Anchorage International Film Festival (AIFF) 2024 Dec 6-15

We're less than three months away from the 2024 festival - that in recent years has been on Moviemakers Magazine "25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World" and

top "20 Film Festivals for First-Time Filmmakers."

For the last several years, the Festival directors were Ida Theresa Myklebost and John Gamache.  They brought us great films, enthusiasm, and organization.  Ida is a filmmaker who had had films shown at AIFF - a very moving one I remember was about refugees living in a camp in Greece.  Local selection of films was less while they were at the helm.  

This year we have two new festival directors.  I got this from AIFF: 

"Pat McGee and Adam Linkenhelt bring over a decade of collaborative experience in documentary filmmaking. Together, they have created powerful, character-driven stories that have been praised by critics from the LA Times and Variety for being "gripping," "humanistic," and "illuminating." Their notable works include "American Relapse,"

"Prisoner of the Prophet," "CAL FIRE," "Bernie Blackout," "The Deported," and "From the Hood to the Holler," which won the audience award at AIFF in 2022. Their projects have been featured on major platforms such as NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, HULU, VICE, A&E, DISCOVERY, MAX and PEACOCK.

"From the Hood to the Holler" was a very inspirational film about Charles Booker's grassroots movement in Kentucky and campaign for US Senate against Mitch McConnell. You can see the film on YouTube.

 "Kim Walsh, the newly appointed Director of Operations, brings a wealth of experience in event management and operations. Kim's involvement includes working with film festivals and industry events in a variety of roles, including Sundance Film Festival and Key West Film Festival. Her expertise and dedication will be instrumental in ensuring the smooth execution of AIFF’s operations and events.

"Caroline Murphy, the newly appointed Director of Development, brings over twenty years of experience as a producer and casting director for television and film. Caroline's career includes working with major networks and streamers. Her leadership in fundraising and building partnerships will be pivotal in advancing the growth of AIFF.

I'll let you know more as I find out more.  But I did also learn that there are two new competition categories of films this year:

1. Real-World Impact

This competitive category will feature documentaries and scripted films that strive to change the world through powerful storytelling and impactful narratives, highlighting pressing social issues and inspiring action. Emphasizing works from young and emerging filmmakers, this category aims to showcase and support independent storytelling that engages with significant causes such as LGBTQ+, climate justice, racial equity, and mental healthcare.

2. Explorer’s Achievement Award

Celebrating the incredible achievements of explorers and adventurers pushing the boundaries of the human spirit, this category will showcase films documenting physical journeys as well as exploring the emotional and philosophical dimensions of adventure. Curated by Explorer's Club filmmaker Gregory Taylor, these films will inspire audiences and honor the courage and curiosity that drive human exploration.

So mark Dec 6-14 on your calendars.  The films selected for the festival haven't been announced yet, but I know there will be lots of interesting ones to see.  And local jurors will have more say in which films are selected.  

The basic venues will be Bear Tooth and the Anchorage Museum.   

AIFF2023: Saturday Dec. 2: Lots of Shorts, Trip to Argentina

 SATURDAY - December 2, 2023  - Anchorage International Film Festival

BEAR TOOTH  - NOON

4  Shorts - Made in Alaska - view list here.

BEAR TOOTH - 3pm

Documentary Narrative:  Citizen Sleuth

SlashFilm says:

"'Citizen Sleuth' is a darkly funny, engaging, and thrilling documentary about a true crime podcast that has all the fascinating twists and turns of true crime, while flipping the script and focusing on the voice behind the podcast. The documentary chronicles not a tragic death, but the rise and fall of a podcast dedicated to it, and the complicated ways its host became trapped in her own narrative."

This is 82 minutes, so there should be plenty of time to get to the Museum for the rest of the films starting at 5pm.

ANCHORAGE MUSEUM - 5pm

7 Shorts - "Love Me" Program   See the list here.

ANCHORAGE MUSEUM - 7pm  *This program has a warning:  18 and over only.

6 Shorts - "Do We Still Need Feminism" Program  See the list here.

ANCHORAGE MUSEUM - 9pm  

Feature Narrative - Ariel Back To Buenos Aires 

From the film's website: 

"ARIEL BACK TO BUENOS AIRES follows the tumultuous siblings Davie and Diana Vega as they return to Argentina, country of their birth and learn to dance tango. They uncover secrets about their family history that call into question everything they hold to be true, but that free Davie from his existential misery. A story of how the past holds us in its embrace – only by engaging with it can we find freedom. A lacerating love letter to the city of Buenos Aires."

The website says it is also streaming on Apple TV.  It's won a number of awards at film festivals this year.  

 

The Woman In Gold Has Special Meaning For Me

Bear with me as I wander a bit.  In the end I will recommend you watch Woman in Gold on Netflix.  

My mother used to send me clippings about a woman, Maria Altman,  in LA who was suing the Austrian government to win back paintings by Gustav Klimt, stolen by the Nazis from her family, with the main attention on the portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, who was the beloved aunt of Maria Altman.

It turned out that Maria Altman was someone my mother knew.  My mom would shop at her small dress shop.  They became acquaintances, if not friends, because they had both fled the Nazis as young women and they both worked most of their lives. Sometimes my mom just related things Maria Altman told her about the progress (or lack of progress) in the proceedings to get back the paintings the Nazis stole from her wealthy family's Vienna house.  The problem was, the main painting was valued at an estimated $100 million and was considered the prize painting by an Austrian artist in the eyes of the Austrian government.

One of the ironies of the story is that this great Austrian painting so valued by the Austrians, is of a Jewish woman.  But her name was removed and the painting was called  Woman in Gold.

