AIFF 2014: Sunday. The Last Day. Turkey, China, Florida, Then Awards

This is the last day of the festival.  Sort of.  Tuesday and Wednesday will have Best of the Fest, where they will show some of the winning films again for those who missed them or want to see them again.

So here's Sunday:

I've heard good things about Come To My Voice from different folks, so that's where I'm headed first.  It's a film that focuses on a Kurdish family in Turkey.  I suspect I'll then go see the Chinese films.  Husband, Wife, and the Other Man, then the shorts.  They are sponsored by the Confucius Institute at UAA and should be good.  Though, they will have been approved by the Chinese government.    I saw Last Stop, Flamingo.  It's a quirky little film that had lots of nice touches about the director's road trip to Florida.  (Quirky isn't a put down.  I mean here that it creates its own conventions and doesn't worry about how a film is supposed to be.)

The Awards Galas I've attended in past years have been very casual events with good food and a chance to talk with the different film makers.

Vietnam War, Fiber Infrastructure, Chinese Language, Community Engagement

I was in meetings most of today and then went to see the Alaska Humanity Forum's preview of Ken Burns documentary on the Vietnam War.  We saw excerpts of each episode.  As someone who lived through that period, I didn't hear anything new.  There was discussion afterward.  But first AKHF director asked audience members who were veterans to stand.  Then those who were Vietnam veterans to stand.  Then those who had family members of friends who were veterans.  Then questions were asked - "Why did you come here tonight?" was the first one - and we were asked to discuss them with people nearby.  

I was struck, after watching the excerpts that covered soldiers from both sides as well as protesters, that people who protested the war weren't asked to stand.  And one of the audience did make that comment to the whole group.

The series will be worth watching when it comes on - not only for people who lived those years, but more so for those who only know the historical myths of that period.

But that's all excuse for why I haven't posted today and to explain why I'm taking the easy way out and letting you know about some talks coming up in the next few days at the UAA bookstore.
They are all free.
(There's free parking for these events in the parking lot near the bookstore.  And for people who can't make them, the videos will eventually be online, probably here.)

Thursday, September 14 from 5:00 pm-7:00 pm
Darrel Hess presents Leave It To Beaver, Cocaine & God: My Journey to Community Engagement

In  Leave It To Beaver, Cocaine & God: My Journey to Community Engagement Darrel Hess talks about growing up in the shadow of domestic violence, his arrest for selling cocaine to an undercover Alaska State Trooper, coming to terms with his sexual orientation, his relationship with God, and his struggles to find himself and his place in the world.
Today, Darrel Hess works as Anchorage’s Municipal Ombudsman and is a member of the Advisory Council for UAA’s Center for Community Engagement and Learning.   A pillar in the Anchorage community, Darrel Hess has served as Anchorage’s first Homeless Coordinator and was a member of the Anchorage Equal Rights Commission.  He has served on the board of Identity, Inc.  and is the recipient of the 2014 Alaska First Lady’s Volunteer of the Year Award.
Everyone is encouraged to welcome and meet the dedicated and amazing Darrel Hess. 
 
There is free parking for this event in the South Lot, Sports Complex NW Lot, West Campus Central Lot, and Sports Campus West Lot.

Friday, September 15 from 3:00 pm-5:00 pm
Dr. Shinian Wu presents Linguistic Challenges in Learning Chinese
Dr. Shinian Wu presents linguistic challenges and cultural congruence in learning Chinese as a second language. His talk will discuss contrasts between Chinese and English, how languages create socio-cognitive processes in language socialization.

 Dr. Shinian Wu. Professor of English and director of the graduate program in Applied Linguistics, English Department, Grand Valley State University, Michigan.
This event is sponsored with the UAA Confucius Institute. Everyone is welcomed to attend. There is free parking at UAA on Fridays.

 Saturday, September 16 from 1:00 pm-3:00 pm
Dr. Sebastian Neumayer presents Fiber Infrastructure and Natural Disasters
Dr. Sebastian Neumayer, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, UAA, shares his research on the effects of natural disasters on fiber infrastructure. While investigating the survivability of networks in the face of geographically correlated failures, he will discuss algorithms that identify the most vulnerable parts of real-world networks to large-scale disasters.
In addition to his academic research, Sebastian Neumayer will discuss The BTC Ring, an open-source Bitcoin project that integrates jewelry and digital assets. The BTC Ring can mitigate the risk that traditional jewelry has to loss and theft as well as can be used as an alternative to diamond engagement rings.
Everyone is invited to attend this fascinating event and learn how we can better prepare for "natural" environmental and emotional disasters.
There is free parking at UAA on Saturdays.  

