San Luis Obispo International Film Festival is pleased to announce that Director/Writer/Actor/Producer Jay Duplass will be the festival’s Spotlight Award recipient. His new film The Baltimorons will screen at this year’s edition of the SLO Film Fest following its debut at SXSW 2025.
The film marks Jay’s return to his roots of writing and directing for the first time in 14 years. The Baltimorons tell the story of how a newly sober man’s Christmas Eve dental emergency leads to an unexpected romance with his older dentist as they explore Baltimore together. It stars Michael Strassner, who co-wrote the screenplay with Duplass, Liz Larsen (Madoff, Mr. Robot), and Olivia Luccardi (East New York, The Thing About Pam).
San Luis Obispo International Film Festival Executive Director Skye McLennan said, “We are honored to celebrate such an icon in the independent film community. Jay Duplass and his brother, Mark Duplass, have long been champions and trailblazers in the world of independent cinema.”
Jay Duplass began his career in the early 2000’s writing, directing and producing several award-winning independent and studio films with his brother Mark, including The Puffy Chair and Cyrus. In 2014, Jay and Mark created the critically acclaimed television series Togetherness, part of an overall television deal with HBO, which produced multiple shows and series. The brothers also produced the Emmy-winning Netflix docu-series Wild Wild Country.
Jay’s acting credits include the hit HBO series Industry; Amazon’s Transparent, which won a Golden Globe for best comedy series, and multiple Emmys; Percy Jackson and the Olympians on Disney +; Netflix’s The Chair and the feature films Outside In and Beatriz at Dinner.
With a slate of over 113 films including narrative features, short films, documentary features and doc shorts, the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival offers a broad spectrum of content for serious cinephiles, devoted film buffs and casual movie fans both locally and across the region. The festival runs from Thursday, April 24 through Tuesday, April 29. The Spotlight Award presentation, screening of The Baltimorons, and a Q & A with Jay Duplass are scheduled for Sunday, April 27.
San Luis Obispo International Film Festival (SLOIFF) has announced this year’s opening and closing films with 2025 Sundance Audience Award winner DJ Ahmet leading the way, and Daryl Hannah’s documentary on Neil Young’s solo tour, Coastal, as the Closing Night selection.
Also on tap at the festival are the fest’s famous Surf Nite, the popular Central Coast Filmmaker Showcase, Cal Poly Short Cuts and Music Video Showcase. Community of Skate is returning for a repeat performance after a successful debut in 2024.
Additional programs include short films curated by R.A.C.E. Matters, Filmmakers of Tomorrow, featuring short films by those 18 and under, a program curated by The Coastal Awakening celebrating David Lynch and his passion for meditation and new this year, Ecologistics, a series of environmental documentary shorts.
Passes are now on sale and information on the film festival can be found at https://slofilmfest.org.