Because I'd been hearing about the lawsuit, when the movie was released in 2015, we immediately went to see it in Anchorage.  At that time, we were flying monthly to visit my mom who was then 93 and pretty much bedridden.  I really wanted her to see the film, but taking her to a theater would have been a real production.  

I'd been hearing about how good Netflix was and googled "Netflix, Woman in Gold" and got a page which suggested we could watch it there.  So that was when I signed up for Netflix.  But then when I searched for Woman in Gold, they didn't actually have it.  My initial experience with Netflix wasn't a good one.

However, there are other modern German language films which my mother and I did enjoy watching together on Netflix.  She died that July never having gotten to see this major film about someone who knew and whose story she had followed for years.  

I'd note another connection in the film.  The attorney Maria Altman engaged for this battle was  the grandson of Arnold Schoenberg the giant of 20th Century classical music..  Arnold Schoenberg had been a guest in Altman's family home in Vienna before he too fled to the United States and California.  My mother also knew this family, though she ever met Arnold.  My understanding is that they were either relatives or close friends of Melanie Swinburg who had been a stage actress in Vienna.  I knew her well because she became the baby nurse of my younger brother and remained a close family friend until her death.  Her crypt is with my family's in LA, next to my brother's, who died in an accident at the age of 23.  

So this film has lots of family connections as well as parallel family experiences, though Altman's family was fabulously wealthy in Vienna and my mother's father owned a modest men's clothing store in Dortmund, Germany.  

So when I saw that Woman in Gold was finally playing on Netflix this week, we watched it.  It was a very emotional experience for me for all the reasons mentioned above.  Plus Helen Mirren who plays Maria Altman looks and sounds like lots of women I knew growing up. And I'm a sucker for stories of great injustice being righted.  And, of course, I was sad again that my mother couldn't watch this film with us.  

One final example of how the film spoke to me - a more tangible one.  As a child, my parents would read to me, and translate from,  Struwwelpeter, a book with tales of very 'bōse' (something between naughty, wicked, and evil) little boys.  

The cover story is one I remember well - the boy who never cut his hair or fingernails.  The consequences for these behaviors was grim and perhaps tells us something about the German psyche.  For instance, the boy who sucks his thumb and is forbidden to suck it again, of course sucks it as soon as he is alone.  And it gets cut off with giant shears and blood dripping.  

I had a strange affection for this book.  If the intent was to scare little children into obeying their parents, it didn't work on me.  

At one point in the movie, when Mrs. Altman, at her  small home,  is trying to persuade Randy Schoenberg to take her case, he sees a copy of Struwwelpeter and picks it and tells her that he too was read the stories as a child.  

I'd brought the family copy of the book back from my mom's house last time we were there.

So, I'd recommend folks watch Woman In Gold if they have Netflix.  (Or if they find it elsewhere.)  

The scenes of the Nazis publicly  humiliating and beating Jews, breaking into their houses and stealing all their valuables, is a reminder  of what could happen here if Republicans don't let go of their obeisance to Trump and his calls for attacking those they disagree with. And if voters don't come out in droves to overcome the GOP gerrymandering and voter suppression.  The mob that broke into the Capitol and tried to overthrow the election doesn't look that different from the Austrian citizens we see.  Well, actually the Austrians look rather reserved in comparison.  

AIFF 2021: Picking Films By Image And Description

In previous years, by this time (a few days before the Anchorage International Film Festival begins) I would have made lists of films in competition for various categories with descriptions of the films and trailers.  I would have had email communication with some of the film makers, and possibly even done a Skype interview or two.  

But beginning last year all films are in competition.  They haven't preselected 'the best' five or seven in a category.  That's good for most film makers, but more work for film festival bloggers.  That leaves getting tips from people who have screened the films or doing a lot more work than I've had time to do while I'm still deep in redistricting details.  

But the Festival starts Friday and I had to do something.  Since I've bought my online pass, I can peruse what's there.  (You think you can do that without a pass, I'm not sure. Try from their FB page. You should be able to.)  So I've picked a few films from different categories that caught my eye.  Film should have beautiful visuals, so I picked some that I thought were visually striking.  Where someone picked  a beautiful image as the still shot to represent the film.  Or at least an interesting shot.  

But the first one was just different. Made me stop and imagine, how would I try to do this?  

This is a perspective I would have least expected.

The light and dark of this image made it the most striking of the films I perused.  

Another striking image.  

Not a mummy story.  

This seemed like an unlikely story, but then I realized that making me think that was the point of the blurb.  But why shouldn't an Alaska Native play on the USA Rugby Team?  Is the real story that she made it to the rugby team or the close ties of family?  We'll see at the festival.

This was just such an odd combination of people, clothing, and stuff.  

Another striking and curious image.

And not the story line I would have imagined for the picture.  

Again, the image caught my attention here. 

There are lots and lots of interesting looking films from different parts of the world.  There will be very limited seats at the Bear Tooth opening night (to keep people distanced) and tickets go on sail December 1, 2021.  

AIFF2020 - Anchorage International Film Festival 2020 - Q&A With Co-Festivial Director John Gamache

I've been blogging the Anchorage International Film Festival since 2007.  Usually, by now (mid-November)  I've got descriptions of some of the films up already.  But tracking COVID-19 in Alaska daily, has distracted me.  But I finally checked out this year's festival website and emailed the staff.  John Gamache, one of the festival co-directors, responded fully, so I thought I'd just present what he said to you.  

I'd said that I hoped they were all well and I knew things must be crazy as they switched over to a

Gamache photo from AIFF2020 website

virtual festival.  Here's John's response along with my questions, which were based on the websites images of 27 films, without any categories.  

Hope you're doing well. And yes, it's been crazy busy. Switching to an online format is about four times more work than presenting the live festival, and that's when I have 2-4 people helping me, so it's a lot. Here are some answers to your questions. . .

