DOT Hearing on Seward Highway & 36th, The Sun, And The Drawer Boy All In Anchorage Today

The State Department of Transportation, etc.  (DOT) is having a public hearing to talk to the community about congestion in midtown, particularly related to the Seward Highway.  You can find out more at a website with the url of www.midtowncongestionrelief.com.

More specific information about today's meeting is here.  Basically it says:

3-7pm
(presentations at 3:30pm and 6:00pm)
Loussac Library

Draft Goals:

• Connect commerce and community 
• Improve multi-modal transportation efficiency
• Improve safety to all users
• Align with city and state planning documents
• Realistic implementation play

You can see there real specific here and focused on using language that everyone can understand. (Sarcasm alert)

The return address is DOWL the engineering company that seems to get all the contracts for public participation for DOT.  The do an excellent job of making maps and charts and offering options, and being friendly.  But my experience - especially with the Bragaw extension through UAA greenbelt - was that it's basically show and tell and very little listen.  

But, there was an earlier plan for 36th and New Seward.  I never got to any of the hearings - timing was wrong for me - but I was appalled at the plans which included an offramp in the middle of the highway.  I know that happens places sometimes like LA, but in Anchorage with all the offramp to the right, it seemed user-unfriendly to have one that was different from all the rest.  The even bought the land where Nico's was on 36th just west of the highway.   But it seems that the plan has been scrapped and they are rethinking now the corridor from Tudor all the way to 20th.  

The Sun

The Sun is out yet once again.  I'm talking about the big fiery ball in the sky which has been in town pretty much every day since we got back last week.  It's beautiful.  And odds are good that tomorrow's early morning lunar eclipse will be visible.  

The Drawer Boy

Finally, The Drawer Boy is playing tonight.  The Drawer Boy was, in my mind and in the minds of the Anchorage International Film Festival judges (we don't always agree), the Best Feature film at last December's festival.  

Here's what the Festival is sending out about tonight's showing:

Anchorage International Film Festival is with The Drawer Boy at 49th State Brewing Co 
Anchorage, AK ·
Tuesday January 30th - Back by popular demand 2017 AIFF First Place Winner for Narrative Features - The Drawer Boy will be screening at 49th State Brewery! This is a free screening. Doors open at 6pm and the show starts at 6:30. Come in and grab a beer and dinner and sit back and enjoy the show. AIFF will have a drawing for an official AIFF17 Tshirt and throw your business card in the bowl for a chance to win an all access pass after our winter series at 49th State. We will do the drawing for the all access pass to our 2018 festival in April.

Like many others, I thought it was about a boy found in a drawer.  But it's actually about someone who draws.  Here's a link to the post I wrote after I saw it.  I tend to be low key and to understate things, so my enthusiasm for the film is telling.  There's also video of the director talking about the film after the showing.  

AIFF 2017: Saving Brinton Look At A Few Of Those Old Movies With John Zahs

Saving Brinton tied fort 3rd in the AIFF 2017 documentary category.(See all the winners here.) It won the audience award for docs.  Here's part of Mike Zahs' talk after it was shown in Anchorage with some of the recovered footage he discovered.  This is neat old (first decade of 1900) footage.  They were already using the medium to make things disappear and reappear.

But before we get to the video [you can skip to down below if you can't wait]  I've been thinking a lot about documentaries this week - how they're structured particularly. Most of the docs I've seen this week are narrated only by the characters in the movie.  There's no traditional omniscient voice telling us what's happening.   Saving Brinton had the benefit of a main character who is articulate, knowledgable, and infectious, and visually arresting.

John Zahs, AIFF 2017

There were other docs that weren't so lucky to have characters that could tell their stories so well, or to have stories that were easy to tell because they were pretty tangible.

And his story is tangible and compelling.  Zahs discovers all the old films - really old, first decade of 1900 - saved by the Brinton estate.  The Brintons owned movie theaters throughout the midwest.  The films were mostly very well preserved and amongst them are films thought to have been lost to the world.  The movie chronicles this.

