Anchorage International Film Festival 2008 Online Guide

ANCHORAGE

INTERNATIONAL

FILM FESTIVAL WHAT FREEZES HERE, STAYS HERE.

DECEMBER TH TH 2008 5 -14 BEAR TOOTH THEATREPUB • REGAL FIREWEED • ANCHORAGE MUSEUM

Info and full schedule at anchoragefilmfestival.org. Call 786-4980 for more information.Volunteers needed.

WELCOME Part of the AIFF Programming Department that reviewed over 500 films: Tony Sheppard, Teresa Scott, Miranda Felch, Mike Allison, Doug Griffin, Fran Kelly.

DID YOU READ JAWS BY PETER BENCHLY, OR THE EXORCIST? DID IT SCARE YOU MORE THAN THE FILM VERSION? REALLY, DID IT? And when it's the other way around, why is it that writers can rarely do a movie justice and turn it into a great novel? I mean, writers have much more time and imagination at their disposal. And their budget? What budget? A 3-month cash advance from the publisher and a case of scotch. Maybe some smokes? Ouch! That's gotta put some cramps in their imagination and style. Okay, I suppose, as novels, Ulysses, The Great Gatsby, Don Quixote, along with many others can proclaim their superiority over the movie versions. But, have you ever sat in a crowded auditorium and simultaneously laughed, cried, shrieked, and been transformed in a state of emotional metamorphosis? There’s nothing else like it. I'd like to thank all of the filmmakers, supporters and volunteers that have come together and contributed their materials, resources and personal time. Can you believe that this is the eighth annual Anchorage International Film Festival? Thank you for supporting the art of independent film. Thanks for all of your hard work and sacrifices.

TABLE OF CONTENTS General Information ................... 2 Special Events ............................ 3 Feature Films .......................... 7-8 Documentaries ........................ 4-5 Short Films ................................. 9 Super Shorts............................. 11 Animation .................................. 6 Family Films ............................. 13 Snowdance .............................. 10 Schedule .................................. 15

2008 VENUES ANCHORAGE MUSEUM AT RASMUSON CENTER 121 West 7th Avenue 907.343.4326 www.anchoragemuseum.org BEAR TOOTH THEATREPUB 1230 W 27th Avenue 907.276.4200 www.beartooththeatre.net REGAL FIREWEED 661 East Fireweed Lane 907.566.3328 OUT NORTH 3800 DeBarr Road 907.279.3800 www.outnorth.org

Yours in good film, Tony Sheppard Founder & Director of Film Programming, AIFF

THE ANCHORAGE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (AIFF) IS A PROGRAM UNDER THE ALASKA MOVING IMAGE PRESERVATION ASSOCIATION (AMIPA) UMBRELLA. AMIPA is proud to have the AIFF under our purview: It is a distinctly Alaskan 10-day film festival that brings cinema and media artists to Anchorage from all over the world, featuring Films Worth Freezing For! Thank you fellow film fanatics,for eight years of support! The Anchorage International Film Festival is a bright spot in 10 of the shortest days of our winter. We're honored to screen work from emerging and established filmmakers, including world-class Snowdance films like Sikumi and The Last Days of Shishmaref.

FILM SELECTIONS Film categories include Feature Narratives, Documentaries, Short Films, Super Shorts, Animation, Family, and our Alaska showcase, Snowdance. Festival entries are open to all films regardless of origin, content and genre. Official selections include all films selected to be screened during the Festival. Special presentations include all films that are invited to fortify our program. Films in competition are the Official selections that are chosen by our prescreening committee to be entered into competition. Approximately 20% of our official selections are entered into our competition. NOTE: Most films are for mature audiences. Please consult with Festival staff for more information.

Now, sit back, relax, and let the Anchorage International Film Festival take you far away – to another place, space and time – 10 glorious days of independent film! Michele Miller Executive Director, AMIPA

WELCOME TO THE 2008 AIFF, AFTER 40 YEARS OF WORKING IN THE MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY I DON’T THINK I’VE COME ACROSS ANYTHING AS CHALLENGING AS PUTTING ON A FILM FESTIVAL. This year the stars were aligned as the AIFF brought together a team of top-notch programmers that got to the business of selecting the best entries from the hundreds of submissions. Our management and development team has worked together to bring a higher level of quality and efficiency to our festival and the benefits will be seen as this year’s festival progresses. The Bear Tooth is proud to be the premiere venue for the 2008 AIFF as well as a presenting sponsor. Thanks for being a part of it. Rand Thornsley Special Films Programmer and Studio Liaison, AIFF

WILDA MARSTON THEATER @ LOUSSAC LIBRARY 3600 Denali St 907.343.2975 www.lexicon.ci.anchorage.ak.us

TICKETS & PASSES FESTIVAL TICKETS

Individual tickets are available at the door for all screenings and special events on a first-come, first-served basis. The price is $7 for most screenings. (See the program guide for special prices on classic movies, family matinees and Snowdance shorts.) A six-pack punch card good for any six screenings is also available for $36. Special event tickets for the opening night gala, Martini Matinee and the Golden Oosikar Awards are available at the venues the day of the event.

FESTIVAL PASSES

SPECIAL THANKS Rand Thornsley Special Films Programmer and Studio Liaison, AIFF

Michele Miller Executive Director, AMIPA

www.amipa.org 2

Huge endeavors like a film festival require the hard work and endless patience of volunteers and dedicated professionals. The staff, programmers and managers of the Anchorage International Film Festival want to thank the following people and businesses for their expertise and generous support: Feature screeners John McKay, Karen Miovas, Keith Popely and Roberta Spayd; animation screeners Laura Jungreis, Max Jungreis, Sally Jungreis, Buzz Schwall and Katie Scott; animation judges Janes Cruz, Richard Dowling, Dave Hoffman, Becky Fox-Krogstad and Sam Krogstad; feature judges Bruce Farnsworth, Christopher Wilhelm, Kevin Tripp, Carol Schatz and Cindy Allen; shorts judges Joel Williams, Rob Keys, Alicia Rosner, Rebecca Anowlic, and Kenneth Oh; shorts honorary screener Tom Dolan; super shorts screener Kristian Pettyjohn; documentary screeners Jess Doherty, Kim Flemming, Travis Shinabarger, Chuck Crew, and James Gwynn; documentary judges Jess Doherty, Kim Flemming, Travis Shinabarger, James Gwynn; Dawnell Smith; and for capturing this year’s festival, photographers Chris Arend, Clark Mishler and Hal Gage; Bear Tooth owners Rod Hancock, Matt Jones and Warren Hancock for giving Rand so much time to work on the festival and projectionist Dillon Miller for covering shifts; John Brower and Christopher Wilhelm for allowing us to use their home theater for judging; Shari Hart at Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum; Carolyn Kinneen, the special events wizard; Barb Miller of Midnight Sun Brewing Company; Café Amsterdam, the Middle Way Café, Bosco's and the Bear Tooth for contributing to hospitality bags; special thanks to Pat Walsh, Jack Sheppard, Sara Croop, Karen Miovas, Catherine Shenk and the AMIPA staff -- Kevin Tripp, Michael Walsh and Greg Schmitz.

CAST & CREW Tony Sheppard, founder, director of programming, management committee; Michele Miller, AMIPA executive director, fundraising, sponsorship, events and management committee; Rand Thornsley, specialty film programmer, studio liaison, management committee; Nate Lubeck, website development; Lee Bullington, PR and community relations; Carolyn Kinneen, special events manager; Mark Lutz and Kim Wilson, hospitality; Juliet Hildreth and Nancy Moore, volunteer coordinators; Glenn Hemingson, AMIPA board chair and AIFF transportation coordinator; Karen Miovas, program manager; Sara Croop program designer; Michael Walsh, media compilation; Doug Griffin and Kelly Gwynn, documentary programmers; Teresa Scott and Fran Kelly, animation programmers; Julie Decker, family programmer; Mike Allison, super shorts programmer; Miranda Lynn and Cody Calligari, shorts programmers; Dawnell Smith, film festival coordinator and administrative support.

The $60 ALL FILMS pass allows expedited admission to all films.The $85 ALL FILMS AND EVENTS pass includes all screenings as well as entrance to special events like the opening night gala, Martini Matinee, the Golden Oosikar Awards and all workshops. Please note: events may sell out. A pass does not guarantee you a seat, but it does promise expedited entry. Pass holders can pick up tickets (without charge) from the hosts at each screening. AIFF passes are NOT transferable. Your purchase helps make the festival possible, so thank you for not sharing! Purchase your festival passes or punch cards in advance or during the festival at the Bear Tooth Theatrepub, AMIPA or www.anchoragefilmfestival.org. The Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center and Regal Fireweed will also sell passes and punch cards during the festival's run. Passes purchased online can be picked up at the Bear Tooth box office. You must present the confirmation number or the credit card used to make the purchase to receive your AIFF pass.

OUR SPONSORS

SPECIAL EVENTS OPENING NIGHT GALA

The 2008 Anchorage International Film Festival is generously brought to you by:

This is your chance to make a personal connection with our international guests and welcome them with the warmth and enthusiasm that Alaskans are known for. And if you’re a filmmaker voyaging to our beautiful northern city, this is a chance to start your adventure with celebration and recognition of your talent and dedication to the art of independent film. Come dance the night away!

FOUNDING SPONSOR

Friday 12/5 9pm • Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum, 4721 Aircraft Drive

$18 • Free with All Events Pass

GOLDEN OOSIKAR AWARDS CEREMONY Saturday, 12/13 9pm • Middle Way Cafe (Northern Lights Center)

The culmination of the AIFF is the Golden Oosikar Awards Ceremony. The diverse competition juries, comprised of individuals from our community with original and objective points of view, select films to receive our honorary awards. It’s our chance to recognize the best AIFF filmmakers for their commitment to the art of filmmmaking and supporting the Festival by sharing their vibrant visions with the film lovers of Alaska. The audience awards are for feature films and feature length documentaries. These will be announced on the last day of the festival with encore screenings at the Bear Tooth.

PRESENTING SPONSORS

$15 • Free with All Events Pass

MARTINI MATINEE

Friday 12/12 3pm • Mixx Grill, Inlet Towers, 1200 L Street

Come in from the cold and join the fun! It’s our short-attention-span cinema for the fabulous cosmo film crowd! These films are not the usual mix. A movie trivia contest with some great prizes will be part of the afternoon's festivities.

Consulate of Canada / Anchorage Consulat du Canada / Anchorage

$5 • Free with All Events Pass • Limited seating!

