AIFF 2009 - Rand Thornsley in His Office

Rand is the President of the Anchorage International Film Festival Board and Festival Program Director.  I dropped in on him before watching "Still Walking" tonight at the Bear Tooth to see how he was doing two weeks before the festival begins.  He didn't know I was coming or that he was going to be on camera.

AIFF 2009, Anchorage, Fat Bikes, and Blogging

I try to remind people now and then that biking is a real alternative form of transportation, it's not just recreation.  Our infrastructure and city planning make it hard to do without a bigger vehicle sometimes, but biking is possible for a lot of our travel, even in the winter.

So, I do want to recognize that there are a number of Alaska blogs that focus on biking and there's even an Alaskan biking film in the Anchorage International Film Festival.

Here's a short post about the short film Fat Bike from Bicycle Commuters of Alaska: (BCA also supported the film)

Carl Battreall took a fantastic first step into film making with Fat Bike by being accepted to the Boston Bike Film Fest and the Anchorage International Film Fest.  But the news gets even better.  The Boston Bike Film Fest, which took place last Friday and Saturday has announced that Fat Bike has won First Place!
Congratulations goes out to Carl for making such a great film. This is exciting news for all riders and especially those who brave the elements all winter long. And perhaps it will serve as great inspiration to those considering winter riding.
BCA sends along a hearty congratulations to Carl and all those that helped with the making of Fat Bike.

BCA talks about biking everyday so I'm adding them to my Alaska Blog list.  Another one is Bicycles and Icicles.  It has a long list of Alaska bike related blogs.  These blogs are serious crusaders working to change how decisions are made about transportation and planning by living their ideals and fighting  to make bike commuting safer and easier.



Fat Bike Trailer from indieAK films on Vimeo.

Fat Bike  U.S. (ALASKA)  26 minutes
Director: Carl Battreall
Fat Bike is part of the Snowdance 2 program showing
Tuesday Dec. 8,  5:45pm  at Alaska Experience Theater
Saturday Dec. 12,  5:30 at Out North

It's also part of the Martini Matinee presentation  Friday Dec. 11, at 2:30pm Bear Tooth

AIFF 2009 Suzi Yoonessi on Trying To Make An Authentic Alaska Film in Washington State

I haven't counted all the films entered in the festival, but with the shorts, particularly, there are a lot.  I'm sure it will not be possible to see even half the films, even if you were attending an event from the first to last showing every day.  So I'm trying to go through what's coming and figure out what looks best, what looks most interesting, and when films are going to be showing in hopes of seeing the best of what's up here in December.  I'm also trying to share some of what I'm learning with people who read the blog.

As part of this, I've emailed some of the film makers.  I feel a bit awkward since I don't really want to ask generic, boring questions.  It's best, for me, to see the film first, and then I may have some burning questions, or I may not.

Since I had seen Dear Lemon Lima as a short when it was in the Festival two years ago, I did have some questions of director Suzi Yoonessi.  Here's what I wrote then about the short (good, but not much) and the film maker's plans to film a movie, set in Fairbanks, in Seattle.

Dear Lemon Lima, was another snippet, it seemed, from a future feature length film. Beautifully shot with good acting, it had lots of potential. Though I think the mother was a bit exaggerated. (I'm sure the writer will say 'not at all, I know her well'.) The director - I think that was her role - was there after the film to talk. She also talked about a feature to be filmed next summer that is set in Fairbanks. To her credit, she's been to Fairbanks - after writing several chapters of the screen play - but it will be filmed in Seattle (did she really say Seattle? How can you do Fairbanks in Seattle?) because, you know, it's really expensive to do it in Fairbanks. You know, I think that people in Fairbanks and Anchorage would put the whole crew up in their houses to help you keep the costs down. If those other guys could walk their horses across Alaska, you can surely shoot your film that takes place in Fairbanks, in Alaska. Imagine a movie, "Crossing Alaska with Horses" filmed in the Alps, because, you know, going to Alaska would be so expensive.