1.  I see 27 films. [There are more up now]  Are there categories?

Our ticketing company just switched some things on our website so we're still building that out, but when we're done it will show the usual categories and they will be color-coded and also labeled. We have 14 shorts programs this year. You can already filter by category on the website though. 

2.  No animation at all?  

There are 15 animated short films. They will all be in short film programs, as usual. 

3.  Are all the films eligible for awards?

Almost. Only two feature films were curated and will not be in competition. Crescendo and Rafiki. All other films are eligible for awards in the usual categories, and we've added a Horror category award this year as well, the jury for which is AIFF alum Greg Ivan Smith.

4.  There are only three staff members listed.  What about the board?

Still building out the website, but we've sent out requests to all board members (we have two new ones since the board was last on the site) and are waiting to get all that info back so we can add it.

5.  It mentions discussions with the film makers, so I guess there will be more up on the website, right?

Yes, we're in the process of scheduling all of the Q&As and other live filmmaker panels, discussions, and workshops. Typically we just have the attending filmmakers walk on stage after a film is over. In the virtual world we're coordinating with over 11 filmmakers, producers, distributors in about ten time zones. It's quite an undertaking. :)

6.  What did I miss that I should have asked that people should know?

I think when you activate your pass and preview the virtual festival you might think of more questions. The look and feel of it is very familiar to anyone who has Netflix or Xfinity OnDemand. We'll also have a Roku channel set up so people can more easily watch on their TVs. The option to cast to their TV using ChromeCast or any Apple-compatible devices works, too. 

As you know, on average each year we have between 30-40 visiting filmmakers. Doing a virtual festival means that filmmakers, cast and crew from every film can potentially participate. As an example, at Woods Hole we average between 120-140 visiting filmmakers each year. This year's virtual festival involved over 300 filmmakers and every feature film in the festival had a live Q&A. We'll see what our numbers are this year, but we're hoping to at least triple the number of filmmakers "attending" and interacting with the audience. 

• Passes are on sale now. It's still just $100 for an all access pass - which is $10/day and less than $1 per film. People also have the option of buying the Household All Access Pass for $150 if they have multiple people in their hime who will be watching and want to do a little extra to support the festival. All the live filmmaker Q&As will be easily findable and accessible through the virtual platform for passholders as well. So to sum it up: The pass is the best way to experience the festival.
• Tickets for individual films and shorts programs will go on sale, Friday, December 4. Individual tickets are still $10.

So there you have my first peek an this year's festival.

So I bought my household pass and there are lots of films up.  Here's a teaser.  

•  top two are narrative features, 
• the center two are documentary features, 
• the bottom two are narrative shorts.

These were just randomly chosen.  Well, probably not random.  I thought the bridge picture was eye-catching. But otherwise they're random.  I know nothing about them or any of the others at this point. 

Meanwhile I've created a tab for AIFF2020 where you can find an annotated index of all these posts as they go up.  Here's the link to AIFF2020.  Blogger has a glitch right now (their help page says, four days ago, that they're working on it.  The glitch is preventing me from putting up the AIFF2020 tab on the top of the page just below the header.  But the link seems to work.

AIFF 2019: The Body Remembers When The World Broke Open Is Now On Netflix

Life is going by too fast for me to keep up with all the posts I want to write - like one on my favorite films from the Anchorage International Film Festival 2019.

But one that I did really like, The Body Remembers What The World Forgot is now available on Netflix.

The film, written and co-directed by Canadian Indigenous woman Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, who also plays one of the two main characters.  The other lead is also a Canadian Indigenous woman.

This was the kind of film you go to festivals to see.  It's not from a Hollywood point of view.  It tells its story the way it needs to tell it without having to satisfy funders or marketers.

[Note:  Netflix doesn't allow screenshots - they come out black.  So I had to take a photo.  I apologize to the film makers for the quality.]

So the pace is not what people are used to, at least what non-Native people are used to.  There are lots of long pauses in the dialogue.  The whole story takes place in real time.  Very real time because, after the title appears, about 12 minutes into the film,  it's basically one long scene in one long camera shot.  (I read that they had cameras ready to pick up where the other ran out of battery)  So they couldn't cut from the women getting into the taxi at the apartment  to where they get out at the safe house.  You watch them get in, then you get in with them and travel the whole distance in very close proximity.

I knew that a film in the festival had been done as a single shot, but I didn't remember which one.  After a while I began to look for the cuts from shot to shot and there weren't any.  Paying attention to the camera made it easier for me to just sit back in the taxi and ride along and not get impatient with the pace.

And having just had seven weeks of a class on homelessness, this film helped illustrate things I'd learned.  There are no easy answers.  People don't break habits quickly.  Helping can be trying.  There are serious societal structural problems that result in homelessness and while individuals can perform acts of kindness, they are only temporary solutions at best until the system is worked on.  And adding in the issues of indigenous peoples in North America requires understanding even more factors.

I would urge people who have Netflix to at least watch the beginning of the film - not as much for the content, but for the feel of this very intimate film.

And I'd like to thank Netflix for putting films like this up.

AIFF 2019: Feature Docs -Survival (Peoples, Rhinos), War & Protest, Siberia to Alaska, Growing Up [UPDATED 11/11/19]

This looks like strong group of films.  Many link directly or indirectly to Alaska, They'll take you to Siberia,  to visit Canadian and South American Indigenous Peoples and Sami in Finland, to Kenya, Scotland and Chile, Alaska, Germany, and Vietnam.  This is all the feature docs.  You can see the list of films from all the categories in my previous AIFF2019 post.  I'll try to do something similar for the narrative features (fictional feature length films).  There are simply way too many shorts in all the categories to cover them like this, but I'm thinking of ways to help film buffs find out about them as easily as possible.