Musical Instruments of Peking Opera - Short Video Tour

I have way too much video from last night's Peking Opera presentation by National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts and sponsored by the University of Alaska Anchorage's Confucius Institute. So I'm going to offer more than one post of the evening. The performance was more of a music education evening with an explanation of movements, stories, music, etc. and then vignettes from famous operas performed. The presenter brimmed with charm and knowledge and skill that came through even though he spoke in Chinese. The translator, unfortunately, captured only the words, not the charisma of the speaker who occasionally demonstrated movements in a way that suggested to me that he'd spent a fair amount of time on stage as an actor.

The actual vignettes were accompanied by recorded music, but at the beginning of the evening we were given a demonstration of percussion, stringed, and wind instruments. You can see the demonstration in the video. Which ends with part of the first opera vignette where you can see and hear the use of the percussion instruments.



For more, Philmulti gives a nice overview of Chinese traditional stringed instruments with pictures and a video.

From a post on a Chinese music forum:

Music accompanies singing. reciting. actions and acrobatics in Chinese operas. It also helps develop the story. personalize the characters. expose their thoughts and feelings. and create a special atmosphere.

http://china-corner.com/images/pics/2006426123021.jpg
The orchestra of a typical opera is composed of two parts -- the Wenchang. or Civil Section. of string and wind instruments; and the Wuchang. or Military Section. composed of percussion instruments. The former section accompanies singing. and the music is Qu (tunes). The latter accompanies the performers` body movements. reciting. singing. dancing and acrobatics.

The beats clearly mark the beginnings and the endings. Led by the main drummer. the music adjusts and controls the rhythm of the opera. The instrumental music is produced by various kinds of stringed. wind and percussion instruments. and each has its own functions and timbres.

Clutter War - Recapturing Old Territory For T

Monday T moved in.  He's a teacher at the Confucius Institute at UAA.  He's a warm, curious, bright, and funny young man.  An ulterior motive was that we'd have to totally reclaim the downstairs storage room, a battle, without a strong motive, we had been losing for ten years. 

Here's an image I posted in December.

December 20, 2013

And here's what the room looked like on Sunday. 

January 26, 2014

And now we have to learn how to adjust to having a new member of the household.  But he's making that very easy so far.  And we have to decide how much of a role he'll play on the blog here.  He decided he liked having a photoshopped mask like I've been using on my granddaughter.

AIFF 2014: Questions (and Answers) People Should Be Asking About The Festival

A lot of people don't even know what questions they should be asking.  So I'm listing them out here (with the answers) to help you find out what's happening at the Anchorage International Film Festival and how to take advantage of all the great films that will be in town Dec. 5-14, 2014.

Below are links to posts with general information about the Anchorage International Film Festival.  This is a revision and update of a post I first put up about five years ago and updated again last year.  I've been checking the links to be sure they too are current for 2014.  But it's still a work in progress.


Q: Where's the official Anchorage International Film Festival website?  Click the AIFF2014  link here.


Q: What do all the categories mean? ("official selection;" "films in competition," etc.) This post defines key festival jargon you'll see in the program or on here..  It also covers the process for how films get selected for the Festival and how the winners get chosen.

Q: What  films are the best films this year (2014)?
Films in Competition are the ones chosen  to compete for the Golden Oosiker awards.  I'm working on lists of the films in competition for each category - something about each film and when and where they will play.  [For the film categories I have up for 2014, you can find the films in competition posts listed at my  AIFF 2014 tab.  Films in competition are marked with a check (√) on the Official AIFF website.]

Films in Competition  - Features 2014
Films in Competition -  Documentaries 2014
Films in Competition -  Shorts 2014
Films in Competition -  Animation 2013  (2014 never made it to a list)
Films in Competition -  Super Shorts 2013  (2014 never made it to a list)

But often there are other films that I thought were as good or better than the films in competition.  And there are some films, which for various reasons, are not eligible for prizes, so they aren't 'in competition, but they're good.

Q: Who won in each category?  None yet this year, but here are the previous winners.
2014 Winners - Official Winner list compared to my list (with my comments on the Features)
2013 Winners -  Official Winner list
2012 Winners - My 2012 winners Official compared to AIFF 2012 Winners Page
2011 Winners -  My 2011 winners (none) - Official AIFF 2011 Winners Page
2010 Winners -  My 2010 winners post -  Official AIFF 2010 Winners Page
2009 Winners -  My 2009 winners post -  Official AIFF 2009 Winners Page
2008 Winners - My 2008 winners post  -  Official AIFF 2008 Winners Page
[Note:  'My winners' are films I liked best.  Sometimes I've only discussed one category, sometimes more than one.  Sometimes my comments on a particular film  are buried in posts even I can't find.]