WORKSHOPS

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PRIMARY SPONSORS

ANIMATION FOR EVERYONE: UNDERSTANDING THE ILLUSION OF LIFE

Consulate of Canada / Anchorage Consulat du Canada / Anchorage

12/13 Sat 3pm • Out North

The Consulate of Canada is proud to sponsor this workshop by Jeff Chiba Stearns, an independent animation filmmaker, writer and artist who founded Meditating Bunny Studio Inc. and has explored multiethnic issues in award-winning animated short films. Award-winning animation filmmaker Jeff Chiba Stearns will help demystify animation by explaining the process from pre-visualization to the completed film. Using screenings, demonstrations and lecture material, he will illuminate how to use traditional classical animation to create original and unique films. Red - Pantone 180

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FILMMAKER WORKSHOP WITH ANDREW MACLEAN Director and Writer of Sikumi (On The Ice). 12/7 Sun 2pm • Out North

Andrew Okpeaha MacLean is an Inupiaq filmmaker born and raised in Alaska. He has traveled to North and South America, Europe and New Zealand, worked in Siberia as a biological research assistant and was a member of the Egasak whaling crew in Barrow. Sikumi won the 2008 Jury Prize for Short Fimmaking in the Sundance Film Festival. The workshop will focus on the making of Sikumi: working with a film crew, a 35 mm camera and the special preparation and handling it took to function in minus 20-degree tempeatures.

FILMMAKER WORKSHOP WITH JAN LOUTER Director of The Last Days of Shishmaref. 12/13 Sat 11am • Out North

Jan Louter, of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, now has 25 documentaries to his name, varying in length from 50 to 8 minutes. Many of his long and short documentaries have been displayed at national and international film festivals and sold to foreign TV stations. The workshop will focus on documentary filmmaking, from creation to distribution. He will discuss the making of The Last Days of Shishmaref: giving the viewer entry by way of a third eye; the friendships made over the several years of traveling to and working with the villagers of Shishmaref; and some of the difficulties of filmmaking in such a remote location.

QUICK FREEZE FILM PROJECT 12/12 Fri 8pm • Out North

SUPPORTING SPONSORS

Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau Copper Whale Inn G Street B&B Inlet Tower Hotel & Suites

Karl's Action Video Municipality of Anchorage, Arts & Culture Foundation Municipality of Anchorage, Office of the Mayor Oscar Gill House Out North VSA Arts of Alaska

This year we’ve added more fun for local filmmakers with our Quick Freeze film project. In a nutshell the Quick Freeze is a chance to create a three to five minute film, a theme will be given online on December 5th. You have five days to complete the film. It will then be presented in a film forum setting, with a prize for the best film. The best Quick Freeze Film will also screen at the Bear Tooth on the last day of the Festival. Contact Mike Allison for questions, [email protected].

www.walshsheppard.com

Take Action. Get Involved.

We are proud to support the Anchorage International Film Festival.

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DOCUMENTARIES THE ANCHORAGE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL IS EXTREMELY PROUD OF ITS HISTORY OF BRINGING EXCELLENT DOCUMENTARY FILMS TO THE BIG SCREEN. Nowhere else in Alaska can audiences see these hand selected gems collected from around the world. This year’s line-up is a well-rounded, hearty selection of films featuring revolutionary Ugandan hip-hop artists, an Alaskan village falling into the ocean, an all-black high school marching band, a partial lobotomy, and many more films to enlighten those cold, dark nights in Alaska. —Kelly Gwynn & Doug Griffin, Co-Directors of Documentary Programming

A NASHVILLE STATE OF MIND • USA • 88 mins.• 2008 12/8 Mon 5:30pm Museum• 12/10 Wed 5:30pm Fireweed Theatre Samantha Gibb, daughter of Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees, and her band move to Nashville after her father’s death. They enter Nashville’s Alternative music scene with some of the best local musicians on the scene. This peek into the lives of musicians/song writers who struggle to follow their dreams features guest appearances by industry professionals like Hank Williams III, Jody Williams, Dan Keen, Doc McGhee and Scott McGhee. Directed by John Martin-Vogel and Eric La Rocca • www.myspace.com/nashvilledocumentary A POWERFUL NOISE • USA • 91 mins. • 2008 12/8 Mon 7:30pm Museum • 12/13 Sat 6:00pm Museum Three women from different cultures fight for change. Hahn is an HIV-positive widow in Vietnam; Nada, a survivor of the Bosnian war; and Jacqueline a worker in the slums of Bamako, Mali. Three different women. Three very different lives. Three vastly different worlds. But they share something in common: Power. These ordinary women are overcoming deep-seeded gender barriers to rise up and claim a voice in their societies. Through their empowerment and the ability to empower others, Hahn, Nada and Jacqueline are sparking unprecedented change by fighting AIDS, educating girls and rebuilding communities. Directed by Tom Cappello and Scott Thigpen • www.apowerfulnoise.org BALLOU • USA • 83 mins. • 2008 12/13 Sat 2:30pm Museum• 12/11 Thurs 7:45pm Museum The talented Ballou High School Marching Band overcomes a negative environment filled with guns, drugs and violence through music, dedication and personal sacrifice. On their way to a national band competition, band members must first learn how to play instruments and overcome personal loses due to the neglect of an impoverished community just three miles from the Capital. Celebrities including Rev. Jess Jackson and Colin Powell speak to the importance of a small marching band that becomes an award-winning band. Directed by Michael Patrei • www.balloumovie.com CRAWFORD • USA • 74 mins. • 2008 12/11 Thurs 5:30pm Bear Tooth • 12/14 Sun 5:30pm Museum Months after arriving in Crawford, Texas, population 705, George W. Bush declares his candidacy for President and uses the town as the perfect set-piece to project a folksy image. Crawford explodes overnight. Souvenir stores open. Their Baptist pastor calls it a miracle. But with the Iraq War and the arrival of 20,000 protesters in Crawford’s backyards, conflict mounts in the town itself, pushing a progressive teacher and her student to the brink – and beyond. Soon, tourists stop coming and the stores are boarded up. But the human impact of political stagecraft is far graver. Now, through the eyes of Crawford’s colorful, dynamic people, comes a unique reflection on the last seven years. Directed by David Modigliani • www.crawfordmovie.com DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH • USA • 72 mins. • 2008 12/7 Sun 12:00pm Bear Tooth

A group of young rappers in Uganda use hip hop to spread awareness about the political and social troubles engulfing their country, and to bring about positive change. Silas and Krazy Native are the two members of the Bataka Squad, rapping in their native language. Silas’s family was forced to flee to Canada when he was twelve, with his father subsequently falling victim to politically motivated murder. During Silas’s exile, Krazy Native rises to become one of Uganda’s most successful contemporary hip hop artists. When Silas returns to his homeland to set up a charity foundation for young people, he and Krazy reunite for the first time in ten years. Their journey goes from the riot-torn streets of the capital, Kampala, to the smallest villages in the countryside; from the Pearl of Africa Music Awards to the Global African Hip Hop Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa; and finally back across the Atlantic as Silas and Krazy bring their music and their message to the United States. On the way, a host of other young rappers tackle subjects ranging from genocide to AIDS in their music. Directed by Brett Mazurek • www.imdb.com/title/tt0960755 JUNK DREAMS • USA • 73 mins. • 2008 12/6 Sat 12:30pm Museum Two brothers, 77 and 76, board a 29-foot Chinese Junk Boat and head 1,620 miles to Valdez, Alaska. In their two and half month voyage, Ernie and Charlie encounter torrents of rain and raging water, engine trouble and broken masts, bringing them face to face with adventure — their fountain of youth. The two men visit towns like Prince Rupert, Ketchikan, Petersburg and Juneau on their way to Valdez, Alaska. Directed by Skye Borgman • www.junkdreams.com RACHEL: A PERFECT LIFE • Australia • 90 mins.• 2007 12/12 Fri 5:30pm Museum • 12/6 Sat 4:30pm Museum The ever-resilient Rachel can’t hold a job because of her epilepsy, so after years of hardship, she wants brain surgery to get rid of the condition ruling her life. She goes through the assessment process and subsequent surgery with many emotional ups and downs, but as a teen mother living on the breadline in New South Wales, Australia, she never gives up. Directed by Fiona Cochrane

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SECRETS TO LOVE • USA • 63 mins. • 2008 12/13 Sat 4:15pm Museum

Ever wonder what happened to the “Leave it to Beaver” fantasy? For some people, marriage brings a cold dose of reality when the fantasy dissolves and we’re stuck asking ourselves how we can have a healthy, happy relationship. Couples and relationship experts illuminate the nature of love through questions like these: How has the history of marriage and relationships changed over the years and does that make a difference for us today? Do certain communication patterns contribute to the breakdown of relationships? How do skills such as empathy contribute to a healthy, functioning relationship — and can they be taught? It all starts at home, but if applied globally just think where it could lead. This is a film about how real couples learned to get the marriage and relationship they hoped for. Directed by Tracie Donahue • www.secretstolove.com THE LAST DAYS OF SHISHMAREF • Netherlands • 88 mins. • English and Iñupiaq with English subtitles • 2008 12/7 Sun 6:15pm Bear Tooth • 12/13 Sat 12:30pm Fireweed Theatre While politicians, scientists and environmentalists debate the effects of global warming, the Iñupiaq Eskimo community of Shishmaref in Northwest Alaska, just under the Arctic Circle, faces the real world consequences of climate change every day. As the ice beneath the small village melts, homes fall into the ocean. The situation is so severe that it has been predicted that the entire village will disappear within the next 10 years. How can you move an entire way of life? And should these villagers go to the edges of a city, or retain their rural ways? The transience of the Iñupiaq’s traditional way of life becomes apparent in the face of climate change, satellite television and mail order shopping. Here, the icy landscape — its water, smoke, steam and sky — is beautifully photographed, as are the village’s inhabitants. Directed by Jan Louter www.shishmaref.nl/shishmaref/shishmaref_release-2.4.4/MainView.html

