It’s October and Halloween is only a couple of weeks away, so I have the perfect spooky treats for you to enjoy this weekend.
First up, Scream Diego, billed as San Diego's Halloween and Horror Convention, kicks off Saturday morning at the Doubletree at Hazard Center. Then starting at 5 p.m., the abbreviated San Diego Filipino Film Festival (SDFFF) serves up a one night showcase of shorts this Saturday at the AMC Plaza Bonita Theaters. And while SDFFF is not all horror, there is a ghost story set in a karaoke bar.
Scream Diego
Dennis-Michael Broussard created Scream Diego because he got tired of having to go up north for a horror or Halloween convention.
"I've been a horror fan all my life," Broussard said. "And I've gone to Los Angeles, Orange County, just to go to a Halloween and horror type of convention. And there's some good ones up there. But why don't we have anything? We have enough of a horror fan base down here. Why don't we have anything? So I was like, OK, if we're gonna have it, I'm gonna have to do it. And it took about seven years from inception to actual execution for our first year."
This year will mark the third for Scream Diego and its first at the Doubletree.
The convention will host panels all day with topics ranging from creature voice acting to healing with horror. Another centerpiece to the convention is a film festival featuring 30 shorts from local to international filmmakers. The films will screen throughout the day with an awards presentation starting at 4:30 p.m.
Plus there is a vendor hall featuring 40 artists and vendors selling horror themed products from books and art to clothing and vintage toys; Bella's Academy will run a Zombie Lounge where they will give everyone a zombie makeover for free; a kid's scream zone where they can decorate pumpkins; and a Monster Prom and costume contest to close out the day.
Putting on the convention is hard work. Venues are hard to find and expensive and it takes a lot of time to organize. But Broussard feeds off the energy of the horror community that supports the event.
"Totally! Especially when they see the movies that we have and they come out just raving about it," Broussard noted. "Or they found some merch item that they just love, and they're showing everybody or they meet some of the guests and they're like, 'I was a big fan of you in this.' And it's fun to see that kind of excitement in people and when they leave saying, thank you for this event, or, can't wait for next year, or even when people check into the event and they're like, 'I was looking for a horror convention in San Diego and you guys came up.' It does help keep the motivation for doing something so challenging to put it together for just that reaction that people have a good time, they can't wait for next year. Those are rewarding."
San Diego Filipino Film Festival
SDFFF, founded by Benito Bautista and Emma Francisco, is probably the most warm and welcoming film festival in San Diego and has been a great addition to the South Bay's art and culture scene. This year it is offering a special edition, and the website announces that "as San Diego Filipino Cinema goes on hiatus next year, we'd love to gather once more with our community in this special one night event."
I am sad to hear that we will have to go a year without the festival but Bautista and Francisco are also working filmmakers and a festival is a heavy lift for anyone. So I can understand the need for a break but am hoping it will return in 2028.
But this Saturday, you can celebrate diverse and complex stories that highlight our humanity with a collection of short films and music videos made by Filipino filmmakers from Manila, Toronto, New York, L.A., San Diego and beyond. The films include the documentary "Take It Easy, Joey" about a Filipino Canadian fashionista entering the world of professional wrestling; "Dreamz," a surreal, ’60s-inspired music video from Indie Neo-Soul artist Willa Marj; and "Veterano" in which an aging Filipino World War II veteran with nothing left to lose dusts off his past and his pistol for one last mission in 1981 San Francisco.
But more in keeping with the spooky fall season the festival will also include "Daylight," Andrea A. Walter's tale about a recently transformed vampire who goes on a night out discovering a new family and acceptance of who she is; "High and Dry," Jenn Santos's short about two femmes stranded in the woods with danger closing in; and "Oki Oki Oki," a ghost story from San Diego filmmaker Christian Yamane.
"It is a film about a karaoke bar worker that accidentally brings a dead pop star back to life," Yamane said.
Bautista and Francisco not only run the festival but are very active in helping to foster the next generation of Filipino filmmakers.
"I don't think I could have made this film without their guidance and support," Yamane said. "The San Diego community and the Filipino community always feels very supportive. We all show up to each other's events. And Emma and Benito are the champions of independent cinema. First off, with the film festival, they bring in all types of films that aren't typically shown in other film festivals. So we're able to see ourselves on the screen, but we're also able to see different parts of our culture that we might not be in tune with. So they give us that opportunity to go ahead and see all that. And then they as people, their philosophy is like, you have our numbers, just text us if you ever need, like, anything, any advice, if you want us to connect you with any of our network, they're just like that. They're kind of like the parents of, I would say, San Diego Filipinos in a way. Like, everybody goes through them."
You can check out Yamane's film along with some other non-horror but equally fabulous shorts this Saturday night at AMC Plaza Bonita.
And you can catch me Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at Scream Diego for a panel Building a Horror Community Through Events.