Q:  Short films are grouped together into 'programs.'  How do I find which short films are playing together in the same of program?
Animation Programs  2014 [There's only one program for 2014. There's also an animation in the Mexican Consulate's films- Eskimal.]
Made In Alaska  2014 (I guess this replaces what used to be called Snow Dance.  There are eight programs)
Short Docs 2014
Super Short Narrative 2014  (There are four programs, including one of Mexican films)
Family Program 2014


Q:  What is FG?  
The short answer:  Festival Genius.
The longer answer:  It's a film festival software program that AIFF has acquired that makes it much easier to find out when and where the films will be shown.  It takes a little bit of time to figure out how it works.


Step 1:   You click on the blue FG icon  on the AIFF website, or  you can click here.
Step 2:  Then you can choose films.  That opens up four more choices.  For starters look under category, then click the blue box (see green arrow) and a drop down window will give you a long list of choices.  Or you can pick countries.  If you leave three of the boxes at their starting setting ("all ...) then you'll see all the choices.  You can combine settings in boxes - say animation category and Mexico for country and that should pull up just one film.  If you know the name of the film you want, you can put it into the Film Search window on the right.

Step 3:  If, instead of films, you pick schedule, you can see what will show for that day or that week.

click to enlarge 

If you click on schedule, you'll get screening choices (red box) by week, by day, or grid.   Week and Day give you a list of films for the time period.  Grid will give you a table.

You don't have to sign in (I don't because they want too much personal information for me), but if you do, you can make your own schedule and review films, etc.



Q:  I'm not interested in the festival, but if there are any films on my favorite place, food, sport, etc.,  I'd go.  Are there any?

Festival Genius - see above -  allows you to look at a list of countries  and then see what films are being shown from that country.  Click on the blue spot for the country window and it will open a list of countries.  Then pick a country, and wait until it loads the films from that country.  Make sure you have "all events" and "all films" in the event and film windows.

Also note the red box in the lower left.  The film festival (2014) spans two calendar weeks and so you have to check for each week.  Just click on the week and it changes.

To find out about films of special topics, you need to look through the films themselves. I'll try to make some lists of topics if I see any patterns and I'll link here.  There are family films,  Alaska films, Mexican films sponsored by the Mexican Consul, Chinese films sponsored by the Confucius Institute at UAA, and the Gayla films.

How do I find your blog posts on specific films or film makers?  In the AIFF 2014 Page - It's a tab under the orange heading at the top of my blog - I'll have an index of posts by category and an index of posts in reverse chronological order.  Here's a link to that tab.   You can see them in the archive on the right side.  They'll mostly be in December, with some in November and I try to start them with AIFF2014.


Do you have videos of the Festival? - I'll add the video posts as I get a chance to make and edit them.   I'll list the posts with video in the AIFF2014 Page.  I already have some video of Attila Szasz, the director of The Ambassador to Bern,  which I got in a Skype interview with him in Budapest.   It's not edited yet.



Where will the films be shown?
Locations:

 Bear Tooth, is the main venue.

1230 West 27th Avenue (West of Spenard Road) - 907.276.4200

Alaska Experience Theater
333 W 4th Ave #207, Anchorage, AK 99501 (907) 272-9076
There is a large and a small theater there

Anchorage Community Works** This was a new venue last year

 349 E Ship Creek Ave

Anchorage Museum
625 C Street

Marston Theater (Loussac Library) Family Programming on Saturday Dec. 14
3600 Denali St.

There are special events at other venues.  You can check all the venues next to window where you check the countries (see screenshot above).

Q:  What workshops are there?
There are five workshops with film makers.  These are chances to interact with film makers and learn some aspect of the movie craft and industry.

Q:  What are your criteria for a good movie? When I made my picks for the 2008 best films, at the end of the post I outlined my criteria. The link takes you to that post, scroll down to second part.  I also did a post in 2012 on what I thought makes a good documentary.


Q:  Should I buy a pass or just buy tickets as I go?  

Tickets are still only $8 per film.  "All films passes" are only $100.  So, if you go to twelve films, the pass is cheaper. But there are other benefits to the pass.   You also get priority seating with your pass.    That means you go into the theater first at the Bear Tooth.  You do have to get a ticket (free when you show your pass) for each film at the door and only a certain number of seats are held for pass holders.

And if you have a pass, you'll go see more films because you'll think "I've paid for them. I should go and get my money's worth."
All Films passes get you into Workshops, and discounts for a few extra events, like the opening night film (which is actually $30 a ticket) and the awards. These extra events also have food.

Another option is to volunteer and get a pass to a movie.