To help people plan their viewing schedules, I've put the documentaries up in the order that they will be show (I'll put up the time for The Power of Yoik as soon as I find it.  Also, a couple of cases I'm not sure of country.)


DOCUMENTARY FEATURES

 SATURDAY, Dec 07, 2019

ALS ICH MAL GROSS WAR  (Back When I Was Big)
Directors:  Philipp Fleischmann & Lilly Engel
Germany
82 minutes
Showing:  SATURDAY, Dec 07, 2019 3:00 pm  Alaska Experience Theatre - Small

I'm having trouble finding much about this film in English, but never fear. ]Google Translate is has gotten really good.  First, for those literate in German from the film's website:

"Können Sie sich noch daran erinnern, wie es war, als Sie ein Kind waren? Als das ganze Leben noch vor einem lag, aufregend, verheißungsvoll, voller Abenteuer und Träume... Was wird eigentlich aus diesen Träumen, wohin verschwinden sie beim Erwachsenwerden? Das sind die Fragen, die ALS ICH MAL GROSS WAR stellt. Und mit Humor, Herz und Poesie beantwortet.

Fünf Jahre haben die Filmemacher Lilly Engel und Philipp Fleischmann die drei Kinder Lucas, Marius und Renée dokumentarisch begleitet. Der Zuschauer kann sie auf dem Weg vom Kind zum Teenager erleben – und gleichzeitig die Veränderungen ihrer Träume. Für die Alter Egos der Kinder in der Zukunft konnte mit Isabell Polak („Vaterfreuden“), Constantin von Jascheroff („Picco“) und Sebastian Schwarz („Ballon“) ein prominenter Hauptcast gewonnen werden.

ALS ICH MAL GROSS WAR ist eine so noch nie gesehene Mischung aus Dokumentar- und Spielfilm, ein kindlicher Blick in die Zukunft und ein erwachsener Blick zurück in die eigene Vergangenheit. Eine berührende und humorvolle Geschichte, die von großer Freundschaft erzählt, vom Erwachsenwerden, und die uns mit Leichtigkeit und Witz zum Lachen und Nachdenken bringt."

While this is in the documentary category, the description says it's a mix of documentary and fiction.

"Can you still remember what it was like when you were a child? When the whole life was still ahead of you, exciting, auspicious, full of adventure and dreams ... What will become of these dreams, where do they go when they grow up? These are the questions that once I asked WHY. And answered with humor, heart and poetry.

Filmmakers Lilly Engel and Philipp Fleischmann accompanied the three children Lucas, Marius and Renée documentary for five years. The viewer can experience it on the way from the child to the teenager - and at the same time the changes of their dreams. For the future alter egos of children in the future, a prominent main cast could be won with Isabell Polak ("Vaterfreuden"), Constantin von Jascheroff ("Picco") and Sebastian Schwarz ("Balloon").

WHEN I'VE BEEN GREAT is an unprecedented mix of documentary and feature film, a childlike look into the future and a mature look back into your own past. A touching and humorous story that tells of great friendship, about growing up, and that makes us laugh and think with ease and wit."

Nae Pasaran
Directed by:  Felipe Bustos Sierra
Scotland
2018
Showing:  SATURDAY, Dec 07, 2019 6:00 pm   Bear Tooth Theatrepub

This looks like a great movie, and not just because this summer I was at La Moneda, the building that was bombed in this clip.  But having recently visited Santiago, I have a little more connection to the story of the director and the story he tells in this film.  Felipe Bustos Sierra's father is a journalist who was exiled from Chile to Belgium during Pinochet's rule.  The director grew up in Belgium and now, lives in Scotland.


The film is about factory workers who realize that the engines they are supposed to repair are from the Chilean air force that has been bombing its own capital.  They manage to not work on the engines for years.  They info I've found on the film doesn't tell impact of 'losing' those engines, but it hints that the film will.



SUNDAY, Dec 08, 2019


Follow the River - Searching for freedom in Alaska
Director:  Tilo Mahn
Germany
67 minutes
Showing:  SUNDAY, Dec 08, 2019 12:00 pm   Alaska Experience Theatre - Large

From German Documentaries:

Mike and Nate Turner believe in a life consistent with nature. Father and son have decided to quit their old life and go back in time to start a new life in the wilderness of Alaska. Surrounded by vast forests, mountains and rivers they follow the roots of the early trappers and hunters. Mike and Nate want to leave everything behind that had determined their former life. Getting away from civilization is a way for them to live their ideals and dreams: to live off the land just like the early trappers and hunters did. Their story tells a story of people who want to break away from the rest of the world.

FOLLOW THE RIVER_ALASKA_Trailer 2018 from Salomé Lou Römer on Vimeo.



Northern Travelogues
Director:  Kira Jääskeläinen
Finland
58 minutes
Showing:  SUNDAY, Dec 08, 2019 2:00 pm    Alaska Experience Theatre - Large

From the film director's website:

In 1917 Finnish explorer Sakari Pälsi travelled to north-eastern Siberia carrying a cinematograph and 13,000 feet of film with him. The journey birthed a unique documentary film and a travelogue.

A hundred years later director Kira Jääskeläinen returns to the Bering strait in Pälsi's footsteps. By combining old and new film footage, Pälsi's notes and the stories of the local Indigenous peoples, the film tells the story of the Chukchi and Siberian Eskimos from the days gone by till today. 

Northern travelogues TRAILER from Illume Ltd on Vimeo.


Also from the website, about the director:

Kira Jääskeläinen was born in Warsaw into a Finnish-Polish family.  She moved to Finland as a child, and the first part of her life she studied classical cello under the supervision of professor Seppo Laamanen in Helsinki.

