AIFF 2009 - Tapped, Audience Reactions

Tapped is one of those documentaries that everyone should see, but I really didn’t want to go be taught the evils of bottled water.  For one thing, I thought I knew the subject pretty well.  Second, a good feature movie would be more entertaining.  But I did the ‘right’ thing and went to the Alaska Experience Theater.  Wow.  This is a movie that should be played in all schools.  Sure, it’s an advocacy movie for the anit-bottled water folks, but as the movie makes clear, the bottled water industry makes billions a year and posts very rosy, misleading advertising about bottled water that all kids and adults see over and over again. 

Basic parts of the movie:

• Bottled water trying to get control over public water sources and when there are droughts, they still bottle water while townspeople have to cut back.
• Bottled water is largely unregulated and their claims to be ‘safe’ and ‘pure’ suggest that tap water isn’t.  But in truth, tap water is much more regulated than bottled water.
• Bottled water has lots of chemicals that come from the plastic that the FDA is not protecting us from.
• Plastic bottles are a major environmental scourge in the land fills and the oceans.
• Making plastic bottles is a huge environmental health issues near the factories.

Here are a few comments from people who saw it:


One Day in Cochin was not a great movie, but turned out better than I expected from the trailer.

At the Bear Tooth now after dropping J at home, she has a book club meeting tonight.  Getting ready for Mount St. Elias.  The place is packed.

AIFF 2009 - Sunday Films, What To Do?

I can't decide either.  I think I spent too much time looking at this that I'm overloaded.  I do have a warning for folks.  I did get a sneak preview of Godspeed which plays tonight at Bear Tooth.  It was made in Anchorage and Wasilla, and it is always nice (because it's so rare) to see our own landscapes on the big screen.  However, if you don't like graphic scenes of someone getting his skull smashed in with a rock I'd advise checking out the other venues at that time. 


Shadow Billionaire is a documentary about one of the founders of HDL who moves to Saipan and lives, apparently, a dissolute life.  If you are interested in understanding the problem of human trafficking for prostitution, this is one of several films that deal with that subject.  I've only seen the trailer, but it is one of the documentaries in competition.  7:45pm tonight (Sunday) at the Alaska Experience Theater 1.

Helter Skelter - 8:15 at at Out North is a mix of 'live action' (actors) and animation shorts.

I need to quit here so I can get to one of the 1pm movies.  I haven't decided between Adopt a Sailor (a feature about a couple that take in a sailor) at the Bear Tooth and Tapped, a documentary on bottled water at Alaska Experience.

Check the program guide for what else is on today.  Sundays are big days. 

Mount St Elias at 5:30 at the Bear Tooth should be a biggie.  About a mountain climbing accident a couple of years ago. 

AIFF 2009 - Paul Cotter's Bomber

I saw Bomber last night and haven't yet had time to distill why I liked it. I'm already in a bit of film overload.  My brain is like the airport over Christmas break. I'll try to do something more coherent on Bomber later, but meanwhile here are some initial thoughts and much better yet, about ten minutes of Paul Cotter himself answering questions after the showing.



I was hearing good things about Bomber, but wasn't able to get a sneak preview, so Saturday night was it, because it was the only showing.

A British adult ends up taking his parents to Germany, a trip his father wanted to take to a town he bombed in World War II.

This film, made for about $30,000.  Yes. four zeroes.  At that price a seriously flawed movie could score fairly well on my quality/$ scale.  But this is a film that is as good or better than most of the ones I see over a year.

It's a serious, funny movie about parent/child and husband/wife relationships.  It's funny because I suspect that most everyone in the audience over 20 could relate to one or more of the roles in the film and because you have to laugh because otherwise it hurts because he's put truths about your own life up on the big screen.

I'd been watching films since 1pm this afternoon and this was a 7:45 pm movie.  But it went by pretty quickly.  As I said above, I'll try to get something more coherent up.  It's clear that doing the videos takes enough time that I rationalize I don't have time to write.  But I also need some time to process what I've seen to write something worth more than, it's good or not.

AIFF 2009 - Francine Lastufka Taylor Recommends Neshoba

At the animation workshop Saturday afternoon, Francine Lastufka Taylor, who's the founder of the Alaska Moving Image Preservation Association (AMIPA), told me she'd been to a great documentary at 1pm.  The movie was Neshoba which will play again

Saturday, Dec. 12, at the Alaska Experience Theater at 5:30 pm. 