You can buy tickets at the venues.  You can also get advanced tickets at the venues.
You can also buy them online.  Tickets are already available.

Q:  What about family films? 
Saturday, December 6, at 11am at Loussac Library - in the Marston Auditorium..  This is a free event.  You can see the family program here.  (As I'm posting this, there is no list of films yet at this link, just the time and place.)

Q:  Any free events?
Yes, there are.  Besides the family films (right above), Made in Alaska, and two of the workshops.  You can see them all here.

Q:  Who Are You Anyways? - who's paying you to do this? does your brother have a film in competition? What is your connection to the festival? From an earlier post here's my  Disclosure:

 I sort of accidentally blogged about the  2007 festival  and the AIFF people liked what I did and asked if I would be the official blogger in 2008. They promised me I could say what I wanted, but I decided it was better to blog on my own and then if I write something that upsets one of the film makers, the Festival isn't responsible.  The Festival has a link to my site.  They also threw in a free pass for me in each year since 2008.

I probably won't say anything terrible about a film, but I did rant about one film in the past that I thought was exploiting its subject as well as boorishly demeaning a whole country. I mentioned in an earlier post that if I sound a little promotional at times, it's only because I like films and I like the kinds of quirky films that show up at festivals, so I want as many people to know about the festival as  possible so the festival will continue. Will I fudge on what I write to get people out? No way. There are plenty of people in Anchorage who like films. They're my main target - to get them out of the house in the dark December chill when inertia tugs heavily if they even think about leaving the house. But if others who normally don't go out to films hear about a movie on a topic they're into, that's good too.

I did a post a couple of years ago for Film Festival Skeptics who might be sitting on the fence and need to be given reasons to go and strategies to make it work.

Q:  How Does One Keep Track of What's Happening at the Festival?
I'll be blogging the film festival every day.  The link below will be my festival posts only, starting with the most recent.  There should also be printed programs in the Anchorage Press you can pick up around town as well and go to the Festival Webpage.

My blog will update every day.  My Anchorage International Film Festival (AIFF 2014)  tab on top will have an overview of what's happening each day.


Q:  Are there other Alaskan Film Festivals?  
There are some events called 'festival' that I know of in Anchorage, but they aren't major film events like this one.  There is another organization,  that puts Alaska in its name and used to rent a postal box in Alaska, but has no other connection that we can find to Alaska.  You can read about that at  Comparing the ANCHORAGE and ALASKA International Film Festivals - Real Festival? Scam?

Anyone who knows of other legitimate film festivals in Alaska, let me know.  I've heard stuff about Sitka Film Festival  in February. And there's also an Indigenous Film Festival in February and  there's been an Alaska Native Film Festival.  And there's the Farthest North Jewish Film Festival in Fairbanks.

Redistricting - Some History To Consider What Could Happen Next

Because I blogged the 2011 Redistricting Board and have a tab at the top of this blog with an index of all the posts, it's easy to see what happened back then to compare to now.  I'd note there is also an index of all the posts I've done this round at AKRedistricting 2020-2022, under the banner above.   That 2011 process dragged out until 2014.  And there were a number of new plans that were written and rejected before the final plan was approved.  

This time round, the problems were much more focused:  

• Cantwell, which I think they have satisfactorily addressed, and
•  Senate Seat K.  Here, they are currently down to two choices.  One which will easily be approved by the Judge.  The other, which seems to be favored by the majority of the Board, stands a chance of getting rejected for the same reasons the first one did - political gerrymandering.  

That 2011 Board got its Census data on March 15, 2011 and had 90 days to approve its proclamation.  They got it done on June 13 and not two weeks later there was a legal challenge from Fairbanks.  By July 14 there were two more. 

Tuesday, June 13, 2011
Board Approves Proclamation and Other Documents, Then Goes Into Executive Session
The board members congratulate themselves on doing a great job and approve their work.  


Sunday, June 26, 2011
Fairbanks to Sue Over Redistricting  - I comment on a Fairbanks News Miner article.

July 14, 2011

Three Challenges To Redistricting Plan Arrived By Deadline - Cases Attached-Brief overview of the three challenges, one from the Fairbanks North Star Borough, one from a resident of Goldstream and a resident of Ester, and one from the City of Petersburg.  Copies of the cases are embedded in the post.  

The Board wanted the trial moved to Anchorage, but the judge denied that.  There was something of a gap and staff took other jobs while waiting for the trial.  As I recall it was in Fairbanks in January and I was glad I was listening in by phone.  

The results of the trial didn't come until January 2012.  

Monday, January 9, 2012
Four Districts Found Unconstititional  - quick look at court documents

Sounds of Silence - The court proceedings are on audio teleconference, but can't hear anything.