After the showing of Saving Brinton, director Tommy Haines and  Mike Zahs did a Q&A in the dark.  But Zahs surprised the audience by showing some of the vintage films he found and restored.  Since there was something to see, I turned on my video camera.  I did ask for (and got) permission from John Zahs to put them up here.

Saving Brinton was only shown once and I'm hoping it will be available again in the Best of The Fest Sunday night. [It wasn't.]

AIFF 2017: The Awards Ceremony - UPDATE: All Winners Announced (Unless They Surprise Me)

This post will be updated as winners are announced.  There may also be some other intermittent posts of people at the ceremony before the awards are announced.  As you can see, I've tried to be prepared this year and will fill these in as they are announced.  I'm not sure what order they will be in, but I suspect I have them backwards.

Animation and Made in Alaska were after Screenwriting.  Scroll down to find them.
Then

6:45pm  They are starting with the screenwriting contest.  I've already posted about the winner Jason Mott.

Winner and three finalists  - First three are finalists.
Chad Hutson
Holly Holstein
Jason Wright
Winner:  Jason Mott

Scroll down for the animation and Made in Alaska Awards that have been announced.

GCI is announcing awards for Native content.  Next is Super Shorts.

Audience Choice Awards:  
Documentary:  Saving Brinton
Feature: What If It Works

FEATURES

• American Folk * USA  
• Drawer Boy * Canada / Mexico 
• Painless USA * 
• Pale Blue Dot India* 
• What If It Works

Winner:  The Drawer Boy

2nd Place:  What If It Works

3rd Place:  American Folk

DOCUMENTARY

Documentary Shorts

• Family Rewritten
• Ghosts of The Arctic
• He Who Dances on Wood
• Old Harbor, New Hope
• Perception: From Prison to Purpose
• Ten Meter Tower
• The Collection
• Wildland

Winner:  Ten Meter Tower - 

2nd Place:  He Who Dances On Wood - Jessica Besher  AND  Unwelcome - Ida Theresa Myklebost

3rd Place:  $30 to Antarctica - Joey Chu

Feature-Length Documentaries 

• AlphaGo USA
• Among Wolves USA
• The Last Animals USA
• Over the River Italy
• Saving Brinton  USA

Winner:  The Last Animals

2nd Place:  AlphaGo 

3rd Place:  Tie:  Among Wolves/ Saving Brinton

Shorts

• Game (USA) (15m)
• Whoever Was Using This Bed (USA) 20m
• Iron (USA) (17m)
• Must Kill Karl (Canada) (12m)
• The Robbery
• Temporary (USA) (12m)

Winner:  Game - Jeannie Donahoe

2nd Place:  Whoever Was Using This Bed

3rd Place:  Temporary - Milena Govich

Super Shorts

• 8 AM
• Brain Storm
• Couples Night
• Cold Storage

Winner:  The Robbery - Jim Cummings

2nd Place:  Brain Storm - Christophe Clin

3rd Place:  Cold Storage - Thomas Freundlich

ANIMATION

• Afterwork
• Bakiro
• BAUMU
• Cagare
• Genesis
• Happy End
• Light Sight
• Navajo Tales
• RIPrivacy
• South Forest
• The Realm of Deepest Knowing
• Twice Upon a Time
• Undiscovered

Winner:  Bakiro

Runner Up: Happy End

Honorable Mention:  Navajo Tales

MADE IN ALASKA

• Conspiracy Pie
• Dead Run
• Keep Talking
• Proper Binge
• Shaawatke’e’s Birth

Winner:   Keep Talking

2nd Place:  Conspiracy Pie

3rd Place:  Dead Run - Shane Taylor

AIFF 2017: Caught By Surprise By Wonderful Film - Arctic Daughter

Jean Aspen after the showing

I didn't know anything about Arctic Daughter except that it was about a woman who had lived in log cabins above the Arctic Circle inAlaska.  And it was the only thing showing today at noon, and I'd seen the shorts being shown at 12:30pm.

Tom Irons, Aspen's husband, post showing

I was caught up in a film that was beautiful in so many ways.  The visuals were beautiful -  I wasn't conscious of the music but for a few times when the original piano score was perfect for the shot.  Then it faded back into the background of my consciousness.  I'm starting to have some trouble with hearing all the dialogue at this festival, but not in this film.  And the story is the great Alaska story of going out into the wilderness, building a cabin by hand, and surviving well through the winter.  But it's not a macho conquering nature movie, but a thoughtful reflection on the place of humans in nature.

