The California Indian Cultural and Sovereignty Center hosted California’s American Indian & Indigenous Film Festival at CSUSM and the Pechanga Resort and Casino from Nov. 19-21.

Producers and actors of the films, students and professors from CSUSM and residents of the San Diego and Inland Empire counties attended the “Friday Night Funnies” event in honor of Charlie Hill, who was an Indian-American comedian.

Writer, director and actor Blackhorse Lowe presented his film “Chasing the Light,” which follows a male protagonist, Riggs, through his post-melodramatic break-up with his ex-girlfriend.

“Chasing the Light” took place in Albuquerque, NM where Riggs found himself contemplating suicidal thoughts. However, fortunate for Riggs he succumbed to the distractions and got himself in unusual situations. The protagonist drank beer, smoked weed and tripped out on DMT in this hilarious dark comedy.

“It’s a movie about how much I enjoy Albuquerque,” said Blackhorse Lowe. “Meadow, weed, DMT and just about all the freaks and weirdoes in the city that I love [are in the film].”

Director Zoe Hopkins attended her world premier of “Goldilocks and the Bears” with one of the actors from Manchester, Canada.

Hopkins adapted her grandfather’s written story to film, which parodies “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” written by Robert Southey, by putting an indigenous twist on original story.

The film tackled the contrast between nature and human civilization through a light-hearted adult comedy that pokes fun on humanity’s insensitivity to nature.

Hopkins is an award-winning filmmaker and Mohawk language teacher at a language immersion school in Six Nations Indian Reserve in Ontario, Canada.

Sketch-comedy group, the 1491s, showcased a series of performances and videos that tackled the misconceptions about the American Indian culture with the screenings of “I’m an Indian Too” and “The Indian Store.”

Friday’s event marked the third annual California’s American Indian & Indigenous film festival, formerly known as the San Diego American Indian Film Festival.

After the event, producers, writers and actors from the film held a meet and greet with audience members and gave out handshakes and photographs.