Paskvan Testifies - Sen Paskvan, one of two Democratic Fairbanks Senators put in the same district testifies.

Plaintiffs Trying to Show Gerrymandering - Sen. Thomas (who is paired with Paskvan) is describing strange loops moving legislators in or out of a district.

Senator Thomas Continues - More of the same.

While blog posts are still up ten years later, the pages that held the documents are no longer working.  In fact all the material from the 2011 Board's website and other state links that had documents are gone.  Peter Torkelson, the Board's Executive Director this time, says he's doing all he can to make sure that doesn't happened again with the current Board's website.  

In 2011 it took from June until February to go from Proclamation Plan to trial outcome. And then to the Supreme Court which sent the plan back to the Board for repairs on March 15 - NINE months after their proclamation and ONE YEAR after they got their Census data.    

In 2022 it took from November 10, 2021 to February  16, 2022 to go from Proclamation to trial outcome.  And it was March 25, 2022 when the Supreme Court ruled. 

This time the gap was just a little over FOUR months.  But remember, the Census data was delayed in 2020 because of the Trump administration's attempt to ask citizenship questions and because of the pandemic.  So the current Board didn't start mapping until August.  =

Here's a bit more on what happened.  Not expecting anyone to read it all, but it's there for your perusal.  You'll find some similarities to this decade's process.  

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

• Alaska Redistricting for the Masses Part 3: The Trial - The Disputed Districts  - This post looks at the disputed districts and the reasons they are disputed.  With maps.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

• Redistricting Challenge:  Judge Sends 4 Districts Back To Board - Post reviews the judge's decision.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012 

• Alaska Redistricting Board To Appeal Ruling on Districts 37 and 38   -  Notes on the board meeting where the board decided to appeal the judge's ruling on house districts 37 and 38. I listened to this meeting on line from Los Angeles. 

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

• Meet You At the Alaska Supreme Court This Afternoon   - Announcement of hearing with maps of districts challenged by petitioners.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

• Alaska Supreme Court Hears Redistricting Board Petitions  - Overview of the court hearing with photos

Thursday, March 15, 2012

• Alaska Supreme Court Sends Redistricting Plan Back To Board  Initial report on Supreme Court decision focused on what the Court required the Board to do. 

Saturday, March 17, 2012

• A Guided Tour Through the Alaska Supreme Court's Redistricting Decision - Hickel Lives On - Goes through each of the 14 sections of the decision and attempts to explain the meaning and implications.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

• Alaska Redistricting Process - What Happens Next? - Looks at the questions:
• The Board will have to make a new plan and that has lots of possibilities.
• What are the parts they have to change?
• Can they be fixed without messing with the rest of the districts?
• Do they start completely fresh or leave most of the existing plan intact? 
  
• Are there any candidates obviously affected?

Then they come up with a new plan April 5, 2012.  I'd note that the previous Board still had to get pre-clearance from the federal Department of Justice to be sure they complied with the Voting Rights Act.  That pre-clearance requirement was gutted by the Supreme Court until the next year, when, as you'll see, the Board was still working on another plan.  

Thursday, April 5, 2012 

• Board Formally Adopts New Plan and Backup Plan - Final meeting for now as they get things ready for submission to DOJ and courts. Links to reports and maps.  My rough, detailed, notes.

 Friday, April 20, 2012  

• Way Too Busy With AQR, Press Club, Confucius Institute, and More Redistricting Stuff- After the picture of Wei Jaijiang, there are links to the objections submitted by various private parties. 
• Judge Rejects Redistricting Board's Amended Proclamation Plan - Describes the main objections and an update attaches the Judge's order.

They come up with more options;

May 1, 2012

• Redistricting Board's Supreme Court Appeal - First I wonder out loud why the board didn't tell us how they were able to come to agreement so easily without discussing many details at the public meeting.  Second, I try to explain what I think the court had asked for and what the board needed to do.  

May 7, 2012 

• The Supreme Court Substitutes Amended Proclamatio for Redistricting Board's Interim Plan - Hearing Thursday 10am  

May 11, 2012 

• Redistricting Options Narrow At Supreme Court - Overview of attorneys' presentations in court and the basic questions the court seemed to want answered.

May 14, 2012 

• Southeast Maps - Redistricting Board Offers 5 Options - The Board's five maps for SE are posted.

The Supreme Court doesn't like them.  

May 22, 2012

• Supreme Court Chooses Amended Proclamation Plan, With Original, Not New, SEast Districts -  Describes the court's decision. 

 

Things drag on.

Dec. 29, 2012   

• Alaska Supreme Court Orders Redistricting Board to Start Over  - Discusses SC ruling and links to it.  

 

Feb 1, 2013
What's At Stake If Redistrict Board Has To Start Over? - Looks at:

• Form over Substance
• The Board's Task
• The Court's Task
• What Happened?
• Form Over Substance?
• My Conclusion 
  
• Impact Of Redoing The Plan From Scratch
• A Lot of Work
• Should the job be given back to the Board?
• Impact on the balance of Democrats and Republicans in the legislature
• Impact on voters' connection to their legislators  

I'm going to skip on ahead.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

• Court Again Rules For Plaintiff Against Alaska Redistricting Board...  Brief overview of the Order which is posted in full. 

Monday July 8, 2013

• Here's The Map The Redistricting Board Approved Sunday Compared To The Old One  - I post the 2012 election map along with the new one approved Sunday for 2014 for Alaska and Anchorage.
  

Sunday, July 14 , 2013

Notes from the Last Alaska Redistricting Meeting.  Everyone Hopes So 
- My very rough notes of, what many hope, was the last Alaska Redistricting Board (unless there are legal challenges)  meeting, where they approve the Proclamation and the findings and the metes and bounds.   

Photos of the Last Redistricting Board Meeting - The Board, some of the audience, AFFER and CALISTA folks, Board's signatures.  

Such hopes!  Quickly dashed.

Thursday, August 29, 2013

• Court Sets Out Issues And Schedule For Alaska Redistricting Court Challenges - This post outlines the basic parts of the Court's order in which the Court outlines the issues and scheduling.  

But the end is in sight.

Monday, Nov 18, 2013 

• Court Rules On Redistricting: "The court accepts the 2013 Proclamation Plan"
  Title sums it up.  Judge's complete decision is included in the post.   

Dec 20, 2013

• Alaska Redistricting Plan Now Final Just the Bill Left to Settle - This post has links to the Proclamation Plan and all the maps and a copy of the court order.

 

AIFF 2014: Short Narratives In Competition: A Box of Chocolates

This category is like a box of chocolates - lots of little delicious bites of films.  So many choices, which should you pick?  Which will be best?  I haven't seen any of these films, but I've gathered crumbs from each, but not enough to spoil the surprise.

The Short Narratives in competition are spread over three different short narrative programs.  Plus there are several other Short Narrative programs.  I've color coded the programs - the reds are in Global Village, the greens are in Love and Pain, and the purple is in Mixed Bag.

OVERVIEW

1. THE LIST OF SHORT NARRATIVES IN COMPETITION
2. DESCRIPTIONS OF EACH GROUPED BY THE PROGRAMS THEY'RE IN
3. LISTS OF THE OTHER SHORT NARRATIVE PROGRAMS

1.  THE LIST OF SHORT NARRATIVES IN COMPETITION

Narrative Shorts In Competition √
Film	Director	Country	Length	Program
Arena	Martin Rath	Poland	23m	Global Village
Given Your History	Molly McGlynn	Canada	15m	Global Village
How Hipólito Vázquez Found Magic Where He Never Expected To Find It  [De cómo Hipólito Vázquez encontró magia donde no buscaba]	Matias Rubio	Argentina	15m	Global Village
Till Then [Bis Gleich]	BenjaminWolff	Germany	20m	Global Village
Tom in America	Flavio Alves	Brazil	17m	Mixed Bag
Universal Language	Kirsten Russell	USA	35m	Love & Pain
What Cheer?	Michael Slavens	USA	17m	Love & Pain

[UPDATE, Dec. 6, 2014:  It turns out I left out Full Windsor - a super short narrative in competition.  It plays in the Love and Pain program.]

2.  DESCRIPTIONS OF THEM GROUPED BY THE PROGRAMS THEY'RE IN

There are four films in competition in the Global Village program.

Global Village - Shorts Program

Sun, Dec 07 3:00 PM  AK Experience Large   Thu, Dec 11      7:30 PM  AK Experience Small

Into The Silent Sea | Andrej Landin 2013  **How Hipolito Vazquez Found Magic Where He Never Expected | Matias Rubio 2013    Intermission | Marielle Gautier 2014  **Arena | Martin Rath 2013   **Given Your History | Molly McGlynn 2014    **Till Then | Benjamin Wolff 2014    **= films in competition

Screenshot from trailer - "shot in a perpetual twilight"

Arena
Martin Rath   
Poland
23m √

Culture.Pl lists this Polish film, with a German director,  among The Most Interesting Debut Films of 2013

It won what appears to be the main international prize at the Cork Film Festival where they posted this brief assessment:

"Grand Prix International (€1,000)
Martin Rath, Poland
Jury Statement: From the first to the final frame, Arena maintains a threatening ambiguity. Shot in a perpetual twilight, things are always about to get dark, and Rath’s immense skill is to hold the tension as the film oscillates between machismo and sensitivity.
Cork Short Film Nominee for the European Film Awards 2014

ARENA"

From the Krakow Film Festival:

"A hitchhiker is taken in by an remote Polish mountain community. Absorbed by the charismatic locals and unforgiving harshness of his new environment he constitutes his presence in the mountains. But to whom do we have to prove of what we're made?"