A little snide I acknowledge, but we'd also seen a film  by French film makers who had had the idea to ride horses across Alaska.  When they got here, they began to realize how ridiculous that seemed to Alaskans.  They leased the horses, but soon discovered they were going to have to walk with, not on, the horses.  But they got up to the Arctic Ocean.  And they were in Alaska and saw how great their misperceptions of Alaska were.  As Alaskans we learned about ourselves by seeing Alaska through their eyes, but only because they were actually in Alaska. 

What I didn't realize at the time was that Dear Lemon Lima was the film she had in mind.

To her credit, she emailed me after my snarky post and asked if I had suggestions for cutting costs and doing some of the filming in Fairbanks.  If it had been Anchorage, I figured I could have found housing for everyone.  I posted her request and emailed some of the Fairbanks bloggers for help. 

So, not long ago, I emailed director Suzi Yoonessi:

"A key question I do have is how much if any of the film did you get to do in
Fairbanks?  What little I saw on the website - pictures, trailers - I'm guessing
not much.  There was one shot that might have been in a Fairbanks like setting.

In any case, I'm looking forward to seeing the movie - the colors and characters of the short that was here in 2007 still are vivid in my mind.  Not an easy thing
after two years of festival films.  But I'm a little leery about the Alaska setting
and the treatment of the Native Olympics.  We'll see."

Suzi wrote back:

. . . Our lead actress is part Yup'ik and from Eagle River, so if you're interested in speaking with her further, I'd love to put you in touch!

As you know, the budget was incredibly low. I super appreciate your blog posting, but one person responded (which was also an incredibly kind gesture), but it takes a village to raise a child, and Lemon Lima is my first-born.  We were very fortunate to find an amazing Alaskan Native presence in Seattle, so the film features an Aleut dance group and all of the events were supervised by a former WEIO athlete.  We saved a small part of our budget to shoot B-roll in Fairbanks, but after the rough cut, I had to make the decision of filming in Alaska, or having a reshoot.

One of the film's final scenes is a Yup'ik Eskimo Igloo dance. We shot a dance that wasn't particularly dynamic, so when I learned that we could use our budget to reshoot the dance, it took precedence because the character's evolution and acceptance of her heritage is the most important subplot within the character-driven film. Phillip Blanchett of the Yup'ik pop band Pamyua choreographed the dance for the reshoot and worked with Savanah Wiltfong (our lead) in Anchorage to understand the significance of each movement in the dance. The dance is delightful and we were also able to include two of Pamyua's songs in the film.

It's incredibly important to me that you, the local audience and press know the measures that we took to keep the Alaskan Native elements authentic (including having WEIO ship two seal skin blankets to Seattle.) The story is an underrepresented voice and I think it's incredibly exciting that people in London, Brazil, Tunisia and Sweden have been exposed to Alaskan Native history & culture in a story that entertains and informs. The assumption that we didn't make every effort possible to maintain the integrity of the Alaskan Native elements is incredibly frustrating and untrue.  Although I wasn't able to film in Alaska, the magical exterior filming locations inspire a sense of isolation, wonder and delight.

I've met Phillip Blanchett and seen Pamyua perform on various occasions.  They are the real thing.  I understand that getting funding to make a feature film is very difficult and that bringing a crew to Alaska is very expensive.  I accept that Suzi believes that she did everything she could to be authentic. 

I urge Alaskans to enjoy the game we usually play of picking out the parts that are wrong about films set, but not filmed, in Alaska, but to try not to let any discrepancies get in the way of seeing the film she made.  But, Suzi, remember that you did choose to tell a story set in Alaska and that the way you portray Alaskans has been/will be seen "in London, Brazil, Tunisia and Sweden" as you say.  And for most of those people, it will be as close as they ever get to Alaska.  Any mistakes you've made about us is how they will perceive Alaska.

So, Alaskans, be polite.  Don't ask questions about why she didn't shoot the film in Alaska.  She would have if she had had more money.  The Alaska Film Office hadn't reopened its doors when she was filming.

Suzi, recognize that not that many people read this blog, and even if everyone did, they wouldn't listen to me anyway. 