THE WRECKING CREW • USA • 98 mins. • 2007 12/12 Fri 7:45pm Museum• 12/14 Sun 12:30pm Fireweed Theatre “The Wrecking Crew” was a group of Studio Musicians in Los Angeles in the 60s who played on hits for the Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra, Nancy Sinatra, Sonny and Cher, Jan & Dean, The Monkees, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, the Mamas and Papas, Tijuana Brass, Ricky Nelson and Johnny Rivers. They were Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound. Sometimes they would lay down some instrumental tracks and if the song became a hit, they would record an album and put a group together to hit the road. This happened many times — the Marketts, Routers, and T-Bones — and the next day they would do the same thing and call it another name. Just call them “The Wrecking Crew.” Directed by Denny Tedesco • www.wreckingcrew.tv UPSTREAM BATTLE • Germany • 97 minutes • English • 2008 12/13 Sat 3:15pm Bear Tooth Native Americans in Northern California fight for their fish and the survival of their culture. An energy corporation is messing up their river with a series of hydropower dams, contributing to one of the worst fish die-offs in U.S. history. To confront their opponents, tribal members first travel to Scotland, then to the second-richest man in the United States. The dam owners praise hydropower as a low-cost, climate-friendly source of energy, a valuable resource they say they can’t afford to lose. Yet, the tribes at the Klamath River may trigger the largest dam removal project in history. A long-term documentary with incredible access to tribal members, utility managers, and farmers in the basin — all fighting for water. Directed by Ben Kempas • www.upstreambattle.com

ANCHORAGETUBE.COM Better than TV! Watch what you want, when you want! Quickly upload and tag videos in almost any video format. Easily share your videos with everyone, public or private. Visit www.anchoragetube.com

SHORT DOCUMENTARIES WHAT’S BETTER THAN A SHORT DOCUMENTARY? NOTHING. It’s a fantastic, fun, and (most importantly, to some) quick way to educate yourself on a new topic. We’ve compiled our favorites to entertain you and broaden your horizons. In this year’s short programs, you will find examples of stunning heroism and love alongside some of the more whimsical means of self-expression. Enjoy! —Kelly Gwynn & Doug Griffin, Co-Directors of Documentary Programming

PROGRAM: TOP OF THEIR GAME SHORT DOCS 12/7 Sun 7:30pm • Fireweed Theatre

SPLITTING HAIRS • USA 28 min. • Documentary short • 2008 “Splitting Hairs” follows Beard Team USA Captain Phil Olsen and Whisker Club President Bruce Roe, founders of the two competitive facial hair clubs in America, as they go to the Championships in Berlin to compete as the face of the American beard/moustache movement. The film culminates with an election that will determine the future of the sport. Directed by F. Stone Roberts www.splittinghairsmovie.com/index.html

Reefer Madness

REEFER MADNESS • Canada 23 min. • Documentary short • 2008 Reefer Madness follows Canadian graffiti artist, Fatso, on a journey across the continent to track down the rarest refrigerator boxcars, shedding light on the most recent and unlikely movement in freight train graffiti.

PROGRAM: THE HUMAN CONDITION SHORT DOCS 12/6 Sat 6:15pm • Museum

to Antarctica, discovering along the way how the past and present connect in surreal ways. Directed by Simon Arazi

PROGRAM: EVERYDAY PEOPLE SHORT DOCS 12/9 Tue 5:30pm • Museum

This short film details an endearing story of friendship between two terminally ill women, involving their families and the staff of the hospital. Through this story, we come to know that those facing the ends of their lives still hope for health, peace, and happiness. This is the story of how they achieve it. Directed by Cecelia Lee

LOOK AT ME • Canada 45 min. • Documentary short • 2007 An honest and striking glimpse into the daily lives of parents whose children have fetal alcohol syndrome. Directed by Julianne Hazlewood Look At Me

HEALTH. PEACE. HAPPINESS 24 min • Documentary short English subtitles • 2008

CITY OF CRANES• UK 14 min.• Documentary short • 2007 An unparalleled and unique view of London through the eyes and words of crane drivers. Directed by Eva Weber

MARTINI MATINEE COME IN FROM THE COLD AND JOIN THE FUN! It’s our shortattention-span cinema for the fabulous cosmo film crowd! These films are not the usual mix. A movie trivia contest with some great prizes will be part of the afternoon’s festivities.

Directed by Steve Hanson

Friday 12/12, 3p • Mixx Grill, Inlet Towers, 1200 L Street $5 • Free with All Events Pass • Limited seating! Severing the Soul

SEVERING THE SOUL • USA 18 min. • Documentary short • 2008 Found footage interweaves to form an account of Rosemary Kennedy’s lobotomy procedure in 1941 with an overview of the psychosurgery movement of the 1930’s-1960’s in the U.S. Directed by Barbara Klutinis

MONSTER DUDES • USA 22 min.• Documentary short • 2008 A look at Boise’s avant-garde noise rock band Monster Dudes, featuring the band's 4 year old drummer. Directed by Lance Bauscher www.monsterdudesmovie.com

THE FROZEN CITY • USA 21 min. • Documentary short For eight consecutive years, Winnipeg, Manitoba, the coldest city on earth with a population greater than 600,000, has been crowned “Slurpee Capital of the World” by 7-Eleven for consuming more Slurpees than anywhere else on the globe. Welcome to the Frozen City. Directed by Alex Perez www.thefrozencity.com

LEAVE HER TO DIE • Canada 49 min. • Documentary short • 2008 A 2 year-old baby girl lay alone on a bamboo mat in a government orphanage in Northern Thailand 11 years ago. She had been abandoned to the “AIDS room.” Her medical chart reads: “bploi wai dtaai: Leave her to die.” In a country that ostracizes those living with HIV, Avis Rideout is determined to prove that love and care can and is saving the lives of those rejected and abandoned due to HIV. Directed by Antonia Thomson www.realscreen.com/screeningroom/20081007/leavehertodie.html

IN THE WAKE OF THE BELGICA 55 mins. • Documentary short • 2008 An international crew of seven adventurers retraces the saga of the 1897 Belgica expedition

BROKEN RAINBOW ‧ USA • 9 min. A melancholy lamb caged in the zoo tries to escape. However, he doesn’t know something behind the door is waiting for him.

PROFILE • Canada • 5 min. A woman is profiled by an airport behavior detection device searching for “Otherness” or threat. By Sharon Katz

By Chia-Chien Mai

CODSWALLOP • UK • 3 min. Based on a series of surreal stream of consciousness postcards sent by the filmmaker to his son, Codswallop features a collection of uncanny characters.Beware of hats!

AN UNQUIET MIND • USA • 6 min. Inspired by his struggle with Bipolar Disorder and Kay Redfield Jamison’s book, “An Unquiet Mind”, is about the filmmaker’s friend Shuei’s mercurial journey of mood swings and deep restlessness.

By Brothers McLeod

By Chihwen Lo

MURMUR • USA • 7 min. Murmur is contemplation on memory and landscape. In this experimental piece the artists combine music and ephemeral visual sequences in order to evoke a layered, shifting, and evolving sense of place.

SPIDER • Australia 6 min. • Super short

By Peter Byrne

ONE NICE FAMILY PHOTO • UK 4 min.

My family rarely gets together, so when it happens we always take a photo. As if dinner with nine people and the dog isn’t memorable enough! By Tom Senior

It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye. By Nash Edgerton SUSITNA STORY • USA/Alaska • 4 min. Accompanied by narration that is reminiscent of Robert Service meets The Charlie Daniels Band, a plucky musher must defend Alaska pride and her soul when she is challenged to a sled dog race by Satan. By Peter Dunlap-Shohl

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ANIMATION THE 2008 AIFF OFFERS A BIG WILD RIDE THROUGH ANIMATION, WITH SUBMISSIONS FROM AROUND THE WORLD. With this year’s animation selections ranging from the sublime to the erotic and from super short to feature length, animation isn’t just for kids. Come jump on board and hold on tight for some of the best animation you’ll see anywhere. —Teresa Scott & Fran Kelly, Co-Directors AIFF Animation

PROGRAM: ADVENTURES IN ANIMATION 12/07 Sun 5:30pm • Museum

RED PRINCESS BLUES • USA • 8 min. We meet the “princess” as a 12 year old girl who finds herself in a strange country looking for her father. After she is taken in by Nino, who claims to be her father’s friend. There, she discovers the “Book of Violence” and begins her journey that one day will lead to vengeance. Chicken Cowboy

A FLAT IN B MINOR • Canada • 3 min. The rhythm of an orchestrated tango lays the foundation for this animated short about the changing of a flat on the other side of the universe.

PROGRAM: SEX, DRUGS & ROCK ’N ROLL 12/07 Sun 8:30pm • Bear Tooth

By Scott Fiander

BOTNIK • USA • 11 min. A struggling beatnik goes to robotic extremes to break into the art scene in this retro-style, jazzdriven animated short. By Jackie Smessaert Brennan

CHICKEN COWBOY • USA • 7 min. Shelly the Chicken Cowboy wasn’t looking for a fight, but he found one. Can he face his fears and stand up for himself? By Stephen Neary

By Alex Ferrari

OPERATION: FISH • USA • 11 min. LOVESPORT • UK • 25 min. A series of very short films filled with color, action, rivalry, excitement and all that encompasses the wonderful world of sports using moving geometric shapes, sound and amazing movement. By Grant Orchard with Studio aka

HEADWINDS • Canada • 2 min. • In Competition Ready for his base jump, Dan, perched high above the desert floor, leaps into the open sky. Malfunctioning equipment means doom for our daredevil, who can only be saved by the use of his head. By Brian Sinasac

In Competition

After a series of mysterious goldfish abductions, a secret agent is dispatched with a time displacement gun to bring the criminals behind the “fishnappings” to justice, and possibly save the world! By Jeff Riley PROGRAM: KID FRIENDLY 12/06 Sat 4:00pm • Bear Tooth

Queer Duck

TEAT BEAT OF SEX: EPISODES 8-11 Italy & USA • 7 min.

