The 20th Anniversary screening of Bernaltown: The Movie that took place at the Bernal Heights Library last Tuesday night was a classic Bernal event. The film sold out two screenings on Tuesday night, and the audiences were a friendly mix of Bernal neighbors, old and new.

That’s probably because Bernaltown is such a sweet film. Clocking in at about 30 minutes, Bernaltown was written and produced in the mid 1990s by  Gregory Gavin, who at the time was running a youth program that taught local kids how to build wooden go-carts for racing on Bernal Hill. The kids and the go-karts ended up with starring roles in Bernaltown, which was first shown in 1997.

Twenty years later, Bernaltown remains a work of delightful, uninhibited fun that showcases Bernal’s quirks and characters. It shows us how far we’ve come in some ways, reminds us what we’ve lost in others, and celebrates the oddball creative spirit that still clings to Bernal Hill’s chert.

A few celebrity guests from the Bernaltown cast were on hand Tuesday night, including the dastardly, diabolical Dealer Dan (Nic Griffin), and Shila Evanchak, who played a superhero version of her childhood self in the film:

Berntown celebrities Shila Evanchak (left) and Nic Griffin (as Dealer Dan) were on the red carpet Tuesday night

The Bernaltown screenings at the library sold out quickly, which meant a lot of Bernal neighbors were sad because they weren’t able to see the film.

Until now.

Now, all Bernalese can partake of the joy that is Bernaltown through the magic of our 21st century Interwebs. Yes, Bernaltown is now on YouTube!

So load it up and gather around your favorite screen with friends and family.

Ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys, dogs and cats… Welcome to Bernaltown: