2020 Hobnobben Film Festival Saturday Schedule

October 23 - 25, 2020


 Saturday: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM • Embassy Theatre

Riders of the Purple Sage: The Making of a Western Opera

Opera + Cowboys! Riders of the Purple Sage follows a classically trained composer as he adapts a 1912 dime novel masterpiece by Zane Grey into a grand opera. The convergence of opera’s hallowed traditions and America’s cowboy culture set the backdrop as performers and creators make this story stand up and sing.


Saturday: 12:15 PM - 1:15 PM • Embassy Theatre

Big Stories, Tiny Humans

The young talent in this block of films will impress you like whoa. Seriously. From outer space, to present-day Ghana, and even Nazi-occupied Poland, this block of films features children dealing with some heavy life circumstances. Note: This block highlights work starring stunningly talented children, but is not necessarily kid-friendly viewing.


 Saturday: 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM • Embassy Theatre

The One and Only Jewish Miss America

From disappointment to determination, Bess Myerson, a talented musician and beauty queen from the Bronx, won the world’s most famous beauty pageant 75 years ago, at the tail end of World War II. To this day, she remains the first and only Jewish Miss America to ever have been crowned.


Saturday: 3:15 PM - 6:00 PM • Embassy Theatre

Relationships Through The Bars

The five short films in this block examine the subtle (and not-so-subtle) ways hegemonic systems of oppression influence within the characters’ lives. From an Israeli jail, to a Mexican border town, to a Hurricane-devastated Puerto Rico, the characters in these films try to preserve and fight the oppressive forces that control their lives.


Saturday: 6:15 PM - 7:45 PM • Embassy Theatre

Dark & Twisty & Pretty Fun

If dark comedy is your jam, get on this train – just make sure to wash your hands. In these films, some people would do anything to get to their family member: lie, fight, steal a cop car. Others, not so much (we’re looking at you, Rare Bird).


Saturday: 8:00 PM - 9:30 PM • Embassy Theatre

Let’s Forget About The World Being On Literal Fire and Watch Some Murderous Puppets, Clowns, and Rainbows.

From the curators who brought you Scintillating Shorts for a Saturday at last year’s Hobnobben, here’s a delightful block of shorts featuring topics like putting together an IKEA bed, installing a sex swing, drug addicts battling white supremacy, an alien trying to get an abortion, and a world of Barbies.


 Saturday: 9:45 PM - 11:30 PM • Embassy Theatre

Ninja Badass

Join Rex, his armless sensei, a badass ball ripper, a dragon, a gang of puppies, some detached feet, and a mean ninja motherf****r who trains by beating up cows for an expereince that’ll make you wanna eat egg rolls until you sh*t your pants. And yes, there is a reason we’re showing this late at night.