Composer Lindianne Sarno

though a lot of it was made up of old photographs, it didn't feel like it was.  And they didn't use the Ken Burns effect. (And I when I said that to Jean, she said, "Who's Ken Burns?")


It's a beautiful and inspiring film that I hope is seen by all Alaskans, and by all citizens of the U.S. and the world.  It's about the meaning of life, our relationship to nature, about change and human strength and fragility.  It's narrated by a beautiful woman who shares the wisdom she's gained from her experiences of life pared down to just the essentials.  But she's also lived in Arizona.  I've focused on one woman Jean Aspen, but it also involves some men - her first and second husbands and her son.

I'm not easily carried away like this by a film, but I was today.  The only quibble I might have is that toward the end it seemed to be getting a little too long, but there were two important things the film makers needed to say at the end.

This is as eloquent a statement as I've seen about our human place in the natural world.

And it turned out that this was the world premiere showing.  Even the film makers had never seen it on a large screen!  I learned that at the short Q&A right after the film was shown and then more time to talk to the film makers in the Port Room.  I was supposed to take J home and then come back and see the Best of the Shorts, but I in the end I went home and took a break to work on this post and now I'm at the Panel "From Short to Feature."

This reminds me of being surprised by another Alaska film that I saw under similar circumstances - Greg Chaney's The Empty Chair.  A really good and important film about Alaska that was getting its world premiere here at AIFF.

From the Festival description:

"D.K. Johnson, moderator, will be joined by Writer/Director Levi A. Taylor (Conspiracy P.I.E., Way Up North), Cinematographer/Gaffer April Frame (Frame by Frame Productions), Director/Editor Quinton Oliver Smith (Ruthless Rhymer, Find Me) and Director Logan Dellinger (Moose the Movie, Sudsy Slim Rides Again). Each filmmaker has taken part in both large and small-scale productions including feature films, music videos, commercials and reality television."

AIFF 2017: Last Day, Lots To See

A quick rundown of events/films:

Arctic Daughter - haven't seen it the link gets you a description.  Sounds like a video memoir of a woman who grew up in the Arctic.

Short Docs 2 has some very good films.  One of my favorites is "He Who Dances On Wood."  "Hairat" was by the same film maker and is an eerie short about a man who feeds the hyenas.  "Unwelcome' is narrated by a Syrian boy who lives as a refugee in Greece and the film maker (Ida Theresa Myklebost) has been here all week and I expect she'll be there for this showing.  "Family Rewritten" is about a teen in foster care and is 'in competition.'  I have video of Myklebost and Family director Yasmin Mistry here.  Bear in the Bedroom is an unexpected (by me, of course)  film that lets us into another person's life as he sees it.

Keep Talking was shown first at the museum the day before the festival officially began.  It's an interesting doc about the attempts to revive the Alutiiq language in Kodiak.

Best of the Fest Shorts - They haven't said which ones will be in this program.  This will probably be a sneak preview of the award winners in this category.   My favorite short was Game  But there were a bunch of good ones:  8 A.M., Toby, Cold Storage, 7 Beds, Yochi, and The Geneva Convention to name a few.

Aerial Films - "best aerial films from around the globe" Based on Alaska Aerial Media's website, we're talking drones here.

My comments continue below the schedule.

Sunday, December 10

12:00pm

Arctic Daughter   AK Exp Large

12:30pm

Short Docs 2: Against the Grain   AK Exp SmallLIMITED

2:00pm

Keep Talking and Shaawatke'e's Birth AK Exp Large

2:30pm

Best of Fest Shorts   AK Exp Small

4:00pm

Aerial Films Showcase  AK Exa Large

4:15pm

Shorts to Features: The Ins and Outs of Indie Filmmaking  AK Exp Port View Eoom

6:00pm

Awards Celebration LIMITED

8:00pm

Audience Award Winner  Williwaw 601 F StLIMITEDAward Winner Award Winner 

Shorts to Features is a panel discussion.  Getting to hear film makers talk about their craft  always gives me lots to think about.