Dreammaker

A young girl, Cynthia, experiences her first kiss, first make out session, first jealousy and first sex. It takes years to get to sex. She isn’t sure what she is supposed to feel, but is intrigued to continue exploring. By Signe Baumane HIGH HOPES • USA • 4 min. Join standup comedian Steve Hofstetter as he explores America’s hypocrisy about drugs and terrorism. With music by Palmer’s Medic and animation by Dillon McCarthy, High Hopes is a hilariously dark journey into what we fear the most: truth. By Steve Hofstetter ROBOT DREAMING • USA • 10 min. Robot experiments on man to find out what makes a human a human. This film probes ideas of consciousness, artificial intelligence and the post-human age. By Rory Magnus

YELLOW STICKY NOTES • Canada • 6 min. In Competition

Twenty three hundred drawings on 4x6 inch yellow sticky notes with a black ink pen, Yellow Sticky Notes is a small internal reflection on one’s role as an artist manifests into a discussion about major political and environmental crises. By Jeff Chiba Stearns

THE CRAMER COLLECTION • USA • 3 min. A classically animated user guide for the “Cramer Collection” set in a 1930’s cartoon office as the staff struggle to plan a meeting. By Jason Doll

By Signe Baumane

From Emmy-winning “Simpsons” writer Mike Reiss comes this feature-length animated musical about the gay animals Queer Duck, Openly Gator and Bi Polar Bear. By Mike Reiss PROGRAM: BIG WILD ANIMATION 12/10 Wed 5:30pm • Museum 12/13 Sat 12:30pm • Museum

LOST IN SNOW • Latvia • 8 min. In winter some people go ice fishing and as the excitement is intensified by freezing temperatures and strong drinks, unpredictable consequences follow. By Vladimir Leschiov LIKE ME, ONLY BETTER • UK • 5 min. A laconic comedy about Neuroses, Catholicism and Prozac. By Martin Pickles 24 FRAMES • USA • 19 min. A stop-motion animated black comedy mockumentary, about the making of a stop-motion animated film at an art college in the Southern United States. By Brad Pattullo

A voodoo doll must find the courage to save his friends from being pinned to death.

Special Selection

DISTRAXION • USA • 2 min. An office worker’s job is made extremely difficult because of his boss’s taste in music. By Mike Stern MOCK ‘N BOYD • Canada • 4 min. In Competition

Boyd was living the good life until Mock came along. Boyd’s new cage-mate is out to shake his tail feathers like they’ve never been shaken before. By Chris Dainty & Rita Street

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THE MISADVENTURES OF MOON KITTY USA • 12 min. Follow the antics of the musical cat that lives on the moon as she frolics through space, nurtures her baby, entertains her fellow lunar loonies and escapes a meteor shower induced by a stampede of dangerous dinosaurs!

PLAIN & SIMPLE • USA • 30 min. This is a story about a plain penguin who is threatened with removal from a zoo run by money-grubbing capitalists because he does not generate enough interest to guarantee profits.

By DeWayne Austin

By Merrin Marra

KHODA • UK• 5 min. Khoda is a psychological thriller of a man trapped in his aging body created from more than 6000 paintings that were painstakingly produced during a two year period to create a five minute film that would meet the filmmaker’s high personal standards. By Reza Dolatabadi

VARMINTS • UK • 24 min. In the face of overwhelming urbanization, indifference and recklessness, a small creature struggles to preserve a remnant of the peace he once knew and with his selfless acts of love plant the seeds of change that will prove the salvation of his world. By Marc Craste with Studio aka

SEBASTIAN’S VOODOO • USA • 4 min.

MADAME TUTLI-PUTTI • Canada • 18 min.

SYMPHONY • USA • 5 min. • In Competition The topic of this abstractedly crafted animation applies to anything that struggles to be free. It can be a phenomenon occurring deep within the mind, or an individual confronting the standardized masses. By Erick Oh

By Leszek Plichta

In Competition

By Joaquin Baldwin

Distraxion

DREAMMAKER • Germany • 13 min. Once, long ago, the Dreammaker made the most beautiful dreams for people. Now he lives a solitary existence for only one purpose, the creation of a special dream, his dream.

By Kristian Perry

QUEER DUCK: THE MOVIE USA • 72 min.

SUSITNA STORY • Alaska • 4 min. Accompanied by narration that is reminiscent of Robert Service meets The Charlie Daniels Band, a plucky musher must defend Alaska pride and her soul when she is challenged to a sled dog race by Satan. By Peter Dunlap-Shohl PAC(HYDERM) ATTACK! • USA • 5 min. A true story, this is the harrowing and hilarious account of an encounter between a family on safari and elephants on the plains of Tanzania.

DISTRAXION • USA • 2 min.• In Competition An office worker’s job is made extremely difficult because of his boss’s taste in music. By Mike Stern TEAT BEAT OF SEX: EPISODES 1-3 Italy & USA • 4 min. Entertaining and informative short lectures by a knowing woman. “Kirby” addresses size; “Juice” is the contradiction of man’s dream world and woman’s reality; “Trouble” happens deep inside a woman if she hasn’t had sex for weeks.

BURLEY! • Australia • 9 min. Feeling lonely and bored, a young tetra fish just wants some attention. Attracted by the manic antics of a gang of older fish who spend hours inventing new extreme sports, she begins a quest to gain their acceptance. By Andrew Goode

TIMOTHY AND THE GREAT ROBOTIC INVADERS FROM OUTERSPACE USA • 13 min. When Timothy discovers hostile alien signals on a homemade radio, it’s up to him to stop the impending doom. The film is a loving tribute to 50’s sci-fi. By Tamarind King

The National Film Board of Canada presents a stunning, stop-motion animated film that takes the viewer on anexhilarating existential journey. The film introduces groundbreaking visual techniques and is supported by a haunting and original score. Painstaking care and craftsmanship in form and detail bring to life a fully imagined, tactile world unlike any you have seen. Jungian thriller? Hitchcockian suspense? Artistic tour de force? The night train awaits you. Filmmakers Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski Produced by the National Film Board of Canada

FEATURE ANIMATIONS QUEER DUCK: THE MOVIE USA • 72 min. 12/7 Sun 8:30pm • Bear Tooth

From Emmy-winning “Simpsons” writer Mike Reiss comes this feature-length animated musical about the gay animals Queer Duck, Openly Gator and Bi Polar Bear. By Mike Reiss THE MAGISTICAL • USA • 90 min. 12/14 Sun 1:00pm • Bear Tooth A beautifully produced animated adventure film for the entire family. In order to protect and preserve all precious life, The Magistical creates a spell which grants immortality to the last remaining of every type of creature. A powerful and evil Draken sees an opportunity to use the spell to further her ambitions to rule the world. In

The Magistical

darkness and shadow, she begins killing all of the other Drakens in hopes of becoming the last, so she can rule as she pleases, without fear of death. Soon there is only one last obstacle to her evil ambitions, a helpness,baby draken cub named Knot. Produced by Out of Our Mind Studios www.outofourmindsstudios.com

PRESENTED BY:

FEATURE FILMS

(AIFF 2008 BEST FEATURE FILM WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON-LINE.) CHRONIC TOWN • USA/Alaska 94 min. • Dark Comedy • 2008 • 2008 Sundance Film Festival • In Competition 12/6 Sat 7:55pm Bear Tooth • 12/12 Fri 5:30pm Bear Tooth

OPENING NIGHT FILM

Friday, Dec. 5, 7:00 pm, Bear Tooth Theatrepub

Fairbanks, Alaska’s little city by the usually frozen Chena River is the setting for this slice of abnormal life in the Last Frontier. Truman Korovin is a lonely, sharp-witted cab driver. When an acid trip goes sour, Truman winds up in the local “loony bin” for what looks like a suicide attempt. During his stay, Truman spends time with an issue-laden therapy group where he gets re-acquainted with one of his old cab fares, a local stripper named Eleanor. He also befriends Elizabeth, an amusing old lady from the Seniors Home, as part of his therapy. Although his trip to the bin seems like a brief detour in his life, Eleanor and Elizabeth open up a new world to Truman. It might not always be a better world but it’s a new one, and the emotionally detached Truman finds himself right in the middle of it. At a point in his life when Truman was ready to be a spectator, he may just find himself caring enough to get back in the game. Directed by Tom Hines Written by Michael Kamsky www.chronictownthemovie.com

CAMILLE

USA • 91 min. • Black Comedy • 2008

Young love has rarely been so twisted. Silas has just been blackmailed into marrying Camille. On their honeymoon, an accident leaves Camille deceased and then inexplicably revived, setting the stage for an undead romance as the couple flees from the cops toward the Canadian border. Directed by Gregory Mackenzie Cast: Sienna Miller, James Franco, David Carradine, Scott Glenn www.camillemovie.com

COYOTE • USA • 95 min. • Action/Drama • 2007 • In Competition 12/12 Fri 7:45pm Bear Tooth •12/14 Sun 7:15pm Fireweed Theatre The Mexican-American boarder has become a hot zone for controversy. For J. and Steve, it’s a way to make money. Best friends forever, they stumble into an opportunity when a Mexican pal, recently deported, needs their help to get back across the border. Surprised at how easy it is to fool the Border Patrol agents in Nogales, the guys see it as a chance to corner the market as the ‘Kinder, Gentler People Smugglers, aka Coyotes,’ while beating the Minutemen at their own game in the process. Soon enough, J. and Steve learn the real danger in crossing boundaries. While they are making more money than ever, the cost appears to be way more than they bargained for and there’s no easy way out. No matter what your attitude is about our semi-closed borders, this film will intensify your feelings. Written & Directed by Brian Peterson Producer, Writer & Editor Brett Spackman themexicandream.com/index.php

DREAM BOY • USA • 90 min • Coming Of Age Drama • 2007 12/10 Wed 7:45pm Bear Tooth

Based on the novel by Jim Grimsley, Dream Boy chronicles the tender romance of two gay adolescents. The emotions the boys cannot deny lead to a brutal reality as they try to navigate through the ghosts of prejudice in the rural South. Directed by James Bolton • Cast: Stephan Bender, Max Roeg

FEATURE FILM

OFFICIAL SELECTIONS WAKE UP AND SMELL THE POPCORN! Before you is a potpourri of drama, action, comedy, suspense and classic feature length film for you to indulge and enjoy. From art-house to mainstream, these films represent some of the best independent and international cinema that the film industry has to offer. Never before has this much variety been offered to Alaska. You only have 10 days to do it all. Plan wisely, because it won’t happen again until AIFF 2009. And thank you for supporting this year’s Anchorage International Film Festival. —Tony Sheppard, Founder & Director of Film Programming

BUTTERFLY DREAMING • USA/Australia • 84 min. • Drama/Thriller • 2008 12/8 Mon 5:45pm Fireweed Theatre Anxious dreams, paranoia and hallucinations torment a young math professor after the death of his wife. This "who did what to whom" thriller set in the Pacific Northwest has all the intrigue and mystery of a classic episode of Twin Peaks. After the death of his wife in a car accident, Rob (Andrew Bowen) struggles to determine reality from dreams. Bowen's confused, yet pedantic portrayal of Rob allows us to witness what it must be like when a person with a highly functional, technical brain short circuits—but you're never sure if his mental malfunctioning is due to grief or guilt. Filmed in Seattle, Butterfly Dreaming twists and turns through Rob’s madness, addictions and affairs to a shocking conclusion. What truly happened to his wife? Written & Directed by Rufus Williams Produced by Keith Goodwill, Susan England, Scott Schneid www.butterflydreamingthefilm.com

