In its 13th year, the Treefort Music Festival is a multi-day event that showcases world-class musicians from around the globe while fostering a community celebration of music, art, and culture in downtown Boise, Idaho, from March 26 to 30, 2025. It has created a curated space for every aspect of the festival, offering a wide range of activities and events to suit all tastes, including food, beer, comedy, drag shows, yoga, storytelling, tech, and many other experiences, with music being the main highlight. However, Filmfort has emerged as a distinct entity within Treefort, carving out its own unique cinematic experience.
Under the leadership of co-director Chelsea Smith, who is supported this year by co-director Sierra Padilla Huitt, Filmfort is a remarkable discovery for film enthusiasts and filmmakers that continues to elevate every year with its offerings through curation and events that honor emerging talent, including those from Idaho.
“I’ve been the director for the past five years now,” says Smith. “Filmfort has grown and evolved every year, and Sierra has been part of the team as a programmer and volunteer, bringing valuable experience in leading events. She has made films herself, so it was a natural choice to promote her to another team leader.”
Filmfort 2025 boasts a lineup of 46 films featuring over 70 visiting artists, presenting a rich array of cinematic perspectives for audiences of all ages, ranging from the enigmatic to the experimental and the offbeat. Additionally, there will be a Filmfort Pitch Contest at the Boise Film Society where Boise-based production house Story & Pixel and Different Animals Cinema Systems will award a full equipment and crew package to the director with the best short film pitch. The winning proposal must feature a short film concept that can be shot in a single 12-hour day within 30 miles of the Treasure Valley (Boise).
“…46 films featuring over 70 visiting artists…”
“We genuinely care about the artist experience at Filmfort,” says Smith. “This awareness makes us more considerate of our relationships and how we engage with the local community in Boise. We strive to nurture the film community in Boise and build connections with the wider film community. That’s always in our thoughts when we’re programming.”
This year, Filmfort goes beyond the screen with DIY film panels and Q&A sessions featuring Filmfort filmmakers, along with an exciting lineup of short films, features, and two unique programs: Frame by Frame: A Stop-Motion Demo and Artist Chat and Rhythm & Music in Motion and Page to the Screen presented by the Boise Contemporary Theater with Jeremy O. Harris and Brandon Harris. These programs will offer an engaging and unique approach to screenwriting—writing while in production with actors.
“We also have the Local Gems film block dedicated to local filmmakers,” says Smith. “For the first time, a student showcase will bring together students from Washington State University and the University of Idaho. They will host their own screening, share their work, and collaborate together for the first time.” She adds, “We will also feature Obex, a new film by Albert Birney, who directed Strawberry Mansion. It was a Sundance 2025 premiere, and we are very excited to have it at Filmfort.”
Local Gems explores a collection of films made in Idaho or created by filmmakers with connections to the state. This exhibition offers an exciting journey through a dark retelling of The Tortoise and the Hare, an unapologetic pleasure seeker who ultimately reaches his breaking point, a bumbling Gen X office worker, a robot girlfriend, and a puppet show that goes horribly wrong—among other hidden gems—recommended for ages 18 and up due to adult themes. Additionally, there will be Q+As with filmmakers Joe Haege, Marcellyn Fisher, Indigo Johnson-Monroe, Jen Lytle, Jack Mikesel, Hailey J Boucher, Yonatan Gebeyehu, Gerald Adamson, and Holden Weihs.
Filmfort highlights include:
Cabaret Spectacular
Director: Thomas Meyer
2024, Fiction, 12min
Praised by The New Yorker as a “secret weapon of independent cinema,” Theodore Bouloukos stars in Cabaret Spectacular, a buoyant 16mm portrait of daiquiri dreams and Caribbean sunbeams. At a vibrant resort, an endearingly fussy bachelor in the twilight of his life fumbles his way through poker tournaments and eccentric tropical nights in a relentless quest for love.
Chicken Salad
Director: CK Thornton
2024, Experimental, 12min
In this Surrealist cinema poem, a woman processes the waves of grief and finds solace in becoming one with her art.
Filmfort 2025 Feature: Dead Lover
Dead Lover
Director: Grace Glowicki
2025, Fiction, 84min
A lonely gravedigger who stinks of corpses finally meets her dream man, but their whirlwind affair is cut short when he tragically drowns at sea. Grief-stricken, she goes to morbid lengths to resurrect him through madcap scientific experiments, resulting in grave consequences and unlikely love.
Freeman Vines
Directors: André Robert Lee & Tim Kirkman
2025, Nonfiction, 13min
Eighty-two-year-old Freeman Vines built his first guitar when he was 16 and since then has been trying to reproduce an elusive sound the instrument made. Now living in Fountain, a town of 130 souls in eastern North Carolina, Vines hand-carves guitars and objects that speak to his lifelong conflict with racism in this region. When he acquired a stack of lumber from a tree used in the lynching of a young Black man named Oliver Moore, his sculptures began to take on even more significance. A portrait of an artist searching for a sound, Freeman Vines has found a way to create while surviving in a complex world.
Grim All Day
Director: Dylan Pailes-Friedman
2024, Fiction, 15min
After accidentally inflaming her failing relationship, a performance artist searches for comfort and intimacy in unexpected places.
No Hands
Director: Joslyn Jensen
2024, Fiction, 4min
Over drinks, an old friend reveals a masturbation technique that must be experienced to be believed.
Obex
Director: Albert Birney 2025, Fiction, 90min
Conor Marsh’s secluded life is disrupted when he plays the OBEX game. His dog Sandy disappears, blurring reality and the game. Conor enters the OBEX world to rescue Sandy, navigating its strange realms.
Filmfort, which runs from March 26-29, features several venues, including the Idaho Film Society, The Flicks, the Boise Center, and Ochos, all in easily accessible locations across Boise.
For more information on screenings, events, and venues, visit treefortmusicfest.com/fort/filmfort/.