Awards Ceremony - I plan to blog live as they announce the winners.  Should be sometime around 6:30 - 7:00 pm but I'll just keep updating posts and give you a heads up.  Better yet, join folks at Williwaw and see it yourself.  I toyed with live-streaming on Youtube, but my first attempts today to make that happen haven't been successful.  I don't think I have time to figure it all out before 7pm tomorrow.

Best of the Fest - They'll be showing some of the top films, including audience choice awards.  But they only have three slots - so we'll see Best Feature winner, Best Doc winner, and an audience favorite, either a doc or a feature.

The winners should be announced by 7pm - 730pm.  You can check my blog, the AIFF website, or come down to the Williwaw (601 F Street - The old Coventnat House Building) around 7:30 and then pick your theater.

If you haven't seen any films yet this year - I'd recommend the best of the fest shorts at 2:30 in the AK Experience Theater.

AIFF 2017: Lots of Films - Saturday Suggestions

There's way too much for me to cover today.  Click on the colored bars for more description of the films and the locations.

Family Films is free and it's animated films.  It's kid friendly, but not just for kids.  I might go see that program.  It's at Loussac.

Check It was the Gay-la documentary.

The Music in Film panel is for film makers, but people interested in film might want to go too.

"Join special guest, Liz Storm, and other industry professionals to discuss music licensing for film, copyrights, and distribution royalties."

Pale Blue Dot is a great Indian film.  I posted a homework assignment for it last week, but after watching it, you don't need to know the Hindu legend before hand.  But you might want to read about it afterward.
I did a second Pale Blue Dot post just now with video capturing people's reaction as they came out of the theater after seeing the movie last week.

More comments below the schedule.

Saturday, December 9

12:00pm

Family Films Check It 

12:30pm

Catching Sight of Thelma & Louise LIMITED

1:00pm

Partners in Healing LIMITEDMusic in Film Panel presented by AKIMI 

2:00pm

Tribal Justice plus AKPM Hosted Discussion LIMITED

2:30pm

Pale Blue Dot LIMITED

3:00pm

Between Earth and Sky + Mega Tsunami LIMITEDJourneys to Adaka, Old Harbor New Hope LIMITED

5:00pm

Over the River LIMITEDActors of Sound 

5:15pm

Life Hack LIMITED

7:00pm

Drive-In: CANCELLED Animation 2 AlphaGo The Laplace's Demon 

8:30pm

What if It Works? 

9:00pm

Chasing the Blues LIMITEDShorts on the Edge Late Night Lounge at Tequila 61 LIMITED

Between Earth and Sky is a documentary about climate change featuring Alaska.

Over the River is an Italian documentary about the town of Caselle in Pittare,, and how the young are leaving and the old oral traditions are dying.  

 I talked to   film maker Vanina Lappa via Skype  which you can see here.  

Life Hack was an interesting feature about two people whose lives are disrupted when people hack their phone and computer.  

I'll go see Animation 2 - though at Animation 1 last night computer problems marred the program and we didn't really get to see a couple of films, at least not the way we should have.  This one is also in the E Street Theater so I hope they change computers or whatever it is they need to do.  It was my first time in the theater and it's a good venue - if the films show right.  

AlphaGo is a riveting documentary about a human (the best go player in the world) playing against a new computer program (AlphaGo).  It follows the model of sporting event documentaries as we see the preparation (of the AlphaGo team anyway, not of the Korean champion) and then get nail biting coverage of each game.  It was well done.  A strong contender for best documentary.

What If It Works? is a fun feature.  The synopsis sounds a little strange, but it worked well due in part to strong actors playing interesting characters.  He's OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) and she's got multiple personalities.  It takes place in Australia.  

Shorts on the Edge  is the same program as opening night.  

As I'm writing this I'm realizing that I've seen a lot of films this week with two full days left.  

A warning for Sunday evening.  I've live blogged the Awards Galas for the last couple of years.  I might even try to set up a live YouTube feed this year.  Though I've never done that before and I'm not sure I can pull it off between now and then.  But look out for the announcements.