The movie is about the three civil rights workers who were killed in the 60s, the recent trial of one of the murderers, and the fact that the others are still around but no one is talking.  So I asked Francine to tell you herself.

AIFF 2009 - Devi Snively, Director of Death in Charge

Here's a brief conversation with Devi after the showing of her film "Death in Charge."  All the films in the Humoresque program were solid, interesting, well made films.  Death in Charge explored the relationship between a young girl and her mom with the help of the grim reaper and some macaroni and cheese. 

AIFF 2009 - Busy Day with Animation and Shorts

A quick check in.  Humoresque was a program of shorts - all of which were quite good.  Definitely worthwhile.  Then the animation workshop, then the animation package.  The internet connection at Out North wasn't working, and so now I'm just posting quickly here at Bear Tooth before watching Bomber.  The director Paul is talking now before the film. 

That's Devi Snively whose short film, Death in Charge played in the 1pm showing at Out North.  We did a quick video afterward, and I'll get that up later. 

AIFF 2009 - So Many Films So Little Time

There's lots happening today.  Best bet is to look at the printed guide on what's playing or look on line for something of interest.

Here's the today's schedule copied from the AIFF website.[It doesn't fit here, so go to the AIFF site to see the whole thing.]

Bear Tooth 1230 West 27th Avenue 907.276.4200

Alaska Experience 1 4th Avenue Marketplace 333 West 4th Avenue 907.272.9076

Alaska Experience 2 4th Avenue Marketplace 333 West 4th Avenue 907.272.9076

Anchorage Museum 121 West 7th Avenue 907.343.4326

Out North 3800 DeBarr Road 907.279.3800

Sat. 12/5

12:30 Snowdance 3 People of the Seal/Unalaska/Prospector/Hugo in the Land of Lemonsharks3:00 Pachamama 5:30 Dear Lemon Lima 7:45 Bomber 10:00 Zombies of Mass Destruction

1:00 Inside the Revolution 3:15 Circus Rosaire 5:30 Peaceable Kingdom 7:45 Inspirational Aspirations Antarctica Challenge/Beyond Limits

3:30 Good Morning Kandahar

1:00 Neshoba 3:15 Playground 6:00 Perfect Cappuccino 8:00 About Face

1:00 Humoresque 3:00 Animation Workshop 5:45 Animation 1 8:00 Super Shorts 2 10:00 Homemade Vigilante

My destinations today are:

First to Out North for  Humoresque at 1pm.  I don't even know what that is, but I want to go to the animation workshop at 3pm, and that way I won't have to drive again.  I'll probably stay at Out North for Animation 1 at 5:45pm after the workshop.

Then I'll leave early so I can get to see Bomber at 8pm at the Bear Tooth.  I've seen the trailer for Bomber which is one of the films in competition and I think it will be pretty good, and I think it only shows that one time.

I'm not a zombie fan, but since I'll already be at Bear Tooth, I'll probably stay at least for the beginning of Zombies of Mass Destruction at 10pm and we'll see how long I stay. 

See you at the Festival.

AIFF 2009 - Beth Varner: Volunteer Opportunites Still Available

I got to interview AIFF volunteer coordinator Beth Varner last night after the showing of Hipster.  Want to see some films free, but low on funds?  Beth tells you how it works.



You can contact her at Three-One-Seven 2001.  Or check the volunteer page.

AIFF 2009 - Animation Workshop Presenter Callum Peterson

Callum is giving the animation workshop Saturday, December 5 at 3pm (Today as I write) along with Anchorage's Peter Dunlap-Shohl. It's at the Out North.



Callum's film Bonefeather is playing as part of the
Program Love and Pain on Friday Dec. 11 at 10pm at the Bear Tooth and
in Animated Treats on Saturday Dec. 12 at 12:15 pm at Loussac's Marston Theater

I wonder how many other films are playing in both the adult only (Love and Pain) and the children's programming (Animated Treats.)

AIFF 2009 - Audience Comments After Hipsters

Hipsters on the big screen was great. Here are just a couple of brief comments, but I did find some Russians to give their opinions.



I had a longer discussion, off camera, with some Russian women who were a little older and they too enjoyed the movie. One said that her mother went to the university in those days and people were not all dressed in gray, they could wear what they wanted. But given that it was a musical it was reasonable accurate.