(Photos courtesy of Song of Sunset)
Cosmic Heirloom: Buried 400 Years, the first film scheduled to screen during Song of Sunset: Underground this fall, has been named an award finalist at the Oregon Short Film Festival.
The 12-minute documentary will screen Sunday, September 20, 2026, at the Clinton Street Theater in Portland. The recognition arrives ahead of Song of Sunset: Underground, an immersive evening of independent film, live music and Pacific Northwest storytelling in an increasingly AI-generated world, taking place Saturday, October 24, at Silver Moon Brewing in Bend.
Cosmic Heirloom will open the cinematic portion of the October program before Salvaged Reverb: Inside the Legendary Robert Lang Studios. Together, the two original documentaries explore hidden histories, cultural memory, creative preservation and the people working to carry important stories into the future.
“Being named an award finalist with a judging panel score of 92 out of 100 is an incredible validation for the film and for the larger idea behind Song of Sunset,” said Song of Sunset creator and director Brian Craig Hinderberger. “Cosmic Heirloom was created to transform a dense and often misunderstood history into an experience audiences can feel, question and discuss together. Receiving this recognition before our Bend and Seattle screenings gives the entire fall program meaningful momentum.”
Created and directed by Bend filmmaker and musician Brian Craig Hinderberger, Song of Sunset combines original documentary filmmaking with live music, guest speakers, panel conversations and immersive storytelling.
Cosmic Heirloom: Buried 400 Years (Mature Audiences)
Cosmic Heirloom explores the long and complicated history of psilocybin mushrooms, tracing a story that extends from ceremonial use among Indigenous cultures through centuries of suppression, misunderstanding, rediscovery and modern scientific investigation.
Featuring writer and presenter David Moss, the film examines how ancient knowledge can become buried through colonization, prohibition and cultural fear — and what happens when that knowledge begins to reemerge.
Rather than presenting psilocybin simply as a contemporary trend, Cosmic Heirloom places the subject within a broader historical and cultural context. The film invites audiences to consider who controls knowledge, how traditions survive and what responsibilities accompany the rediscovery of practices that have existed for generations.
The film’s award-finalist recognition reflects growing public and cultural interest in the history of psilocybin, as well as the filmmakers’ commitment to presenting the subject through a cinematic, historically grounded documentary experience.
Salvaged Reverb: Inside the Legendary Robert Lang Studios
The second film in the Song of Sunset: Underground program, Salvaged Reverb, is an intimate documentary portrait of Robert Lang, the visionary builder behind one of the Pacific Northwest’s most celebrated recording studios.
Constructed over decades through instinct, reclaimed materials, barter, experimentation and determination, Robert Lang Studios became a creative home for artists including Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Soundgarden, Candlebox, Peter Frampton, Dave Matthews and many others.
Guided by Lang himself, the film takes audiences through the studio’s winding rooms, handmade architecture, recording spaces and unfinished upper level while revealing the personal stories behind its creation. The film examines what it takes to build and preserve a world-class creative space during an era increasingly shaped by home recording, digital production and artificial intelligence.
The completed short functions as both a standalone documentary and a work-in-progress development piece that may help build support for a future feature-length film about historic recording spaces and the people who keep them alive.
About Song of Sunset: Underground:
Song of Sunset is a live cinema and music series created in Bend. Its October program will combine screenings of Cosmic Heirloom and Salvaged Reverb with live music, filmmaker discussions, Oregon film industry conversations and a curated Pacific Northwest songwriter showcase. Event proceeds will benefit the Bend nonprofit, Hue Hearts Unknown.
The Bend event is supported in part by the Bend Cultural Tourism Fund. It will be followed by a second Song of Sunset: Underground presentation at The Rabbit Box near Pike Place Market in Seattle on November 15, 2026.
Oregon Short Film Festival Screening
Sunday, September 20, 2026
Clinton Street Theater
Portland, Oregon
Song of Sunset: Underground
Saturday, October 24, 2026
Silver Moon Brewing
Bend
For event information, trailers and ticket updates, visit songofsunset.com.