Part of Global Village Program that plays:

Sun, Dec 07 3:00 PM  AK Experience Large  

Thu, Dec 11      7:30 PM  AK Experience Small

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Given Your History

Image from  National Screen Institute Canada:

Canada
15m √

This is the US premiere of this film.  It's only been publicly shown once so far - in Hamilton, Canada

From the National Screen Institute Canada:

NSI Drama Prize short Given Your History, from writer/director Molly McGlynn and producer Laura Perlmutter, is getting even more festival exposure.
Next month it screens at the Hamilton Film Festival on Saturday, November 8 at 9 p.m. as part of the drama shorts 2 programme at the Staircase Theatre.
The short also screens in Alaska in December at the Anchorage International Film Festival as part of their short film selections.
Given Your History is an honest look at two sisters trying to move on after their mother’s death from breast cancer.

This means, Anchorage audiences will be among the first to see this film, and it's possibly an US premiere.  There apparently has been a shorter (4 minutes) version that's played in fesitivals Seattle and elsewhere.

Part of Global Village Program that plays:

Sun, Dec 07 3:00 PM  AK Experience Large  

Thu, Dec 11      7:30 PM  AK Experience Small

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How Hipólito Vázquez Found Magic Where He Never Expected To Find It  [De cómo Hipólito Vázquez encontró magia donde no buscaba]
Matias Rubio
Argentina
15m √

From Two Short Nights Film Festival website:

"Hipólito Vázquez is a talent scout. With his loyal partner Cholo, he is looking for a little child whose supposed to “do magic with the football”. Therefore they go on a long journey to the distant Club “La Camelia” following the advices of a mystery man. But as the trip goes along, not everything goes as planned and maybe what he ends up discovering was not exactly what he expected to find."

Based on a map on the films Facebook page, this appears to be only the third US showing.  It got the Grand Jury Prize at the Indiana Short Film Festival in October this year.

Part of Global Village Program that plays:

Sun, Dec 07 3:00 PM  AK Experience Large  

Thu, Dec 11      7:30 PM  AK Experience Small

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Image from Spiffest

Till Then [Bis Gleich]
Benjamin Wolff
Germany
20m √

From a review by Beth Groundwater at the Breckenridge Film Festival:

"A man and a woman sit at their respective windows across from each other on a busy street in Berlin, Germany, and observe the interesting minor dramas unfolding on the street below them. They never speak, but they acknowledge each others presence. But then one day the man does not appear. What should the woman do?
Instead of relying on on a preponderance of dialogue to express emotion and move the story forward, the scriptwriter, Tara Lynn Orr, and director, Benjamin Wolff, expertly use the characters' actions to tenderly reveal the story to the viewer, the courage it takes for the woman to act, and the bittersweet result. This nineteen minute smile awaits you!"

Part of Global Village Program that plays:

Sun, Dec 07 3:00 PM  AK Experience Large  

Thu, Dec 11      7:30 PM  AK Experience Small

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Two films in competition in the Love & Pain program.

Love & Pain - Shorts Program

Sat, Dec 06  12:00 PM    Alaska Experience Large Thu, Dec 11  6:00 PM     Alaska Experience Large

Four Brothers. Or Three. Wait ... Three. | Philip Buiser 2013 The Mourning Hour | Susan Cohen 2013 **Universal Language | Kirsten Russell 2014 Beneath the Trees | Kitty Mahoney 2014 Reaching Home | Kenneth Murphy 2013 Full-Windsor | Faraday Okoro 2014 **What Cheer? | Michael Slavens 2014 **= films in competition

[UPDATED 12/6:}  Full Windsor

Image from Ari Fulton Design for Stage and Film

Faraday Okoror
USA
6m

A 10 year old boy battles his mother in order to wear his father's tie to school.