Film Festival Scam? AIFF is NOT AIFF

[UPDATE March 21, 2010:  Last week I received a letter from the Alaska International Film Festival's attorney saying I had libeled them in this post.  This is my attorney's letter in response.]

[UPDATE August 19, 2010:  I've added a three post series Part 1:  What is a Scam?  Part 2:  What is a Film Festival?
Part 3:  Comparing the Anchorage and Alaska IFFs.]

[UPDATE July 20, 2011: I've added this post documenting that the Alaska International Film Awards was two days past its award announcement date.  It's five days late now.

While working on the ANCHORAGE International Film Festival blog posts I came across another website that had me totally baffled for a bit.  (I added the black circle) The picture was great, but just totally different in style and content from the Anchorage International Film Festival.  Did they add some new graphics? I clicked around and  I couldn't find any of the content that was on the AIFF website.

The awards page had great verbiage like,

"highlight Alaska's important role in the international film community."

What important role do we have in the film world?  Most films about Alaska are done somewhere warmer and cheaper.  And  

"In addition, Best of Category awards will be presented in each main competitive category and Special Jury Awards are presented to filmmakers who make significant contributions to social change, environmental awareness, and humanitarian causes."

but then I got to this:

The Alaska International Film Festival is an awards-based film and screenplay competition.  Films will not be screened for the public.  Awards will be announced publicly by Internet and international press release.

 "Will not be screened for the public." ?!!  I thought a key part about entering a festival was to get an audience for your film.  Winners announced by internet?  Who is on the jury?  And how come I couldn't find anybody's name on the website?  Is the whole festival computer generated?   And then I saw.  It wasn't the ANCHORAGE International Film Festival.    It was the ALASKA film festival. (No, I'm not offering a link to the site.)

Here's the website for the festival I've been blogging about.

But on the OTHER AIFF site,
the submission page lists the different categories and it costs $25 or  $40 to submit a film depending on length and how early you submit your film.

And there's a contact address where you can also submit your films: 

For general questions or filmmaker inquiries please contact us at:

Alaska International Film Festival
3705 Arctic Blvd, Suite 2329
Anchorage, AK 99503

So I checked out the address today when I was doing other errands.

Above is 3705 Arctic in Anchorage.  The address is in white letters above the door under the red Mail Cache letters.  If you double click the picture you can enlarge it to see.

If you wander  past lots of mailboxes you get to this alcove (left) and  "Suite 2329" is down on the end wall, lower right.  It's a very small suite.

Right here in the picture on the right to be precise.


A whosis search of the url for this website got me to Godaddy and yielded a phone number with a 270 area code.  That's in Kentucky.  A long ways away from Alaska.

This is pretty suspicious.  So when I finished all of the above, I googled "film festival scams" and on the third site I checked I found this article on film festival scams that identifies the Alaska International Film Festival as a likely scam:

Sunday, 4 October 2009

Beware of scam 'film festivals'

By Benjamin Craig

It seems that every man and his dog wants to run a film festival these days, which is fantastic in many ways, not least because it provides an even greater number of outlets for filmmakers to get their work in front of an audience. Sadly the multitude of scammers who prowl the Internet also seem to have their dirty fingers in the film festival scene as well.

A timely reminder came this week when the "Alaska International Film Festival" was brought to our attention. Visit the site - www.alaskafilmfestival.com (not hyperlinked so as not to give undue Google link mojo to this site) - and on the surface you see a clean, professional looking site for what sounds like a prestigious event and is fact described as such by the site content. But before you dive into the submissions area, it's worth noting a few red flags...

Firstly, the site content reads like this event has been around for years, and indeed, the About Us page says as much. But on closer examination, there is nothing to indicate any previous years' activities, nor can you find any mention of it in Google. Indeed, when we contacted the 'festival' to ask for a list of last year's winners, the respondent told us that this was in fact their inaugural year, despite the About Us page saying, "Each year, awards are presented to independent filmmakers from around the globe..." Update 10-Oct-2009 - surprise surprise, the copy on the About Us page has been changed slightly after this article was published. . .  [Emphasis added]

 You can read the rest of this post and learn about more red flags at filmmaking.com. 