BART GOT A ROOM • USA 80 min. • Comedy • 2008 • In Competition 12/6 Sat 5:45pm Bear Tooth • 12/11 Thurs 7:30pm Bear Tooth William H. Macy co-stars in this fresh comedy about a gawky, Jewish teenager's desperate search for a prom date. Set in a Florida retirement community, Bart is a semi-autobiographical coming of age story about a boy dealing with the divorce of his parents (Macy and Cheryl Hines) and the pressures of adolescence. While his parents independently look for love, Danny goes on his own quest for a date. His search becomes more pathetic when he and his family learn that Bart, the school's biggest dweeb, not only secured a date for the prom, but got a hotel room as well. Written & Directed by Brian Hecker www.imdb.com/title/tt0472050

www.dreamboythemovie.com

HALF-LIFE • USA • 116 min. • Drama • 2008 • In Competition 12/13 Sat 5:30pm Bear Tooth • 12/14 Sun 4:45pm Fireweed Theatre In this imaginative, intricate drama, global cataclysms entangle an array of ordinary people confronted by extraordinary circumstance. As natural disasters send the world plunging into chaos, suburbanites in the hills of Northern California discover their lives unraveling. Apocalyptic occurrences set the tone as suburban single mother Saura Wu gets involved with a man who disrupts her efforts to rebuild her family. Meanwhile, Pam seeks comfort in the arms of Scott, a man coming to terms with his identity as a gay man even as his fundamentalist parents refuse to accept it, and Saura’s son Timothy realizes he has paranormal powers that may alter life for everyone. The precocious boy and his jaded sister use their imaginative powers to escape a confining home-life, save their self-destructive mother from her charmingly manipulative boyfriend, and finally reinvent their world in a mind-bending conclusion. Written & Directed by Jennifer Phang www.halflifemovie.com

HOW TO BE • UK/England • 85 min. • 2008 • In Competition 12/10 Wed 5:30pm Bear Tooth • 12/12 Fri 7:30 Fireweed Theatre A wry comedy about a frustrated musician undergoing a quarter-life crisis after moving back in with his middle class parents after his girlfriend dumps him. Art’s agoraphobic friend Ronny has his own problems while holed up in a London flat in a daze of nitrous oxide and electro music. Ronny wants to start a band with Art and happy-go-lucky friend Nikki, but only if it involves going no further than the flat’s roof garden. Meanwhile, Art discovers self-help guru Dr. Levi Ellington, author of “It’s Not Your Fault,” and uses inheritance money to pay for the doctor to move in with him and his parents as Art’s full-time life coach. Art’s painfully funny journey to define his life brings to the fore the dysfunctional relationship he has with his parents and the importance of his oddball friends. Written & Directed by Oliver Irving Produced by Justin Kelly www.howtobemovie.com

THE MOON AND OTHER LOVERS (DER MOND UND ANDERE LIEBHABER) • Germany 101 min. • English Subtitles • Drama 12/8 Mon 7:45 Fireweed Theatre • 12/14 Sun 2:30pm Fireweed Theatre Hanna is a woman who will not take life’s setbacks and knock downs sitting down. Instead, she takes them in full stride, picks herself up and marches onward despite harrowing circumstances. Whatever losses and uncertainties come her way, she remains true to herself. As life and politics change around her, principally the fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification, Hanna battles on. She has many problems; one is named Knuti, who is in love with Hanna, but she loves her freedom and life and longs for something more. Then Hanna meets Ganzar, and her world becomes an everlasting paradise. Time doesn’t stop, but luck and love are finally on her side. But this love is too good to be true. Ganzar is married, and as suddenly as he appeared, he vanishes. Hanna is devastated. No love, no life, sad memories, but as long as Hanna lives, she finds a way to go on. Written & Directed by Bernd Böhlich Produced by Mafilm Entertainment Services www.der-mond-und-andere-liebhaber.de

CARROT CAKE CONVERSATIONS • Singapore • 97 min. English• Romantic Comedy • 2008 12/9 Tues 5:45pm Fireweed Theatre

Four strangers stranded in Singapore before Christmas find companionship over a plate of carrot cake. Kate, a failed American actress, is heading to New Zealand to set up a dream café. Along the way, she meets Daniel, an unhappy businessman, who recently caught his wife cheating on him, Ruth, a prostitute who longs to be Singapore’s first blues singer and Matthew, a wealthy hotelier who has everything except the one thing he wants the most. The four find themselves stranded in Singapore just days before Christmas, finding companionship over conversation and a plate of carrot cake. The film seeks to prove the possibility that a conversation can change everything and that in life, sometimes, all we have to do is talk and listen. A beautiful location and heartfelt acting help bring the multi-layered story to life. Written & Directed by Michael Wang www.carrotcakeconversations.com

Presented by:

OFFSIDE (IMPEDIMENTO) • Brazil 85 min. • English Subtitles • Comedy Drama 12/11 Tues 5:45pm Fireweed Theatre • 12/13 Sat 2:45pm Fireweed Theatre A butcher living in the Brazilian countryside tries to live his adolescent soccer fantasy through his youngest son until a new teacher moves into town and gives him another shot at love. This romantic comedy set in the fictional town of Queluz de Minas plays with the idea of the offside rule in soccer. In life as in sport, we run up against barriers, sometimes invisible to us. Offside is about dreaming both through the daydreams that allow us to set goals and the nightmares that paralyze us. Circumstances can impede us and the clock can run out, but there's always a chance we'll get back in the game just in time to see our goal is for the taking. Written & Directed by Joffre Silva www.filmeimpedimento.com continued on next page

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ONLY • Canada • 74 min. 12/14 Sun 3:15pm Bear Tooth 12 year-old Daniel (Jacob Switzer) has a lot of time on his hands. Although he is supposed to help his parents run a motel in a small Northern Ontario town, something always seems to distract or divert him. Most of the time, he's found crashing in one of the rooms, breaking stuff or trying to avoid the kids from town, who see Daniel as a means of getting booze for their parties. On one surreptitious trip to the pool, he is startled by the sight of someone floating face down. That someone is Vera (Elena Hudgins Lyle), a girl his own age whose parents are going through a nasty separation. Like Daniel, Vera has been left to her own devices. Directed by Ingrid Veninger & Simon Reynolds.

THE PROJECT • USA/NYC • 82 min. • Drama 12/7 Sun 7:45pm Fireweed Theatre • 12/12 Fri 5:45pm Fireweed Theatre "When people have a stake in their society, they want to protect that society. When they don't, they unconsciously want to destroy it." -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 1964 Shot in a documentary format, this narrative feature tells the story of documentary filmmakers doing a project about cops and kids in Brooklyn. Superb editing with a music video style travels into the shadows of bridges and housing projects. The story's filmmakers keep their cameras rolling, freeing the film of some of the usual feature film constraints. First time feature director Ryan Piotrowicz has crafted a competent and fascinating film. The weird mix of narrative and documentary styles could easily have fallen apart in less capable hands. Kudos, Slamdance - this is precisely the type of first effort this festival has built a reputation on unearthing. The film was reviewed by Elliot V. Kotek during the 2008 Slamdance festival. Written & Directed by Ryan Piotrowicz www.theprojectny.com

RESURRECTION COUNTY • USA • 95 min. • Horror 12/11 Thurs 9:45pm Bear Tooth • 12/12 Fri 9:30pm Fireweed Theatre If you enjoy intense terror and blood boiling nervous anxiety, don’t miss Resurrection County! A warning to outsiders: when traveling through Resurrection County, watch your step and mind the signs. One false move could be your last. When four suburbanite campers roll into the backwoods southern town of Enoch, they find that southern hospitality still exists, as long as you mind the road signs. Things are not what they appear to be as a weekend camping trip turns disturbingly deadly. The locals are all too happy to serve up their own brand of eye for an eye justice! A pulse pounding, take no prisoners descent into neo southern gothic horror. Directed by Matt Zettell. Produced by Mike Hart. Written by James Cotten & Matt Yeager www.resurrectioncounty.com

SKID MARKS • USA • 85 min. • Comedy 12/10 Wed 9:40pm Fireweed Theatre The film’s writer is a professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Don Rearden has written three independently produced films, won several writing awards, and hopes to one day have a screenplay produced and filmed in Alaska. A hardcore comedy about softcore medics, Skid Marks is the hilarious tale of two rival ambulance companies and their misfit medics; the Bayside Ambulatory Life Services (B.A.L.S) team and the Downtown Intensive Care (D.I.C.) Unit. When budget cuts strike their quiet town of Bayside, it’s clear one ambulance unit must go. Now with their egos and beer money on the line, these below-average EMT’s (emergency medical technicians) are about to prove they’ll stop at nothing to save their patients, their jobs and their alter egos. Hold on to your seat cushions and hide your meds, as the heroes of Skid Marks penetrate a theater near you. Directed by Karl Kozak Written by Don J. Rearden www.skidmarksthemovie.com

SKY IN DECEMBER • Japan • 80 min. • English Subtitles • Drama 12/7 Sun 3:15pm Fireweed Theatre • 12/11 Thurs 8:00pm Fireweed Theatre Just let yourself feel what you feel when you’re watching the images. What each individual feels inside is everything. I can’t express my films in words. - Hiroshi Toda Zenko, an old fortune-teller, has one dream that everyone is protected by the amulets he makes. Once in a while people stop at his stall to ask for advice or help finding things. Some memorable customers are a strange, camera loving girl, couples in love and a sweet-hearted young punk named Yabuta, who is trying to be a loan shark. At the end of each visit, Zenko gives them his amulets and wishes them good luck. Then comes Nagaoka, an old man who is devastated by the recent loss of his wife. With the help of Nagaoka and Zenko, he finds money and something precious. Written & Directed by Hiroshi Toda. Produced by Masato Hanazawa www.skeletonfilms.com

STREETSWEEPER • Australia • 77 min. • 2007 • Arthouse • In Competition 12/6 Sat 2:30pm Museum • 12/10 Wed 8:00pm Museum “A true independent film with a genuine poetic and artistic flair. Bold & uncompromising. A visually stunning, meditative journey.” – Director’s Choice Keith is an unshaven 40-year old man with long hair who starts his day swimming naked in the ocean before sunrise. Then he puts on his work clothes and prepares for the long day ahead. Keith is a streetsweeper. With a buggy loaded with bags, brooms and personal belongings he works day in and day out. Sporting a clownish dab of sunscreen on his nose, this unique street cleaner pays extra special attention to zebra crossings. And as the day wears on, Keith’s streetsweeping routine becomes increasingly irregular. He collects found notes, listens to lost voices, and is prone to idiosyncratic but insightful bouts of bittersweet poetry. He rambles on and vents hard but lyrical thoughts about living a lonely forgotten life on the margins of Australian society. The longer the streetsweeper walks and talks the more enigmatic he becomes. Worker. Clown. Poet. Spirit. He is the city. Directed by Neil Mansfield. Produced by Toby Ralph www.streetsweeper.net.au

