists group Wordo.

The South Sound Experimental Film Fest celebrates experimental film-making from local artists in Washington & Oregon. The fest harbors a community for the exploration and development of the creative potentialities of the growing medium.

“South Sound Experimental Film Fest originated in Olympia, Washington as I was living out there at the time of its inception in 2021 It was at the very end of February, right before the pandemic really hit,” explains festival organizer and artist Hali Autumn.

“Feeling isolated, my partner suggested I work on a festival to celebrate filmmaking, create films and connect with local filmmakers. I was teaching myself to make films at the time and had a few shorts under my belt. I was excited about exploring the medium and ready to find everything I’ve been interested in.”

SSEFF is a platform for independent work which may otherwise get pushed to the fringe due to identity, insufficient resources, or qualifications of practice or technique. SSEFF is one of the few showcases in Seattle where these filmmakers and their art can be showcased. The festival takes place at the Northwest Film Forum. This theater is one of three in Seattle that is still showcasing new and sometimes strange films. And because of the central place in our film scene, it is a perfect venue to pull together a community of filmmakers.

“The original cinema venue we had chosen unexpectedly backed out, demanding more money than we had agreed upon but it turned more into a blessing than a discouragement,” Autumn said. “I reached out to the Northwest Film Forum because of that and they generously had a date that we could use and so we paired up and our intentions matched and made the festival work, making a small imprint as meaningfully as it was intended to.”

In collaboration with North West Film Form, the South Sound Experimental Film Festival is able to contribute to a vast international network that promotes experimentation, the development of new film techniques, and the exploration of contemporary hybrid forms of filmmaking.