Wanting to explore other countries, Kira moved to Copenhagen at the age of 19. She studied Russian studies at the University of Copenhagen. During several expeditions to north-eastern Siberia, Kira's interest in documentary filmmaking grew. She has studied at the All Russian State Institute of Cinematography in Moscow and in several international documentary workshops, including Eurodoc and Nipkow Program.

Since 2010 Kira has worked in different aspects of filmmaking for companies in Finland, Denmark and Germany.  Her debut film Tagikaks - Once Were Hunters (2012) has been screened & awarded on festivals all over the world. Kira was the artistic director of Polish Film Weeks in Finland during 12 years. She is a regular guest curator and jury member at international film festivals.

Currently Kira lives and works in her country house in Southern Finland. She has just finished a new documentary film Northern Travelogues, which will premiere in the beginning of 2019. 

MONDAY Dec 09, 2019

Kifaru
Director:  David Hambridge
USA - Kenya
79 minutes
Showing: MONDAY Dec 09, 2019 6:00 pm  Bear Tooth Theatrepub

From the Hollywood Reporter:

Kifaru, David Hambridge’s account of efforts to protect the only surviving northern white rhinos in the wild, arrives at a critical stage in the preservation of the species. Confronting the possibility of extinction through the eyes of a dedicated team assigned as Sudan’s caretakers adds another layer of urgency, transforming the film from competent conservation documentary into compelling real-life drama.
Relocated from a conflict area in his namesake country as a juvenile, Sudan ended up in a Czech zoo for years, before he was transferred to the Ol Pejeta wildlife conservancy in central Kenya, along with his captive-raised daughter Najin and granddaughter Fatu. Besides sheltering a variety of other dislocated species, the refuge’s goal is to protect Sudan from poachers and care for him long enough for wildlife scientists to develop a method to clone his DNA, a completely unprecedented task. Surrounded by armed rangers guarding the reserve’s perimeter, new recruits JoJo and Jacob join the privileged ranks of Sudan’s caretakers under the watchful guidance of veteran keeper James.

This is a film from North Carolina State of the director talking about his work and this film.





 WEDNESDAY,  Dec 11, 2019

The American War
Director:  Dr. Daniel Bernardi
USA/Vietnam (not certain)
Showing:  WEDNESDAY,  Dec 11, 2019 8:00 pm   Alaska Experience Theatre - Large

Excerpt From Veteran Documentary Corps Blog:

SC: How did you come up with the idea for the film?
Daniel Bernandi: After successfully producing roughly 25 short films on 25 different veterans, I knew it was time for Veteran Documentary Corp to begin making feature-length documentaries to tell deeper, more developed stories of the veteran experience. I selected Vietcong veterans as the subject of our first feature for a couple reasons.  First, despite the fact that many Americans have seen stories or read about the Vietnam War, the story of the Vietcong veteran has not been told — at least not for American audiences. Why did the Vietnamese fight? What was their experience of, for example, Agent Orange or South Vietnamese torture? What was it like being Veterans in a county that includes veterans from the “other” side (e.g., South Vietnamese soldiers)? Second and equally important, I wanted to address experiences shared by veterans across time and country. The experience of war is more universal than era or nation might otherwise suggest.

 FRIDAY Dec 13, 2019


Cumhachd a' Yoik/The Power of Yoik
Directed by Paul-Anders Simma
Finland
58 minutes
Showing:  Friday Dec 13, 2019 6:00 pm  Anchorage Museum Auditorium

From IDFA:

Yoiking is the sacred chanting style of Europe’s only indigenous peoples, the Sami’s. Yoiking was a powerful tool for the shamans to reach the spirit world. When Lapland was colonized, the invaders forbade the yolk. Many Shamans where burned as witches, when they refused to stop to Yolk. Young Sami woman Inga Gaup- Juuso belongs to a nomadic family. Tourists are invading their lands, and the herds are driven out of the best grazing grounds. When the family reindeer herd is struck by starvation, Inga decides to test the power of Yoik.

The closest I can find to any video of The Power of Yoik is embedded in this Tweet from last year. The video is no longer up at the BBC link.

Watch "The power of Yoik" on I-player until November 31st, 2018. I-Player is BBCs catchup service and can be reached by 50 million people. https://t.co/nWDlJAleW9 pic.twitter.com/bVBdSJfV5o

— Paul Simma (@psimma) November 1, 2018

SATURDAY  Dec 14, 2019

The Condor & the Eagle
Directors:  Clement Guerra & Sophie Guerra
90 minutes
Canada
Showing:  SATURDAY  Dec 14, 2019 12:00 pm   Anchorage Museum Auditorium
Video from the film's Indiegogo campaign.


From Indigenous Again:

Four Indigenous leaders embark on an extraordinary trans-continental adventure from the Canadian plains to deep into the heart of the Amazonian jungle to unite the peoples of North and South America and deepen the meaning of “Climate Justice”.
This film documents the stories of these four well-known Native environmental spokespeople who are at the forefront of a perspective shift in the identity of their people, from forgotten voices to strong shared communities with the power to bring change to the entire world. Their path through the jungle takes them on an unexpectedly challenging and liberating journey, which will forever change their attachment to the Earth and one another.

AIFF 2019 - Films Selected For This Year's Anchorage International Film Festival

The AIFF 2019 website is undergoing a serious makeover I'm told.  Right now it's still out of date.   The Facebook page is also not really active yet.  I've set up an AIFF 2019 Tab above that offers and overview of the festival, some tips about how 'to do' the festival, as well as daily alerts once the festival begins.  It will also index my festival posts.

Festival is Friday Dec. 6 through Sunday Dec. 15, 2019.

