This year's HIFF kicks off with a celebration of local filmmakers, screening nine shorts on a swath of topics. In particular, we're excited to catch Dawn George's hand-processed short See Weeds and La Vie a Velo, Chris and Susie Shapones’ stop-motion animation featuring a bike-riding cat. Following these flicks, there will be a 9pm screening of HIFF's opening-night feature, Never Eat Alone. The unorthodox docudrama explores a forgotten romance as the filmmaker's grandma attempts to reconnect with an ex-lover.