The 14th Annual Albany FilmFest (AFF) returns to the East Bay, if not to Albany, beginning Oct. 10. The Albany Twin movie theater closed suddenly in June 2023, while AFF’s staff was in the middle of planning that year’s festival. Programming and communications director Naomi Sigal recalled, “We were lucky enough to get slotted into the Rialto Cinemas Cerrito’s schedule, which is very busy.” Thus AFF’s primary venue this year is again Rialto Cinemas in El Cerrito on San Pablo Avenue. Sigal believes the move across town reflects an organic evolution of the festival. “One of our initial goals was always to open the community to other ideas and to communicate across borders,” she said. For now, AFF is still grounded in Albany—reconfiguring a film festival takes time.  “We’re trying to see how AFF can work if there are other venues,” she said. At the end of September, the festival held an outdoor screening called “It Came from Albany!” which featured short films from local filmmakers. “It took place on Cornell Avenue with a giant inflatable outdoor screen, and it was a wild success,” Sigal added.  Sigal, along with partnership director Jack Kenny, co-founded the festival. At a steering committee meeting for a local cable TV channel in Albany, someone suggested they start a film festival. When no one in the room volunteered to take the project on, Sigal agreed to do it. “None of us actually knew how we did the first year, but it was successful beyond our wildest dreams,” she said. AFF has always been a short film festival. It quickly outgrew the Albany Community Center, then moved to the Albany Twin. “We wanted short films we could show on cable, but that never happened,” Sigal said. “It was a friendly, hometown film festival from the get-go, and it just built up from there.” From a programming perspective, AFF includes equal amounts of documentary, narrative and animated shorts. “We’re looking for original, interesting and well-made submissions from the Bay Area, from all over the country and the world,” Sigal said. “We want to hear different points of view, and we’re open to emerging filmmakers.” Sigal added, “When we started, we were a one-day festival that went from 10am to 8pm.” After moving to the Albany Twin, AFF expanded to six days of screenings, with one day of programming devoted to environmental films. “We’re still continuing that now because of its popularity,” she said. On Wednesday, Oct. 10, AFF opens with “Albany GreenFest,” which focuses on ecology and the environment. Joan N. Hamilton’s doc, Diablo’s Door, follows the trail of the Diablo Range as it winds down south through the habitats of golden eagles and condors. The Fire Poppy, a doc by Sashwa Burrous, follows Sasha Berleman, a firefighter who captains a crew making controlled burns. 2024’s other themes include “Living on Earth” and “Connections.” “They’re really about human relationships and how individuals express themselves and deal with the things that affect everyone,” Sigal said. The tagline for Oct. 12’s “Living on Earth” theme is, “Doing your own thing is different for everyone.” One highlight is Laura Sweeney’s LGBTQ+ narrative, Tina, the sweet story of an unexpected reunion between old friends. Every year Sigal and the selection committee find that certain themes emerge that reflect the zeitgeist. “Last year, coming out of COVID, the submissions were a little downbeat,” she said. “This year they are really very positive approaches, regardless of the subject.” AFF’s selection committee includes filmmakers, people in the film world and civilians who just love film. “When we’re making the selections, we often get into heated discussions, and that’s really helpful in honing down the choices in the end,” Sigal said. Every screening is followed by a Q&A between the filmmakers and the audience. “We encourage conversation, connection and engagement, and really, that’s what we’re going for,” Sigal said. The 14th Annual Albany Film Festival, Oct. 10, 12, 13 and 19. Rialto Cinemas Cerrito, 10070 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. albanyfilmfest.org.