But I'm excited that this year's Program Director is Ida Theresa Mycklebost.  Her short film about a 6 year old Syrian refugee in Greece won an award in 2017,   To give you a sense of who she is, here's a short video I did with her then:




She sent me this list of the selections for this year's festival.  I'd note that there is no category "Films in Competition" this year, so I'm going to have to be creative about how I pick some films in different categories to highlight.

This is the first appetizer for the festival.  At this point all the films are just names.  Soon we'll get some samplings here, and December 6 we can start seeing the films and meeting the film makers.  No earthquakes this year!

FEATURES

DOCUMENTARY FEATURES

Nae Pasaran by Felipe Bustos Sierra

Northern Travelogues by Kira Jääskeläinen

Kifaru by David Hambridge

Back When I Was Big by Philipp Fleischmann & Lilly Engel

The Condor & the Eagle by Clement Guerra & Sophie Guerra

Follow the River - Searching for freedom in Alaska by Tilo Mahn

Power of Yoik by Paul-Anders Simma

The American War by Dr. Daniel Bernardi

*
*
*
NARRATIVE FEATURES

The Body Remembers When The World Broke Open by Kathleen Hepburn & Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers

Banana Split by Benjamin Ben Kasulke

Feral by Andrew Wonder

From The Vine by Sean Cisterna

GUTTERBUG by Andrew Gibson

Inside The Rain by Aaron Fisher

Laugh or Die by Heikki Kujanpää

Straight Up by James Sweeney

Team Marco by Julio Vincent Gambuto

The Ghost Who Walks by Cody Stokes

Those Who Remained (Someone To Live For) by Barnabás Tóth

Vanilla by Will Dennis

*
*
*

MADE IN ALASKA FEATURES

Attla by Catharine Axley

Immigrant Outpost by John D. Hay Jr.

Felix Pedro - If One Could Only Imagine by Paolo Muran

*

SHORTS

NARRATIVE SHORTS

(t)here by Snigdha Kapoor

Clown by Mitchell Hahn & Keeley Giblin

Consent by Sabatier Florent

Cornhusk by Jaiden Mitchell

Dios Nunca Muere (God Never Dies) by Barbara Cigarroa

Eternity by Anna Sobolevksa

Fairy Tail by Justin & Kristin Schaack

Glasgow by Greg Ivan Smith

Hearth by Sophie B Jacques

Helping Hands by Alexander Ray Gustaveson

Just Me and You by Sandrine Brodeur-Desrosiers

Lolo by Paulo Menezes, Leandro Goddinho

Madame by Garth Jennings

Moon Made by Caleb Haydock

Mr. Sam by Zeus Kontoyannis

Road To Her by Jee-hoon Cho

Showan by Bijan Zarin

Sin Cielo by Jianna Maarten

Tank Man by Robert Anthony Peters

The Christmas Bull by Rosie Jones

The Dig by Gerardo Antonio de Leon

The Orchestra by Curtis Matzke

The Proposal by Det Sporadiske Filmkollektivet

The Seahorse Trainer by Babak Bina & Ricardo Bonisoli

The Swimmer by Pablo Barce Orellana

To College by Quinn Halleck

Touchscreen by Arthur Halpern

Zero One by Kirsten Russell

*

*

*

DOCUMENTARY SHORTS (26)

Ài Bàba (Love Dad) by Connie Huang

American Made: Union Built by Jacinta Filiaci, Spencer Santini & Peng Wang

Asma by Ryan Musto & Aidan Reilly

Carving Space by Annie Dean-Ganek

Class Act: Dance Hall Divas by Michael Holbrook Moss

Getting Off The Streets by Jamila Paksima

Jalil and Khalil by Roholla Akbari

Katie and the Black Robin Hood by Alessandra Giordano & John Richie

Knocking Down The Fences by Meg Shutzer

Love Birds by Ashley Mosher

Res-urgency by Desirée Wallace

The Family Farm by Kim Jansson

The Man of the Trees by Andrea Trivero

The Trolls & I by Charlotte Madvig Schmidt

Tungrus by Rishi Chandna

Wandering in the White by Otto Heikola

When Pride Came to Town by Julie Lunde Lillesæter & Julia Dahr

Without A Scratch by Samantha Farinella

*

*

*

MADE IN ALASKA SHORTS

12:34 by Quinton Oliver Smith

Alaskan Furry Friends by Garrett Wilson

Dasher by James Kendall

Eskimo Inc. by Mr M M Baring

Games of Survival: A Culture Preserved in Ice by Nicholas

Natale

How to Say Goodbye by Ryan Cortes Perez & Christy NaMee Eriksen

Kevin, Dear by Joshua Albeza Branstetter

Let the Blonde Sing by Rachel Knoll

Mythomanes by John Kendall

The Naughty List by Alex Popov

The Sacred Place Where Life Begins by Jeremy Là Zelle &

Kristin Gates

The Dying Of The Light by Benjamin Walter

Trampoline On Flattop by Ian Borowski

Welcome to Gwichyaa Zhee by Len Necefer & Greg Balkin

Wolf Trackz by Stefan Wanigatunga

*

*

*

ANIMATED SHORTS

A Recipe for Tofu Scramble by Alex Fink

Armor del Amor by Kirk Kelley

Black or White by Mohammad-Ali Soleymanzadeh

Feedback by Michal Zadok

Gum and Sauce Go to Skill School by Chadwick

Whitehead

Heliocentric by Mike McCraw

Maintain Yourself by Ellie LaCourt

Monsters in the Dark by Apollonia Thomaier

Mountain Valley Episode 3 – The Earthquake by Ruby Thain, John Thain

Museum by Pedram Habib Piran

Nothing to Say by Aubry Mintz

Oh Baby! by Meghann Artes

Preheated by Sarah Heinz, Luke Snedecor

The Earthquake by Gavin Jones

The Phantom 52 by Geoff Marslett

Tiffany by Christina Christie

How To Get More Variety From Netflix And Follow Up On Scam Film Festivals

"Netflix is always using algorithms to help you find the best movies based on your taste, but what if you want something completely different?"

