A film festival with balls

LSD-inspired no-hitters, finding love on Mars and death-row inmates on Weight Watchers will converge on the quaint, gold rush-era town of Nevada City for the yearly screening of awesomely random films.

The 10th annual Nevada City Film Festival isn’t the usual highfalutin, red-carpet flaunting film festival focused on celebrity sightings and high-priced mixers. This festival is devoted to showcasing great filmmaking—plain and simple. It’s also crazy affordable, with individual programs costing $10 and festival passes priced at $90. Suggestion: Go for the festival pass for the best bargain.

During the four-day event, 40 short and full-length films will be screened, including Dock Ellis & The LSD No-No, an animated short film about the Pittsburg Pirates player who allegedly pitched a no-hitter in 1970 while trippin’ on LSD. And yes, Ellis does make a touchdown at first base. His balls also grow and shrink during the game—er, his baseballs. Other screenings include an animated short by Jonathan Katz, Death Row Diet, and MARS, a feature-length film about a manned mission to the Red Planet. There also will be numerous question-and-answer sessions with filmmakers following the screenings.

Additional events include entertainment from comedians Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim of the sketch-comedy series Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, as well as popular Nevada City Film Festival Comedy Show.