[UPDATE August 9, 2012:  Le site d'Irna, in a post called Pseudo Festivals, Pseudo Awards   writes, in part:  [There's also a French version]

"Let’s start by taking a look at some of these sites: 
California Film Awards 
Alaska International Film Awards 
Oregon Film Awards 
Colorado Film Festival 
Mountain Film Awards 
Honolulu Film Awards 
Yosemite Film Festival ... [I've removed the links]
Doesn’t it strike you that there is more than a little family resemblance between the sites of these different ‘festivals’?  And you wouldn’t be wrong: all these festivals and their ‘prestigious awards’ have more in common than a mere similarity of template design.
  the jury that awards the ‘rewards’ is never identified, making it impossible to find out who its members are; 
  none of these ‘festivals’ ever organizes any public screenings; 
  while posing as established festivals (“Each year, the Yosemite Film Festival recognizes excellence in filmmaking”, “The Oregon Film Awards® are presented each year in several categories” ...), none of them has been running for longer than a year or two; 
  all of them hand out a very large number of awards with grandiloquent names: ‘Grand Jury Award’, ‘Northern Lights Emerging Talent Award’, ‘Sierra Nevada Awards’, ‘Silver Sierra Awards’, ‘Gold Kahuna Awards’, ‘Diamond’, ‘Platinum’, ‘Gold’, ‘Silver’ ... Awards; 
  the addresses associated with the domain names all seem to consist solely of Post Office boxes; 
  all these sites are hosted by Rackspace Hosting, either in San Antonio or Chicago ..."]

If you want to submit a film to a festival in Alaska, I recommend the Anchorage International Film Festival.  I know it's real because I've been to a number of them and I blogged the last two.

AIFF 2009 - How to Find the Shorts - Dunlap Shohl's Frozen Shorts

I picked up a hard copy of the Festival Schedule today.

Later I noticed that Anchorage cartoonist and film maker, Peter Dunlap-Shohl, put up a new short animation on his blog Frozen Grin.  I thought I'd put it up here because I liked it and because it can serve as an appetizer for his animated short in the Festival - Frozen Shorts.

But I also realized this would be a good opportunity to alert you to the difficulty of finding specific shorts in the printed schedule.  Shorts (including short animations) are grouped together into programs.  Frozen Shorts is actually in two programs - becaue it's in two different film categories:  Snowdance ("films about Alaska and by Alaskans") and Animation. 

So, in the Schedule on page 14 you can see the Snowdance listings, and Frozen Shorts is in Snowdance 2 which will show on

Tuesday, Dec. 8 at 5:45pm at the Alaska Experience Theater (in the Ship Creek Mall downtown) AND
Saturday, Dec. 12  at 5:30pm at Out North

But Frozen Shorts is also part of the collection of 18 animated shorts that are grouped into the program Animation 2, also known as "Should I Stay or Should I Go?  And Other Confusing Questions. 

That program is also playing twice

Sat. Dec 5 at 5:45 at Out North
Tues. Dec 8 at 7:45pm at Out North

Now, there may be an easier way to find out exactly when a particular short film is playing.  The online program lets you click and see what's there.  But at the moment, at least for Snowdance 2 there there's an extra showing on Sunday Dec. 6 at 3pm at the Bear Tooth.



So maybe there's one more screening that wasn't listed in the Snowdance 2 listing on page-14.                                                                                                But when you click on

Snowdance 2 you get another page that doesn't have this Sunday showing listed.  My guess is that the website will be the most reliable because they can still make changes there that they can't make on the printed programs. 

It seems to me that last year I had a lot more trouble finding times on the website.  I think this year's website will make it much easier to find exactly where and when each film is, even the shorts.

Meanwhile I'm checking if the Sunday showing is correct and I'll update this when I find out. 


Here's Peter's new short animation, "Anchorage, First Snow":



One other things about the shorts.  If last year's festival is any indication, some of the better shorts will show up before some of the features, like they used to do with cartoons in the old days.

