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Somehow, like that, the curtain is about to come up on the 20th BendFilm Festival, which opens at venues around town Thursday afternoon.

BendFilm celebrates independent filmmakers and their work. It’s a win-win for both sides of the equation because local and visiting film lovers also profit from BendFilm — and by profit, I mean something more ineffable and less gauche than money. Human stories are told. Emotional nooks and factual crannies are explored. And from viewing such works, made outside the rubric of Hollywood formula, we get art, tears, laughter and, with luck, the needle of our humanity budging ever so slightly in our souls.

As fate’s fickle winds would have it, your friendly neighborhood columnist was around 22 years ago to cover its origins and early years, when the likes of Rosanna Arquette or John Waters setting foot in our humble city put some electricity in the air. My coverage included interviewing the festival’s founder and first executive director, Katie Merritt.

I remember going to the tres chic digs of BendFilm’s former home office in the Old Mill District. In the mind’s eye, it had a dark, leathery chic, both warmer and cooler than The Bulletin’s bright, Formica- and fluorescent-enshrouded former digs on Chandler Avenue — or maybe I made all that up. What I am not making up is my memory of Merritt’s enthusiasm for independent film and firm belief that a town like Bend was ready to be known for more than its views, outdoor amenities and logging past.

In other words, it was ready for BendFilm. With the start of the 20th year just days away, I asked Eugene-based filmmaker Taylor Morden, a former resident of Bend (and my friend on Facebook) his thoughts on BendFilm and what having it here means for Bend. Morden’s full-length documentary films include “Pick it Up! Ska in the ‘90s” and “The Last Blockbuster,” and he’s had about four short films juried into BendFilm — which he calls the second coolest thing about Bend after the last Blockbuster.

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“BendFilm has always felt like something bigger than the town of Bend. It’s pretty exciting as a filmmaker to get to rub elbows with ‘real’ filmmakers as they stop by our little town on their way to other small ponds where they can big fish it up, and I honestly think it’s the best film festival in the state in that regard.”

Having a quality film festival in Bend elevates the local film community and gives local artists something to strive for, he added.

“At the very least, it keeps the idea of film squarely in the zeitgeist in a town that otherwise might not have much occasion to think about it, which is incredibly valuable. I’m positive that there are young people in Bend that want to grow up to make films because BendFilm helped expose them to the idea that it’s possible.”

I posed a pretty similar question to my longtime colleague Makenzie Whittle, a former staffer who continues to write about film, television, regional travel and more for The Bulletin.

Like Morden, she appreciates the impact BendFilm’s DIY focus potentially has on the community and its youth.

“I was a teenager when it kicked off, and to see the difference in appreciation for film in Bend, especially smaller films, is incredible. One of the best parts is the access they provide for cinephiles, especially young people to get a chance to see things on a screen with a bunch of strangers and have a shared experience watching it all play out,” she told me.

“It’s pretty incredible to see what the festival has blossomed into over the past 20 years. It feels like it was part of this spark throughout the community that ushered in a wider appreciation of the visual arts — not that it didn’t exist before — that has only grown since.”

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She noted how small upstart theater companies and larger institutions including Hayden Homes Amphitheater have flourished either alongside or in the years since BendFilm kicked off in 2004. This year, of course, is a year of change at BendFilm, which saw the departure of its longtime executive director Todd Looby . Director of Programming Selin Sevinç hints that there could be an announcement as to BendFilm’s new director this weekend.

“If all goes well, we may be able to announce the — I was going to say ‘winner’ — our next ED during the festival,” Sevinç said, laughing. “So that is the hope, but it’s kind of dependent on whether everything can get squared away. But regardless of whether we sign contracts and whether everything is official or not, they will be hopefully attending the festival.”

For more on BendFilm, check out coverage from my colleague Janay Wright on attending this year’s festival, as well as Whittle’s thoughts on some of the films vying for awards and eyeballs this weekend.