Fear and fortune are the themes for this year’s Sacramento Film & Music Festival.

The Sacramento Film & Music Festival opens at the Crest Theatre on Wednesday, Aug. 15 at 6:30 in the evening.

21 teams of local filmmakers gathered at the Crest Theatre on Aug. 2 to pick the phobia and fortune their original short film would be
based on. They had 10 days to write, shoot and edit the films for the Sacramento Film & Music Festival’s 10 x 10 film competition.

When asked how the 10 x 10 film competition provides a forum for local creativity, Nathan Schemel, co-organizer for the festival, explained
that it will “elevate the level of everyone in town.”

“If you tell people to make things, they will make something, then they will make more things beyond that and it will encourage more
filmmakers,” Schemel said.

Completed short films will be screened on Sunday, Aug. 19 at the final event of the festival. Winners will be announced during the after
party.

Don Swazye and Gwendoline Yeo in Heathens & Thieves. Gwendoline won Best Supporting Actress at Worldfest Houston. (Image by: Barry Gutierrez)

“Heathens & Thieves” will be shown during the Friday night lineup at 9 p.m. This is the second time this film has been shown in Sacramento
this year.

“It’s a western and we live in an environment where there are a lot of western places,” Schemel said. “Most of the time people kind of miss
the mark,” Schemel continued, but “’Heathens & Thieves’ creates a world that feels like that time period.”

The film won Best Feature Film at Sacramento International Film Festival and Special Jury Prize at Worldfest Houston. (Image by: Barry Gutierrez) Peter Scott, the producer for the film, shared some of the benefits of filming a western in the area.

“The way (the screenplay) was written was around a location the writer, who also co-directed, and his co-directing partner had in
mind… and the location was in northern California. So that was an easy decision.”

Scott went on to discuss the mentality of the people in the area.

“What wasn’t apparent to me at the start was how accommodating the people in the area would be once we got there,” said Scott.

Neighbors wanted to lend a helping hand and not try to profit from the production.

Other highlights to enjoy during the festival are the doc and student shorts on Saturday, Aug. 18, as well as the world and other and student shorts on Sunday,
Aug. 19. Free catering from Panda Express will be available for approximately 250 the first 100 people that come opening night.  Those who mention this article will also get discounts for festival passes.

Editor's note: Edits have been made to this article after publishing.