[UPDATE Nov. 21 Noon:  The Festival has confirmed Snowdance 1 is at the Bear Tooth at 3pm on Sunday Dec. 6, NOT Snowdance 2.  But you still have four chances to see Peter's Frozen Shorts.  Now I haven't seen it myself, but if you liked the First Snow, you probably will like his festival entry.  And a lot of the other films in Snowdance 2 and Animation 1 should be worth it.  Some of the most creative stuff shows up in the animation.  And if you don't like a film, it'll be over in a few minutes anyway and you get to see the next one. ]

AIFF 2009 - Features in Competition

[Updated December 8, 2009 - BIRTHDAY is also a feature in competition.  The Festival materials identify the the films in competition quietly with an * online and from what I can tell, not at all in the printed program.  Birthday doesn't have an * online or in the list I got so I didn't cover it in this original post.  So after watching it last night I emailed Tony Sheppard to find out why it wasn't in competition.  He emailed back that it is.  Good.  Go here for my review of Birthday.]
There's a second showing Saturday night at 10:15pm at the Bear Tooth.  The director and co-producer/lead actor are also here.  Monday night's showing was a World Premiere (I think that means outside of Australia, I need to check) and I'd recommend doing whatever you can to see it.

[Updated November 24]
The Festival awards will go to those that have been selected to be 'in competition.' (For clarification of the Festival terminology go to this post from last year.)   There are five features in competition - a total of 7 hours and 53 minutes.  They are listed below.  Times and locations (all these are at the Bear Tooth) are now up.

Features are the movie equivalent to fiction.  Over 55 minutes is a 'feature.'  Under 55 minutes compete in a different category - Shorts.  Click the link to see a similar post on   shorts in competition.  Documentaries in competition will be up soon. 
 
ALERTS:
1.   Hipster, first showing is part of the opening night Gala - $25 ticket includes movie and  party afterwards.  All Films AND All Events Passes include both movie and party free.  "All Films Passes" DO NOT get you in.
2.   Bomber is only scheduled once - at the beginning!  Sat. Dec. 5 at 7:45pm at the Bear Tooth.  
3.  There will be additional showings of the winning movies Dec. 14 - 17.  Check AIFF Website and this blog. 

Against The Current  US, 84 minutes
 • Directed by Peter Callahan
Wed.  12/9 5:30 Bear Tooth
Sun    12/13 3:15 Bear Tooth  (right before Dear Lemon Lima)

With the five-year anniversary of his wife and child’s death rapidly approaching, Paul (Joseph Fiennes) recruits his friends Jeff and Liz to help him realize his all-consuming goal of swimming the length of the Hudson River. Sensing that Paul is hiding something, Jeff discovers that the trip is Paul’s way of saying goodbye to a life that has dealt him too much tragedy. Despite his friends’ efforts to convince him otherwise, Paul is firm in his belief that there is nothing left for him now that his wife and child are gone. Justin Kirk turns in a particularly strong performance as Paul’s sarcastic, unsentimental best friend. Appearances from Michelle Trachtenberg and Mary Tyler Moore round out an excellent ensemble cast. Set against the backdrop of the Hudson River Valley in summertime, the film explores the dark landscape of life after loss and delivers a strong finale sure to stay with you long after the film’s conclusion.

This is clearly a film with established actors.   Here's the trailer from the Against the Current's website:



 You can also hear a radio interview with the director from Woodstock, NY on  WAMC.

Bomber  UK  85 minutes
• Directed by Paul Cotter 
Sat.   12/5 7:45   Bear Tooth (right after Dear Lemon Lima) 
(There's only ONE SHOWING)

 In this bittersweet comedy about love, family and dropping bombs, an 83-year-old man returns to Germany for a long planned journey of atonement. When his useless son Ross agrees to drive him there, a nightmare family road trip ensues.