So starts an article at Data Hand, which then goes on to list lots of codes that get you to very specific genres.

Hidden Netflix codes to help you find movies Netflix doesn't know you might like.

Here's are a few examples:

Anime Features: 3063
Anime Horror: 10695
Anime Sci-Fi: 2729
Anime Series: 6721
Art House Movies: 29764
Asian Action Movies: 77232
Australian Movies: 5230
B-Horror Movies: 8195
Baseball Movies: 12339
Basketball Movies: 12762
Belgian Movies: 262
Biographical Documentaries: 3652
Biographical Dramas: 3179
Boxing Movies: 12443
British Movies: 10757
British TV Shows: 52117
Campy Movies: 1252
Children & Family Movies: 783
Chinese Movies: 3960

Dramas based on Books: 4961
Dramas based on real life: 3653
Dutch Movies: 10606
Eastern European Movies: 5254
Education for Kids: 10659
Epics: 52858
Experimental Movies: 11079
Faith & Spirituality: 26835
Faith & Spirituality Movies: 52804
Family Features: 51056
Fantasy Movies: 9744
Film Noir: 7687
Food & Travel TV: 72436  

Martial Arts Movies: 8985
Martial Arts, Boxing & Wrestling: 6695
Middle Eastern Movies: 5875
Military Action & Adventure: 2125
Military Documentaries: 4006
Military Dramas: 11
Military TV Shows: 25804
Miniseries: 4814
Mockumentaries: 26
Monster Movies: 947
Movies based on children's books: 10056

Sports & Fitness: 9327
Sports Comedies: 5286
Sports Documentaries: 180
Sports Dramas: 7243
Sports Movies: 4370
Spy Action & Adventure: 10702
Spy Thrillers: 9147
Stage Musicals: 55774
Stand-up Comedy: 11559
Steamy Romantic Movies: 35800
Steamy Thrillers: 972

The numbers are the code you put in, not the number of films in that category.


On another track, though still related to films, back in 2009 I wrote about a copycat film festival that mimicked the Anchorage International Film Festival's name, but showed no films and had no Alaska connection at all except for a post office box that forwarded submissions somewhere.  That post, and a threat from the festival's lawyer for using the word scam in my post, led me to several other posts about legitimate film festivals and more questionable ones festivals.

A recent piece in a German film site - Shortfilm.de - cited one of my posts and went on to talk about the proliferation of festivals that take advantage of film makers.  It looks in depth at the  the “International Filmmaker Festival of World Cinema” in Berlin.  Here's the English version.  Or, if you prefer, the original German version.

AIFF 2017: Shorts In Competition - The Robbery, Temporary, Must Kill Karl, Iron, Whoever Was Using This Bed, Game, Cold Storage, Temporary, Couples Night, Brain Storm, 8 A.M.

Shorts are fiction 10 - 55 minutes.  In competition means they were selected to be eligible for a festival award. Super Shorts are under 10 minutes.

Shorts are generally shown in groups, called programs.  The shorts in competition this year fall neatly into two programs.  The first is "Shorts on the Edge"  but it's also called "Opening Night Soirée."
The second program is called "Love and Pain."  I've color coded them to make it even easier.

BUT,  I've combined the shorts and super shorts on the chart below, since they are showing together in the programs.  The super shorts have an * after them.

To make it easy for you to figure out when and where to see these films, I've divided the list of shorts in competition into two groups so you can see what program they're in, and when and where each program is shown.

[NOTE: I try to be completely accurate here, but there's a lot of details and I can make a mistake.  To be safe, double check the times and locations before you go. If you see an error please let me know in the comments or via email - in right column above blog archive.]

The first program is:

Opening Night Soiree

Fri Dec 1  Bear Tooth  7 pm

Shorts on the Edge

Sat Dec 9  AK Exp Sm  9 pm

Shorts In Competition	Director	Country	Length
Cold Storage*	Thomas Freundlich	Finland	9 min
Game	Jeannie Donohoe	USA	15 min
Whoever Was Using This Bed	Andrew Kotatko	Australia	20 min
Iron	Gabriel Gonda	USA	17 min
Must Kill Karl	Joe Kick	Canada	12 min
The Robbery	Jim Cummings	USA	15 min
8:AM*	Emily Pando	USA	5 min
Brain Storm*	Christophe Clin	Belgium	6 min
Couples Night*	Russell & Robert Summers	USA	4 min
Temporary	Milena Govich	USA	12 min

Remember, the blue ones are in the program called:

Love and Pain

Which shows: 

Sat Dec 2 AK Exp Large  12 pm

Fri Dec 8 AK Exp Small  7pm

* means it's a Super Short.


###############################################


This first group of shorts in competition all are part of the Opening Night Soirée which repeats as the program "Shorts on the Edge."  I've done it this way to help you identify which films are shown together so you can easily find when and where to see them.  

If they are in red, they are together in this program.  

Also, both Shorts and Super Shorts* are together in the same programs, but they are eligible for separate awards.  The * marks the Super Shorts.  These are films under 10 minutes long.

Opening Night Soirée

  Fri  Dec 1 Bear Tooth  7pm

Shorts on the Edge

Sat Dec 9 Ak Exp Small 9pm

**********************************************

Cold Storage* (*Super Short)

Thomas Freundlich

Finland

9 min

This one should appeal to all Alaskans, especially ice fishers, glacial archeologists, and dancers.