Part of Love & Pain Program that plays:
Sat, Dec 06  12:00 PM    Alaska Experience Large

Thu, Dec 11  6:00 PM     Alaska Experience Large

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Universal Language
Kirsten Russell
USA
35m √

Excerpt from Universal Language's Kickstarter page:  (It got more than its $3500 goal)

"In the spring of 2013 I had plans to be in Austria for two weeks.  I got a call from a long-time friend (and gifted actress), Frederique Nahmani who had moved back to France.  And she threw and idea at me.
"If you're going to be in the neighborhood, why not swing over to Paris...and shoot a little film."Now what normal person, let alone filmmaker, is gonna turn that down?
the scriptI just had to write a script. So I started with the most obvious thing…the language. Or for me the language barrier since I'd be shooting a film as a stranger in a strange land.  I knew who my lead actress would be (clearly Frederique) and since I like to write for specific actors, like dysfunctional muses, I approached Marcel Simoneau, another long-time friend and filmmaking buddy.  And with these two, I made up Dan and Sophie... "

The film she did for Kickstarter probably gives us a good introduction to the film:

There's a long interview at FilmCourage if you want to know more.

Part of Love & Pain Program that plays:
Sat, Dec 06  12:00 PM    Alaska Experience Large

Thu, Dec 11  6:00 PM     Alaska Experience Large

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What Cheer?

Michael Slavens

USA

17m √

It's hard to find something about a lot of these movies that isn't just a copy of the official description of the movie.  I want you to get a sense of the movie without giving anything away that might spoil it.  So, here's what a film maker Patrick Longstreth wrote on his blog 

"One of my favorites was “What Cheer?” starring Richard Kind. We shared a Q&A with director Michael Slavens, who is a thoughtful filmmaker and really nice guy. I was very happy to see his film win the “Filmmaker’s Favorite” award."

What Cheer?  won the The Black Bear Award for Best Use of Sound at the Athens (Ohio) International Film Festival.

Part of Love & Pain Program that plays:

Sat, Dec 06  12:00 PM    Alaska Experience Large

Thu, Dec 11  6:00 PM     Alaska Experience Large

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And one film in competition in the Mixed Bag Shorts Program:

Mixed Bag  - Shorts Program

Thu, Dec 11 8:00 PM    Alaska Experience Large

One Armed Man | Tim Guinee 2014 Samantha '66 | Dan Wainio 2014 **Tom in America | Flavio Alves 2014 The Ladder | Pete Fitz 2013 Zugwang | Yolanda Centeno 2014 **in competition

Tom in America

Flavio Alves

Brazil

17m √

This one only plays once as far as I can tell.  And although its director is a Brazilian and this is categorized as a Brazilian film, it takes place in New York, with a couple who celebrate their 50th anniversary, and then . . .  It stars two academy award nominees - Sally Kirkland who was nominated according to Wikipedia

"1987 for Anna, for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama"

and Burt Young, who, again according to Wikipedia, was also nominated for his role

"as Sylvester Stallone's brother-in-law Paulie in Rocky (1976), for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor."

He's also been in a lot of other well-known movies television shows from Chinatown to M*A*S*H and the Sopranos.

The clip below is NOT the official trailer, but the opening theme scored by Walter Schick.

Part of Mixed Bag that plays:

Thu, Dec 11 8:00 PM    Alaska Experience Large Unfortunately at the same time as Global Village Program with four other Short Narrative films in competition.   So see Global Village on Sunday Dec. 7 at 3pm

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3.  LISTS OF THE OTHER SHORT NARRATIVE PROGRAMS


Three More Narrative Shorts Programs:

• Alaska Grown (Thursday 8pm), 
• Mexican (Friday Dec 12)  and 
• Chinese Short Film Programs (Sun Dec. 14)

Plus fifteen, mostly 2 minute, shorts from kids in the Iditarod School District.

Alaska Grown

Sat, Dec 13  5:00 PM   Alaska Experience Large

Russian Jack | Jonathan Lang 2014 Speak No Evil | James Elden 2014 Wrong Side Up | Henry McComas 2014 STORYTELLING | the movie | Stefanie Black 2013 Six Dead Bodies Duct-Taped to a Merry-Go-Round | Kevin T. Bennett 2014 Look What You Did | Eirin Strickland 2014 Beneath the Trees | Kitty Mahoney 2014

Short Films From the Guanajuato International Film Festival

7:00 PM     Fri, Dec 12  Alaska Experience Theater - Large

Under The Sun [Bajo el sol] | Arcadi Palerm 2012  Fifteen Years [Quince Años] | Liliana Torres 2012  An Eye [Un ojo] | Lorenza Manrique 2012  No Brakes [Sin Frenos] | Pancho Ortega  Eskimo [Eskimal] | Homero Ramírez 2011

UAA Confucius Institute  Short Films from China

Sun, Dec 14  2:30 PM  Alaska Experience Large

Return to Prairie | Liqi Yi Can’t Piss | Xinqi Song Summer Secret | Zeng Zeng Grandfather’s Wishes | Yu We

There are also feature films as part of the Mexican films and the Chinese Films.