Bomber Trailer

Bomber, The Movie | MySpace Video


Here's a glimpse into Paul Cotter from an interview on Spout:

Let’s get hypothetical: You’re on death row. The night of your execution, you’re allowed to watch any two films of your choice. What would you pick for your last-night-on-Earth double feature?

Ikiru (aka “Living”) by Akira Kurosawa.  This is the greatest film I’ve ever watched, and I never tire of seeing it.  It’s so small, yet so big.  A tiny film about a clerk in a city municipal office who is dying of cancer.  It is small in where the plot goes, but massive in where it takes you as a human being.  If I could ever get close to what Kurosawa did in that film, I would die a happy man.

The second film would be harder to say.  Kieslowski’s Dekalog maybe, because there’s a lot in there, but that’s kind of a depressing collection isn’t it.  So maybe “Zulu” because it’s a mindless war film with lots of bright colours and that might cheer me up - especially if I’m about to get executed.

Have you noticed a pattern here?  Road trips with friends/relatives where people explore who they are and their relationships?

But the next one should be quite different.  It sounds like the misfits kids show the world type movie. 

Dear Lemon Lima  US  87 minutes
• Directed by Suzi Yoonessi  [Lima is pronounced like the bean, not the city in Peru]

Sun    12/13 5:30  Bear Tooth  (right after Against the Current)

Sat.     12/5  5:30  Bear Tooth  (right before Bomber)

In this charming coming of age comedy, a 13-year-old half Yup’ik girl in Alaska navigates her way through heartbreak and prep school by rediscovering the spirit of the World Eskimo Indian Olympics.

A couple scenes of this film were entered as a short in the 2007 Anchorage International Film Festival.  The colors were brilliant and children were real, developed characters, just in the ten minutes maybe the short lasted.  That's a pretty remarkable accomplishment.  I can still see the scenes vividly.   So I was surprised to learn that the film is set in Fairbanks, Alaska.  The light and structures and scenes were distinctly not Alaskan in my memory.  I chided the filmmaker in the blog for planning to make the rest of the movie in Washington State, and not doing it in Fairbanks.  Amazingly, she responded asking if I had suggestions for overcoming the costs of doing it in Alaska.  [The new law that supports filming in Alaska wasn't yet in effect.]  I blogged about her needs and also contacted Fairbanks bloggers.  I don't know what happened, but based on what I saw on the Dear Lemon Lima website - there's a trailer there I couldn't embed - I suspect that I may like the film as film, but be disturbed by what I'm afraid will be its pseudo Alaska-ness.  And regular readers know I have concerns how Outsiders portray Alaska Native culture.  We'll see.    I'll check and update.  [Update Nov. 18:  I've got an email from Suzi and I'll post it when she says that's ok.  She does sound like she made great efforts to make this as genuine as possible within her budget.] But do go look at the website.  It's not your run-of-the-mill website.
 

The next movie will be shown as part of the Opening Night Gala.* 


Hipsters (Stilyagi)  RUSSIA, 125 minutes
• Directed by Valery Todorovsky
Fri. 12/4   7:00pm  Bear Tooth  * $25 or free entry with ALL FILMS & EVENTS PASS. (All Films pass is not good for this)
Sat. 12/12 7:30pm Bear Tooth

An energetic, impressive production already garlanded with four Nikas (the  Russian Oscar) for best film, production design, costumes and sound, Valery Todorovsky’s attempt to revive the immediate post-Stalinist era may appeal initially to Russian audiences, but should easily navigate international markets after an enthusiastic reception at Karlovy Vary.

A portrait of a grim period, Hipsters is almost a Russian version of Grease – as fanciful and unrealistic as its American counterpart, but with more of a political subtext to sustain it. It’s set way back in 1955, when, in an attempt to establish their independence against the backdrop of grey uniformity surrounding them, young Russian rebels (“hipsters”) copied American fashions, hairdos and slang.  Featuring a cast of young energetic hopefuls and several seasoned veterans in cameo roles (Sergey Garmash, Oleg Yankovsky), critics might carp that Hipsters offers perhaps an overly gentle and forgiving image of that time, hiding behind colorful sets and costumes which border on caricature. But general audiences are likely to be much more forgiving.