VANAJA • India • 111 min. • English Subtitles • Drama 12/8 Mon 5:30pm Bear Tooth • 12/13 Sat 4:30pm Fireweed Theatre An exotic cinematic splendor set in rural South India, a place where social barriers are built stronger than fort walls. This film explores the chasm that divides classes as a young girl struggles to come of age. Vanaja (Mamatha Bhukya) is the 14-year old daughter of a poor, low caste fisherman, struggling with dwindling catches and mounting debt. When a sooth-sayer predicts that she will be a great dancer, she goes to work in the house of the local landlady, in hopes of learning Kuchipudi dance while earning a keep. Her vivacious ways and spunk soon catch the landlady’s eye. It isn’t long before Vanaja gets herself invited to play a game of ashta chamma against Rama Devi. Seeing that losing isn’t the landlady’s forte, Vanaja deliberately gives up her game – a fact that doesn’t go unnoticed – and which eventually secures her the landlady’s mentorship, first in music, then in dance. Vanaja excels and seems to be on a steadily ascending path until she meets a handsome, muscular and rather insecure young man, returned from the U.S. to run for local politics. She is pitched into a tale of class, family and animus from which there is only one escape. Written & Directed by Rajnesh Domalpalli & Latha R. Domalapalli www.vanajathefilm.com

FEATURE FILM

CLASSIC FILMS

FEATURE FILM

SPECIAL SELECTIONS STONE ANGEL • Canada • 118 min • Drama • 2007 12/9 Tues 7:45pm Bear Tooth Getting old isn’t for sissies! The witty, irascible and fiercely proud Hagar Shipley escapes from home when her son Marvin and daughter in law Doris tell her she must move into nursing care. Directed by Kari Skogland Cast: Ellen Burstyn www.thestoneangelmovie.com

Presented by:

Consulate of Canada / Anchorage Consulat du Canada / Anchorage

MR. FOE (HALLAM FOE)• Scotland • 95 min. • Drama • 2007 12/9 Tues 5:30pm Bear Tooth

Hallam’s talent for spying on people reveals his darkest fears-and his most peculiar desires. Driven to expose the true cause of his mother’s death, he instead finds himself searching the rooftops of the city for love.

CHINATOWN

USA • 131 min. • Crime Thriller • Film Noir • 1974 12/8 Mon 8:00pm Bear Tooth

A private detective investigating an adultery case stumbles on to a scheme of murder that has something to do with water.The film was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, winning in the category of Best Original Screenplay for Robert Towne. In 1991, Chinatown was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” Directed by Roman Polanski Cast: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunnaway, and Robert Towne

Directed by David Mackenzi Cast: Jamie Bell and Sophia Myles www.thefilmfactory.co.uk/hallamfoe

REPO: THE GENETIC OPERA• USA Fantasy • Horror • Musical • 98 minutes • Color 12/6 Sat 10:15pm Bear Tooth

In the year 2056 – the not so distant future – an epidemic of organ failures devastates the planet. Out of the tragedy, a savior emerges: GeneCo, a biotech company that offers organ transplants… for a price. Those who miss their payments are scheduled for repossession and hunted by villainous Repo Men. In a world where surgery addicts are hooked on painkilling drugs and murder is sanctioned by law, a sheltered young girl searches for the cure to her own rare disease as well as information about her family’s mysterious history. After being sucked into the haunting world of GeneCo, she is unableto turn back, as all of her questions will be answered at the wildly anticipated spectacular event: The Genetic Opera. Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman Written by Terrence Zdunich and Darren Smith MPAA RATING: R for strong bloody violence and gore, language, some drug and sexual content This will be a partnership presentation. Regular Bear Tooth admission price with AIFF pass holders getting in free for the Saturday night screening at 10:15 PM. The film will open on Friday, 12/5 for it's regular run.

THE GREAT ESCAPE 12/10 Wed 7:45pm Fireweed Big Theatre USA • 172 min. • War Drama • 1963 • 45th anniversary

Several hundred Allied POWs plan a mass escape from a German POW camp. Based on a true story, The Great Escape deals with the largest Allied escape attempt from a German POW camp during the Second World War. The Great Escape is heralded as one of the best war films of all time. Don't miss this screening on the largest screen in Alaska. It will be spectacular! Directed by John Sturges Cast: Steve McQueen, James Garner, and Richard Attenborough

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SHORTS CONTEMPLATION AND SOMETHING SERIOUS, OR PERHAPS JUST SOMETHING WORTH LOOKING AT; this year’s short selections mirror these current themes through the myriad of artistic vision. From Germany to Mexico, Canada to USA, the 2008 Shorts Program is sure to offer you an objectively subtle journey through film that you quite possibly have never seen before. —Miranda Felch & Cody Nipper, Co-Directors of Short Programming

PROGRAM: OBJECTIVE OBSERVATIONS 12/7 Sun 5:15pm • Fireweed 12/14 Sun 3:15pm • Museum

SIKUMI (ON THE ICE) • Alaska/USA 15 min. • Short • 2008 • Only Plays 12/7 An Inuit takes his dog team out onto the frozen Arctic Ocean hunting for seals only to inadvertently stumble upon a murder. Directed & Written by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean www.sikumifilm.net

Spielzeugland

PROGRAM: REEL MACABRE 12/06 Sat 8:45pm • Museum 12/09 Tue 8:15pm • Fireweed Theatre

LAND GEWINNEN (GAINING GROUND) Germany • 20 min. • Short • 2007 • In Competition A young illegal immigrant couple spends their time furtively avoiding the German authorities, until the wellbeing of their young son forces them to resolve their untenable situation. Directed by Marc Brummund

125 JEON SEUNG-CHUL • South Korea 21 min. • Short • 2008 Verboten

SQUARE PEGS • USA • In Competition 20 min. • Short • 2007 A teenage girl, her childish mother and her younger sister find themselves in a strange restaurant. Directed by Ben Hicks www.elephantdreamspictures.com/squarepegs

Everything felt awkward to Seung-Chul as he stepped out of the Hanawon, a state-run facility for the settlement of North Korean Defectors in South Korea. Living in an empty rented apartment room, he finds that he is discriminated against because he is a defector. He feels lonely in an alien society and spends his days in his room with a wardrobe he found in the streets.

I SAVED THE WORLD FROM GLOBAL WARMING • USA 18 min. • Short • 2007 Kiefer Donovan saved the world from global warming. The only problem is ... no one really cared. Now, 10 years later, he’s trying to deal with his past while getting fired from his teaching position, facing a scientific nemesis and confronting his own animated psyche. Can Kiefer come to terms with the fact that global warming is ‘like, so 10 years ago’? Directed by Nolan Wang & Kyle Dickinson www.myspace.com/globalwarmingmovie

LONGSHOTS • USA 17 min. • Short • 2008 • Only Plays 12/14 A pregnant horse gets caught up in a motherdaughter confrontation when 14 year-old Allie discovers that her hard-earned prom dress savings have been spent on the thoroughbred horses her mother raises. Directed by Kate Buhrmaster www.longshotsfilm.com

JOE MOVER • USA 15 min. • Short • 2007 Paul Ben Victor, star of HBO’s hit television series’ “Entourage” & “The Wire,” stars in this working class drama based on a true story. Directed by Lev Gorn & Gabe Fazio www.joemoverthemovie.com

Directed by Jung-Bum Park

QUICK FEET, SOFT HANDS • USA 25 min. • Short • 2008 Quick Feet, Soft Hands follows a minor-league baseball player and his fiancée as they struggle to pursue the American dream. Directed by Paul Harrill

REALITY SHOW • Mexico 16 min. • Short • 2007 • In Competition Can a TV reality show change the course of your own life?

PROGRAM: SUBJECTIVE SUBTLETIES 12/6 Sat 12:00pm • Bear tooth 12/13 Sat 8:00pm • Museum

GONE FISHING • UK 13 min. • Short • 2008 Financed by 150 film makers, “Gone Fishing” is a touching 35mm short film directed by “Guerilla Film Makers Handbook” author Chris Jones—thirteen minutes of magic that will touch and move you. Directed by Chris Jones www.livingspirit.com

SPIELZEUGLAND • Germany • In Competition 14 min. • Short • 2007 Germany 1942: In order to protect her son Marianne Meißner tried to make him believe that the Jewish neighbors are going on a journey to “Toyland.”

Directed by Federico Schmucler

MEXICAN DREAM • Mexico 30 min. • Short • 2007 John Doe was seeking the American dream but instead found his worst nightmare, and the most frightening thing is he isn’t dreaming.

SUR LA TERRE COMME AU CIEL (ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN) Quebec, Canada • 21 min. • Short • 2007 When his loving wife passes away, a retired farmer faces the silent looks of those around him who seem to condemn him to an imminent death. Directed by Herve Demers www.hervedemers.com

Directed by Jochen Alexander Freydank

Directed by David Michan

Animated American

VERBOTEN • USA 15 min. • Short • 2007 A peculiar teenage boy develops an obsession with his tyrannical father’s girlfriend.

ANIMATED AMERICAN • USA 15 min. • Short • 2008 • In Competition A toon-hating executive has a hare raising experience when he meets an out of work toon rabbit.

Directed by Martin Keegan www.verbotenmovie.com

Directed by James Baker & Joe Haidar www.animatedamericanmovie.com

COSITA LINDA (PRETTY LITTLE THING)

RIPPLE • UK 18 min. • Short • 2008 • In Competition A black comedy about how a small random act of malice forces an ordinary man off the safe road and on to a dark journey that he’ll never forget.

Mexico • 20 min. • Short • 2008

This graphic horror thriller set in Mexico has been banned from screening in its home country. Fernando Urdapilleta

PROGRAM: SERIOUS... 12/07 Sun 1:00pm • Fireweed Theatre 12/10 Wed 7:30pm • Fireweed Theatre

Directed by Paul Gowers www.ripplefilm.com

DONUT HEAVEN • USA 14 min • Short • 2008 A chain-smoking daughter and a food-obsessed mother try to resolve their bad habits (and their relationship) with a simple bet.