From the film's webpage:

"Thomas Freundlich is one of the leading practitioners in Finland’s vibrantly growing independent dance film scene. Mr. Freundlich’s work ranges from dance shorts, documentary work, performance videography and 3D projects to music videos and projection design for the stage. His work has been seen at dozens of film festivals worldwide as well as broadcast TV both in Finland and internationally. From 2012 to 2014, Mr. Freundlich was the co-artistic director of Finland’s Loikka dance film festival."

Cold Storage :: Trailer from Thomas Freundlich on Vimeo.

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Game

Jeannie Donohoe

USA

15 min

This story takes place during tryouts for the high school basketball team.  It's a very well made film.  To add a little moral crunch to all this, the Weinstein Company was involved with this film.  Just yesterday (Nov 20), I read an article from the Paris Review, "What Do We Do With The Art Of Monstrous Men?"  I suspect that the Weinstein Company, particularly Harvey Weinstein had little to do with the making of this film.  But it's something to think about as you watch this gem of a film.  I know this film is good because you can watch it online, and I did.   Below is a trailer.  I'd note, watching it online probably won't take anything from the experience of seeing it on the big screen opening night of the festival.  There's lots I'm sure I missed the first time.

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Whoever Was Using This Bed

Andrew Kotatko

Australia

20 min

Go to the the film's website.  Scroll through the credits and connections of the cast and the director and others.  This is NOT a film by new faces showing what they can do in hopes of making it.  But the fact that these aren't newcomers to the film industry tells us something about the competitiveness of the world of film-making.




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Iron

Gabriel Gonda

USA

17 min

From Iron's Facebook page

"Iron is a short period drama set in the Pacific NorthWest inspired by the true stories of women railroad workers during the early 1900’s.  

Lily Cohen escapes the the crowded tenements of New York to take on a demanding railway job. Determined to work on a steam engine, a position not traditionally held by women, Lilly faces the hostility of her fellow railroad workers while finding her own inner strength. 

While America is very familiar with the iconic image of Rosie the Riveter, the women laborers of the First World War are mostly forgotten by history. The American railroad represented freedom and adventure in a time when most women had very little opportunity for either. These opportunities disappeared when the soldiers returned home."

Iron - Crowdfunding Main from Lautaro Gabriel Gonda on Vimeo.

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Must Kill Karl

Joe Kick

Canada

12 min

I haven't seen the whole movie, but the trailer . . .   judge for yourself.  I had it up here for a day or two as I worked on the rest of the films.  I decided to take it down because I thought the thumbnail was gross and I didn't see any redeeming features that would make it worth keeping up.  I'm not censoring it - you can go watch it here.  Remember, the programmers thought it was worth being 'in competition'.  I'm waiting to be pleasantly surprised.

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The Robbery

Jim Cummings

USA

15 min

Cummings won the best Short Award last year at AIFF with his film "Thunder Road."  It also won at Sundance which led to a slew of opportunities which are described in this IndieWire article.  The article also includes a full version of of The Robbery.  I don't recommend seeing it now if you plan to see it at the festival.  I'm not sure how much it offers with additional viewings.

It's about a robbery that goes badly.  It's well made.  It spoofs our national (global?) cell phone addiction among other things.

###############################################

This second group of shorts in competition all are part of the program "Love and Pain."  I've done it this way to help you identify which films are shown together so you can easily find when and where to see them.  

If they are in blue, they are together in this program  Also, both Shorts and Super Shorts* are together in the same programs, but they are eligible for separate awards.  

The * marks the Super Shorts.  These are films under 10 minutes long.  

In this group, all but "Temporary" are Super Shorts.

Love and Pain

Sat Dec, 2  12pm AK Exp Large

Frit Dec 8  AK Exp Small 7pm

**********************************************

8:AM*

Emily Pando

USA

5 min

Can't find much on this film, though it was at the festival in August 2016, the Cleveland International Film Festival and the Seattle International Film Festival's Shorts Fest this year if I'm reading the Facebook page right.  

**********************************************

Brain Storm* (Remue-Meninges)

Christophe Clin

Belgium

6 min

(Also Showing at Martini Matinee - Friday December 8, 2017 2:00pm - 4:00pm)

Another film that's got few internet footprints.  From Augohr:

"What happens in our heads when we are about to meet someone on the street? Anguish, prejudice, expectation, surprise, disappointment … These few very brief moments are the nest of a real brainstorm!"

I had to look much harder to find Christophe's Vimeo page. (His Youtube page was blank. You really don't need a link to a blank Youtube channel.)  But it was worth the effort.  (Actually, if you only google his name, there's more, mostly in French.)

This is one of the most tantalizing trailers I've seen. It could be a super short all its own.

 
REMUE MENINGES (2017) - TRAILER from Christophe Clin on Vimeo.

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Couples Night*

Russell & Robert Summers

USA

4 min

This is a four minute movie.  What do you want?  A ten second trailer?  Christophe Clin found a way to do a trailer for a six minute movie (above) but . . . And why would you want a description?  This is part of a program of other shorts.  Just sit back and watch it.  I can give you one hint - it's been in some horror movie festivals.  

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Temporary

Milena Govich
USA
12 Min

The first few minutes of this probably tells you what you need to know about this film.  It comes from her Kickstarter page and I found the embed code at Vimeo.

  

Temporary - A film by Milena Govich from Troy Foreman on Vimeo.

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I'd also note there are other Shorts programs.  Global Village has a series of international shorts.
There are Made In Alaska shorts.  And Martini Matinee will play a mix of narrative shorts, short docs, and animation.  I'm not totally caught up (and probably will never be) with all these programs but I did want to give you an alert that the narrative shorts and super shorts in competition aren't the only shorts.