Hipsters centres around a shy, nerdy Communist youth (komsomolchik) called Mels, played by Anton Shagin, who falls for luscious blonde hipster Polya (Akinshina) and turns his back on his pretty but strict brigade commander girlfriend (Brik). He takes up the tenor saxophone instead, raises some hell of his own and ends up marrying his blonde bombshell and even having an unlikely child with her before Todorovsky wraps it all up in a rousing finale.

Hipsters’ score, a lively mélange of updated Soviet hits and fresh numbers written specially for the film, pumps away energetically, while clever art direction blends real-life locations with studio sets to create a world apart. Throughout it all, the cast seems to be having the time of its life.

Стиляги - тизер
by centralpartnership

Son of the Sunshine  CANADA  92 minutes
• Directed by Ryan Ward 
Tues.   12/8    8:00 Bear Tooth
Fri.     12/11   5:30 Bear Tooth

From the dirty streets and cool fields of low-income Ontario, Canada, comes the story of Sonny Johnns, a young man with Tourettes Syndrome.

Fed up with his existence in an angry, co-dependent relationship with his maudlin mother and his tough as nails sister, Sonny spends his savings from years of disability payments to undergo an experimental procedure that promises to eradicate his symptoms.

Upon his recovery, Sonny, entirely cured of spontaneous outbursts, garners the courage to live a normal life - but not without a price. Sonny discovers that the surgery has somehow smothered an amazing supernatural gift he has had all his life: the uncanny ability to heal the sick and the dying.

A story of the truly extra-ordinary, littered with the fiery angst of a young man and his quest for the all-healing power of love.  [This synopsis and the photo come from the Son of Sunshine website. ]

  This was a Sundance Selection and has won prizes at a number of festivals.  The summary raises an interesting paradox I've come to notice, but I don't think is commonly understood by people who are not close to someone with different brain activity.  While they have some issue that makes them seem, to most people, "less" than normal or 'disabled', they also have some abilities - usually invisible to most - that also make them 'more' than normal folks.  Should be an interesting movie.



Go to the AIFF website for more festival information.

AAIF 2009 - Shorts in Competition

"In Competition" means that the initial reviewers picked these films from the other shorts to compete for awards in the Festival.  I'm going to try to get all the films in competition in each category listed in separate posts.  There are about 17 other shorts (besides the animated shorts) in the Festival.  I'll add stuff to this page if I learn more.  And I'll put together a Festival overview post that will link to these other key posts.  (The descriptions come from the Anchorage International Film Festival (AIFF) site unless otherwise noted.  Picture sources are all listed with the film.)  Based on awards already won, there are some good films here. 

The Capgras Tide  UK  15 minutes
Director: Adam Hutchings

A man returns home from the hospital after suffering a concussion convinced his father is an impostor. In an attempt to prove his theory he uncovers a more shocking truth.  (AIFF description)

You can see a one minute clip at Adam Hutchings' website.

Note:  I became aware of Capgras reading Richard Powers' gripping book, Echo Maker. Capgras results from a head injury and causes one to believe that a close relative is really an imposter.  The book is also of interest to Alaskans because it takes place in Kearny, Nebraska where the Sandhill Cranes gather.  Powers weaves in the theme of memory that the cranes have to find their way back to Alaska and the memory of his capgras patient in the book.


 

Free Lunch  US 30 minutes
Director: Rick Curnutt

Walter Tanner Jr. is done with his privileged past, so he sets off on the road in a lunch truck with his friend Casey to serve the working people of Los Angeles who live their own real struggles.

Luksus (Luxury) Poland, 38 minutes
reżyseria     Jarosław Sztander

Here's Google's translation from the Polish website:

History seventeen boy - luxury, which after several years of living under the care of her pimp - Popers, became too old for customers - pedophiles. For this reason Popers abandons boy at the central station. Luxury can not find in the new situation and by all means try to go back to "business" and her pimp.