THE CONSULATE OF CANADA IS PROUD TO SPONSOR THESE CANADIAN FILMS: Reefer Madness pg. 5 Leave Her to Die pg. 5 Look at Me pg. 5 Mock ‘n Boyd pg. 6 A Flat in B Minor pg. 6 Yellow Sticky Notes pg. 6 Madame Tutli-Putti pg. 6

Headwinds pg. 6 Only pg. 8 Stone Angel pg. 8 Profile pg. 9 Sur La Terre Comme Au Ciel (On Earth as It Is in Heaven) pg. 9 Boyfriend Latte. pg. 13

The Consulate of Canada hopes you enjoy the Canadian films at the Anchorage International Film Festival.

Directed by Annetta Marion www.sirenfilms.net

Quick Feet, Soft Hands

PROFILE • Canada • 4 min. 30 sec. A woman is profiled by an airport behavior detection device searching for “Otherness” or threat. By Sharon Katz

ONE TWO PUNCH • USA 10 min. • Short • 2008 Jack has to pick up his girlfriend at the airport. Instead, he is assaulted, drugged and made to witness a game of smack-ass by two guys in rabbit suits. Directed by Timothy Anderson

OPEN YOUR EYES • USA 15 min. • Short • 2008• In Competition A journey of self-discovery begins when a woman diagnosed with breast cancer finds herself locked in a bathroom with a stranger during a bridal shower. Directed by Suzan Cohen www.openyoureyesmovie.com

COCOON • Belgium 19 min. • Short • 2007 • In Competition Martha is a passionate dancer. She and her company are at the verge of international success. A coming tour will make her ambitions come true. However, she is 7 weeks pregnant and keeps this delicate matter secret from her colleagues and boyfriend. Directed by Jeroen Bogaert www.jeroenbogaert.blogspot.com

AL’S BEEF • USA 35 min. • Short • 2008

Please join us for a reception following the 8 p.m. screening of The Stone Angel at the Bear Tooth on Tuesday, Dec. 9.

Bloodied, barefoot, and branded like cattle, a mysterious woman comes to town with an aim to kill the man that done her wrong. Directed by Dennis Hauck www.myspace.com/alsbeefmovie

www.anchorage.gc.ca 9

SNOWDANCE PROGRAM: SNOWDANCE SHORTS 12/13 Sat 12:45pm • Bear Tooth

THE ORACLE • 5 min. An oracle in the Himalayas heals people in the villages by going into a trance and sucking evil spirits out of their bellies. Directed by Ward Hulbert

PACTUM SERVA (KEEP THE FAITH) 15 min.

X & Time

X & TIME • 4 min. A wannabe film mogul in Alaska discovers a charismatic, talented alien and grooms him for stardom only to have his protégé wooed away by big-time Hollywood muscle. The alien makes one film before descending into a nightmare of drugs and dissipation. The one shot wonder disappears, but our sadder-but-wiser Alaskan plans a comeback for them both. Directed by Peter Dunlap-Shohl

WE’RE JUST KIDS • 17 min. Students from the Alaska Theatre of Youth’s Summer Theatre Conservatory rioted in the streets and demanded answers to life’s deepest and most profound questions. Directed by Brandon McElroy www.progressivemediaalaska.com

Simon Goldstein was visiting friends in Minneapolis, during spring finals of 2008. He met two aspiring filmmakers who were in need of an actor and visual/sound direction. This 15-minute film is the outcome. A post-apocalyptic film about the struggle for survival as well as amusement, Pactum Serva shows Osgood, a young man searching for rhyme and reason in a future of violence and self-sustainability. Directed by Jarrett Bade & Max Grove

TITS N SKATING • 14 min. (T&S) is a satire/mockumentary by filmmaker Hannah Kaplan. Filmed entirely on Kodiak Island Alaska, this film goes into a funny and smart account of the drive to become a professional female skateboarder. Filled with plenty of action, dialog, and music, T&S really gets into the heart of these young women, and their hilarious personalities and persona. The personal interviews in this film also captivates whereas the audience gets a grand taste of the young women of Kodiak and their unusual quirks.

SNOWDANCE DOCUMENTARY FEATURES GREAT PROJECTS: BUILDING ALASKA

IN THE WAKE OF THE BELGICA 55 min. 12/6 Sat 6:15pm Museum

12/7 Sun 4:00pm Bear Tooth

Celebrates Alaska’s engineering achievements during the 50th anniversary of statehood. Vast, mountainous and seismically active, Alaska’s arctic climate, with permafrost, cold and darkness, make it a difficult and expensive place to build. The story of overcoming these obstacles to create engineering masterpieces is the stuff of dramatic and visually spectacular films. Building Alaska is being produced by Great Projects Film Company. Great Projects produced the four-part Great Projects: The Building of America which the American Association of Engineering Societies honored with its Engineering Journalism Award. The company won an EMMY® award for George Marshall and the American Century and was nominated for an ACADEMY AWARD® for An Essay on Matisse. Directed by Ken Mandel and Daniel B. Polin

Directed by Hannah Kaplan www.cameraq.com Producer Kodiak Resource Development & Camera Q Productions

ALASKA FAR AND AWAY • 91 min. 12/11 Thurs 5:30pm Musum

BUTTERFLY’S EVIL SPELL • 14 min Local artisan Buzz Schwall brings his beautiful puppet creations to life in what originally was the first play by the twentieth-century Spanishdramatist Federico García Lorca. Directed by Buzz Scwhall www.buzzoplex.net

SIKUMI (ON THE ICE) • 15 min. An Inuit takes his dog team out onto the frozen Arctic Ocean hunting for seals only to inadvertently stumble upon a murder. Directed & Written by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean www.sikumifilm.net

WAY UP NORTH • USA • 22 min. 12/12 Fri 10:10pm Bear Tooth with Love & Pain Program Short/Snowdance

SUSITNA STORY • 4 min. Accompanied by narration that is reminiscent of Robert Service meets The Charlie Daniels Band, a plucky musher must defend Alaska pride and her soul when she is challenged to a sled dog race by Satan.

Way Up North is a whimsical tall tale about betrayal and revenge set in the last frontier. Local director Levi A. Taylor brings a community of ambitious artists together to experiment with a unique brand of storytelling. Featuring the musical stylings of Anchorage¢s own Rebuttals, Way Up North will have you tapping your feet to every unspeakable act and leave you grinning for more. Directed by Levi Taylor

Directed by Peter Dunlap-Shohl

Alaska Far Away tells the story of the Matanuska Colonization Project of 1935, a creative and controversial New Deal program that relocated 202 families devastated by the Great Depression, taking them from the upper Midwest to the Matanuska Valley in Alaska to start an experimental farming colony. It generated a whirlwind of publicity and controversy at the time, not only as a federally-funded social experiment, but also as one of the last pioneer movements in America. The Matanuska Colony isn't just a fascinating footnote to the history of Alaska. It encompasses the despair of the Depression, the creative energy of the New Deal, the adventure of pioneering in Alaska, and the best and worst of our government and ordinary citizens in facing those extraordinary challenges.

An international crew of seven adventurers retraces the saga of the 1897 Belgica expedition to Antarctica, discovering along the way how the past and present connect in surreal ways. Directed by Simon Arazi

THE LAST DAYS OF SHISHMAREF 88 min. 12/7 Sun 6:15pm Bear Tooth 12/13 Sat 12:30pm Fireweed Theatre

While politicians, scientists and environmentalists debate the effects of global warming, the Inupiaq Eskimo community of Shishmaref in Northwest Alaska, just under the Arctic Circle, faces the real world consequences of climate change every day. As the ice beneath the small village melts, homes fall into the ocean. The situation is so severe that it has been predicted that the entire village will disappear within the next 10 years. How can you move an entire way of life? And should these villagers go to the edges of a city, or retain their rural ways? The transience of the Inupiaq’s traditional way of life becomes apparent in the face of climate change, satellite television and mail order shopping. Here, the icy landscape — its water, smoke, steam and sky — is beautifully photographed, as are the village’s inhabitants. Directed by Jan Louter www.shishmaref.nl/shishmaref/shishmaref_release-2.4.4/MainView.html

JUNK DREAMS • 73 min. 12/6 Sat 12:30pm Museum

Two brothers, 77 and 76, board a 29-foot Chinese Junk Boat and head 1,620 miles to Valdez, Alaska. In their two and half month voyage, Ernie and Charlie encounter torrents of rain and raging water, engine trouble and broken masts, bringing them face to face with adventure — their fountain of youth. The two men visit towns like Prince Rupert, Ketchikan, Petersburg and Juneau on their way to Valdez, Alaska. Directed by Skye Borgman www.junkdreams.com

Directed by Paul Hill & Joan Juster

Presented By:

KYES–TV5 is proud to again sponsor the Anchorage International Film Festival. IT’S NOT JUST A PERSPECTIVE

When the festival ends look to KYES–TV5 for movies you’ll want to see.

ON THE WORLD. IT’S A WORLD OF

PERSPECTIVES. APRN

10

APTI

KAKM

KSKA

MIXED SHORTS LOVE & PAIN SHORT FILMS FOR ADULTS. Don’t miss our love & pain program. It’s not S&M, but be warned! It isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s a titillating, heart throbbing, mix of hilarious, and some not so funny, sexually romantic short and animation films. Great fun with or without a date.

LIKE ME, ONLY BETTER • UK • 5 min. A laconic comedy about Neuroses, Catholicism and Prozac. By Martin Pickles DISTRAXION • USA • 2 min. An office worker’s job is made extremely difficult because of his boss’s taste in music.

12/12 Fri 10:10pm • Bear Tooth

By Mike Stern

COME BACK SWEET HEART • USA PROGRAM: LOVE & PAIN 12/12 Fri 10:10pm • Bear Tooth

Boyfriend Latte

NO REGRETS NO REMORSE Australia • 7 min. • Super short Live life to the fullest and sing along while you're doing it. www.vhe.com.au/nrnr

TEAT BEAT OF SEX: EPISODES 1-3 Italy & USA • 4 min. • Animation Entertaining and informative short lectures by a knowing woman. “Kirby” addresses size; “Juice” is the contradiction of man’s dream world and woman’s reality; “Trouble” happens deep inside a woman if she hasn’t had sex for weeks.

7 min.

