On Thursday December 8, 2022 at 7pm the second annual Fungi Film Festival kicks off online. This second year of the Fest will feature 30 films from around the world, and with a run time of over six hours, this niche festival’s first year offers a rich exploration of the many reasons that mycology (the science of mushrooms, molds, yeast, and lichens) has rapidly increased its popularity around the world in the last few years.
The FFF was first envisioned by Peter McCoy, a Portland-based mushroom farmer and mycology educator, as well as the author of the book Radical Mycology: A Treatise on Seeing and Working With Fungi (Chthaeus Press, 2016), which explores the many intersections between human cultures and fungi. “As a life-long cinephile and mycologist, combining these topics in a fungi-focused film fest not only seemed like a natural fit to me, but also long overdue,” said McCoy. “With the Fest’s program now set, I can’t believe the variety of films we received and the amount of passion that all of the filmmakers put into their pieces, many of which were made just for the FFF. It was hard to narrow down the nearly 100 films we received, but the result is a lineup that I am excited to share this fall.”
The first screening of the Fungi Film Festival is October 20 at 7pm PST. During this opening night, the FFF’s selection committee and jury (composed of McCoy and other mycophiles [fungi-lovers] from Portland) will be hosting the event live. Here, they will grant five festival awards to select films, with one being the Audience Choice Award, which is voted on by viewers during the opening night.
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