Or you may prefer how the Brooklyn Film Festival site (photo also from Brooklyn Film Festival site)  described it:

Synopsis
The lives of two boys converge at the central train station in Warsaw a day before Christmas. One is a teen prostitute nicknamed Luksus (Luxury) and the other is a beggar with a dog. The older one, because of his age, has just finished his 'career'. The younger one is only a step away from it as he has come into possession of a valuable notebook with the addresses and telephone numbers of clients. A local taxi driver, the main client and agent in the underage sex business, offers Luksus a job as a tout. Will the boy exploit his younger friend or will he help him escape pedophiles' clutches? Painfully realistic, photographed in the authentic setting of the station, Sztandera's film touches upon a real problem often ignored by Polish cinema.  [From the Brooklyn Film Festival site]

Miracle Fish  Australia 18 minutes
Director: Luke Doolan

" Eight-year-old Joe has a birthday he will never forget. After friends tease him, he sneaks off to the sick bay, wishing everyone in the world would go away. He wakes up to find his dream may have become a reality."
Photo from Short Film Central

Miracle Fish was shown at the Sundance Film festival this year.  According to a short audio interview with Doolan, Miracle Fish first got Italian money and only got Australian backing after it got into Sundance. 








Next Floor   Canada  12 minutes
Director: Denis Villeneuve

This film won the Canal+ award for best short film at this year's Cannes film festival.

During an opulent and luxurious banquet complete with hordes of servers and valets, 11 pampered guests participate in what appears to be a ritualistic gastronomic carnage. In this absurd and grotesque universe, an unexpected sequence of events undermines the endless symphony of abundance.  [Photo screen shot from trailer at metacafe.]

She's a Fox   US  18 minutes

Director: Cameron Sawyer

Infatuated with the hottest girl in school, fifth-grader Cameron Sawyer puts everything on the line–including his mullet—to win the girl of his dreams.

[Photo from Heartland Film Festival site.]




True Beauty This Night   US  10 minutes
 Director: Peter Besson

 "Last night, Rhett Somers met the love of his life. Now all he has to do is convince her she’s the one. Not an easy feat considering how they met…"

The True Beauty This Night blog says the film won the Best Short Award at the San Diego Film Festival.  And there's a long list of other prizes at other festivals. Besson also relates some frustration with someone who interpreted the film differently than he did in a Q&A after a showing in Ojai, California. 


Dan Ito at Festivus Film Festival tells us in the video that he liked True Beauty This Night.

Anchorage International Film Festival (AIFF) 2009 Starts December 4

The Anchorage International  Film Festival starts in a couple of weeks.  I'll be blogging it again, though this time I'm starting a little bit sooner so I can be a bit more prepared than last time.  (Maybe being prepared isn't an advantage here, not sure.) As we get into the festival, that will be my main focus here.


In any case, prior to the start I'm going to try to highlight the films in competition.  Basically, these are the films that have been selected, from among those submitted, to be eligible for prizes.  There are various categories of films and I wrote about that last year.  So if you want to know the difference between official selections, special selections, in competition,  as well as how movies are chosen,  you can go to What Do the Film Categories Mean?

I know there are lots of people out there who are barely aware - or not even that much - that the Festival is happening.  They really don't know what's playing and won't look at the schedule.  But there might be a film that would interest them - because it takes place in India ("One Day in Cochin" for example) or because it's about a topic of interest ("Son of the Sunshine" is about Tourettes and "East Planet" is a Japanese science fiction movie.)  I'll try to come up with some lists that people could scan quickly to see if there is something of special interest.

I'm also working to get up a post for each category, listing the films in competition.  These are the films from which the winners will be selected.

There are also some changes in venue.  Fireweed is no longer in the mix.  But new, not even finished theaters for the Alaska Experience in the Ship Creek Center (the old Post Office Mall) will be venues.  The Bear Tooth will be the center of action, and the Museum, Out North, and the Marston Theater at Loussac Library will also be used. 

You can go explore the Festival website on your own if you're so inclined.  There are also still plenty of chances to volunteer.  Don't be intimidated by the forms, this is just people doing things.