The filmmaker Chang-Pei Wu states, “My art work is always about the search for an answer in my life. By creating this animation, I’d like to explore the meaning of give and take between the people I love and me.” By Chang-Pei Wu FALL • Thailand 5 min. • Super short A young woman chases after the man in her fantasies through skyscraper-lined New York City streets and a serene tall grass meadow. By Visra Vichit-Vadakan

WAY UP NORTH • USA 22 min. • Short/Snowdance Way Up North is a whimsical tall tale about betrayal and revenge set in the last frontier. Local director Levi A. Taylor brings a community of ambitious artists together to experiment with a unique brand of storytelling. Featuring the musical stylings of Anchorage¢s own Rebuttals, Way Up North will have you tapping your feet to every unspeakable act and leave you grinning for more. By Levi Taylor

BOYFRIEND LATTE • Canada 8 min. • Super short

A sassy young female executive has a deep desire for a boyfriend who will be honest and true and faithful and passionate and new and exciting and deep and affectionate and funny and smart and caring and sensitive and ambitious and loyal and very hot. Her freshly brewed latte delivers all these admiral qualities, but can a woman and a take-out coffee have a real long-lasting relationship? By Mark Sanders

By Signe Baumane

Free and Fun for All Ages!

FAMILY FILMS Office

SOLE MATES • USA 5 min. • Super Short Take a shoe’s eye view of the world and find your true “Sole Mate.” By Alex Jeffries

COSITA LINDA (PRETTY LITTLE THING) Mexico • 20 min. • Short This graphic horror thriller set in Mexico has been banned from screening in its home country. By Fernando Urdapilleta

YELLOW STICKY NOTES • Canada 6 min. • Animation Twenty three hundred drawings on 4x6 inch yellow sticky notes with a black ink pen, Yellow Sticky Notes is a small internal reflection on one’s role as an artist manifests into a discussion about major political and environmental crises. By Jeff Chiba Stearns

TEAT BEAT OF SEX: EPISODES 8-11 ITALY & USA • 7 min. • Animation A young girl, Cynthia, experiences her first kiss, first make out session, first jealousy and first sex. It takes years to get to sex. She isn’t sure what she is supposed to feel, but is intrigued to continue exploring. By Signe Baumane

SPIDER • Australia 6 min. • Super short It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye. By Nash Edgerton

VOLUNTEER Opportunities

BE A PART OF THE AIFF '08 VOLUNTEER TEAM.

of the

We have available positions: Theater Venue Leads, Box Office/IT, Ticket Takers, Venue Floaters,

Mayor

Anchorage, Alaska

MAYOR'S OFFICE PRESENTS SATURDAY 12/6 • ALL DAY • LOUSSAC LIBRARY 2:00PM

Office/Admin. Support, Ushers, Balloting, Hospitality, Greeters, and Logistics. We provide excellent volunteer compensation. Meet the filmmakers and the industry professionals. You can watch the best independent films and documentaries. If you are interested in volunteering please go the AIFF website: www.anchoragefilmfestival.org/volunteer_form CO-VOLUNTEER COORDINATORS: Juliet Hildreth [email protected] Nancy Moore [email protected]

PR DIRECTOR Lee Bullington

LITTLE MISS DEWIE: A DUCKUMENTARY 29 min.

A funny and insightful story about life with the grandest of ducks, and the animal welfare consciousness living with her entailed, is ready for the world.

10:30AM

IRON GIANT • USA 86 min. • Animated Feature A giant metal robot falls to the earth, scaring the townsfolk of a small town in Maine in 1958. After befriending a boy named Hogarth, the unlikely duo ultimately saves the residents from their own fears and prejudices. Based on Ted Hughes' 1968 novel The Iron Man. By Brad Bird

12:30 PM

AN ECLECTIC MIX OF ANIMATION FILMS MAKE UP THIS COLLECTION, which is designed for a family audience, including young children. It is a mix of films with entertainment and educational value, most of which incorporate humor. Parents will enjoy the film programs along with their children. Some of the films have subtitles, but are still accessible to younger audiences through imagery and action. Includes these and several others:

COME BACK SWEET HEART • USA • 7 min.

The filmmaker Chang-Pei Wu states, “My art work is always about the search for an answer in my life. By creating this animation, I’d like to explore the meaning of give and take between the people I love and me.” By Chang-Pei Wu

MAGGIE AND MILDRED • USA • 4 min. Maggie and Mildred have been best friends their whole lives. Well, at least one of their lives. By Holly Klein

By Mira Tweti & Sarro www.dewieduck.com

2:30PM

EATING ALASKA 56 min. • Public Broadcasting A documentary about a vegetarian, who moves to Alaska, marries a fisherman and hunter and begins to wonder what the “right” thing to eat is on “the last frontier.” What ensues are humorous and enlightening adventures in eating as the filmmaker heads to the woods and mountains with women hunters, communes with the Alaska vegetarian society, talks moose meat with a group of Alaska Native kids in a public schools in the Arctic and more, all in search of a meal that makes sense politically, socially, spiritually and tastefully. This wry look at what’s on your plate explores ideas about eating healthy sustainable food from one’s own backyard, either urban or wild, versus industrially produced food shipped thousands of miles.The 60-minute film is a collaboration of an independent filmmaker with KT00-TV. By Ellen Frankenstein

More Cars. More Locations.

More Service.

4:15PM

STUDENT FILM FORUM Please join us for a mix of local short film productions from students and young adults. Student filmmakers from Mediak, and Service High School will be present to introduce the films and field questions about their films.

www.avisalaska.com 13

SCHEDULE FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5 BEAR TOOTH 7:00 pg. 7

CAMILLE Premiere Feature

AVIATION MUSEUM 9:00 pg. 3

GALA PARTY Special Events

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6 BEAR TOOTH 12:00 SUBJECTIVE SUBTLETIES pg. 9 Short Compilation

5:30 pg. 6

ADVENTURES IN ANIMATION Animation

7:30 pg. 5

TOP OF THEIR GAME Doc. Compilation

OUT NORTH 2:00 pg 3

FILMMAKER WORKSHOP WITH ANDREW MACLEAN Workshop

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8

FIREWEED BIG THEATRE 7:45 pg. 8

THE GREAT ESCAPE Classic Feature

ANCHORAGE MUSEUM 5:30 pg. 6

BIG WILD ANIMATION Animation

8:00 pg. 8

STREETSWEEPER Feature

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11

BEAR TOOTH

BEAR TOOTH

5:30 pg. 8

VANAJA Feature

5:30 pg. 4

CRAWFORD Documentary

8:00 pg. 8

CHINATOWN Classic Feature

7:30 pg. 7

BART GOT A ROOM Feature RESURECTION COUNTY Horror Feature

4:00 pg. 6

ANIMATION FOR KIDS Animation

5:45 pg. 7

BART GOT A ROOM Feature

FIREWEED THEATRE

9:45 pg. 8

7:55 pg. 7

CHRONIC TOWN Feature

5:45 pg. 7

BUTTERFLY DREAMING Feature

FIREWEED THEATRE

7:45 pg. 7

MOON & OTHER LOVERS Feature

5:45 pg. 7

OFFSIDE Feature SKY IN DECEMBER Feature

10:15 REPO: THE GENETIC OPERA pg. 8 Feature Special Selection

ANCHORAGE MUSEUM

ANCHORAGE MUSEUM

8:00 pg. 8

12:30 JUNK DREAMS pg. 4,10 Doc/Snowdance

5:30 pg. 4

A NASHVILLE STATE OF MIND Documentary

ANCHORAGE MUSEUM

2:30 pg. 8

STREETSWEEPER Feature

7:30 pg. 4

A POWERFUL NOISE Documentary

5:30 pg. 10

ALASKA, FAR, AND AWAY Snowdance

4:30 pg. 4

RACHEL: A PERFECT LIFE Documentary

7:45 pg. 4

BALLOU Documentary

6:15 pg. 5

THE HUMAN CONDITION Doc. Compliation

8:45 pg. 9

REEL MACABRE Short Compilation

LOUSSAC LIBRARY 10:30 IRON GIANT pg. 13 Animated Feature 12:30 MIX OF ANIMATION pg. 13 Family Films 2:00 LITTLE MISS DEWIE pg. 13 Family Films 2:30 EATING ALASKA pg .13 Family Films 4:15 STUDENT FILM FORUM pg. 13

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7 BEAR TOOTH 12:00 DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH pg. 4 Documentary 4:00 pg. 10

BUILDING OF ALASKA Snowdance

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9 BEAR TOOTH

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12

5:30 pg. 8

MR. FOE (HALLAM FOE) Feature Special Selection

BEAR TOOTH

7:45 pg. 8

STONE ANGEL Feature Special Selection

5:30 pg. 7

CHRONIC TOWN Feature

9:45 pg. 3

RECEPTION Sponsored by Consulate of Canada

7:45 pg. 7

COYOTE Feature

FIREWEED THEATRE 5:45 pg. 7

CARROT CAKE CONVERSATIONS Feature

8:15 pg. 9

REEL MACABRE Short Compilation

ANCHORAGE MUSEUM 5:30 pg. 5

EVERYDAY PEOPLE Doc. Compilation

7:30 pg. 4

UPSTREAM BATTLE Documentary

10:10 LOVE & PAIN ADULT SHORTS pg. 13 Short Compilation (No one under 18 admitted.)

FIREWEED THEATRE 5:45 pg. 8

THE PROJECT Feature

7:30 pg. 7

HOW TO BE Feature

9:30 pg. 8

RESURECTION COUNTY Feature

ANCHORAGE MUSEUM

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10

5:30 pg. 4

RACHEL: A PERFECT LIFE Documentary

BEAR TOOTH

7:45 pg. 4

THE WRECKING CREW Documentary

6:15 LAST DAYS OF SHISHMAREF pg. 4,10 Doc/Snowdance

5:30 pg. 7

HOW TO BE Feature

MIXX GRILL

8:30 pg. 6

7:45 pg. 7

DREAM BOY (*GAY-LA) Feature

3:00 pg.9

QUEER DUCK/SEX & DRUGS Feature Animation & Shorts

FIREWEED THEATRE

10:00 GAY-LA AFTER PARTY Party

OUT NORTH 8:00 pg. 3

1:00 pg. 9

SERIOUS... Short Compilation

FIREWEED THEATRE

3:15 pg. 8

SKY IN DECEMBER Feature

5:30 pg. 4

NASHVILLE STATE OF MIND Documentary

5:15 pg. 9

OBJECTIVE OBSERVATIONS Shorts

7:30 pg. 9

SERIOUS... Short Compilation

7:45 pg. 8

THE PROJECT Feature

9:40 pg. 8

SKID MARKS Feature

ANCHORAGE MUSEUM 3:15 SUPER SHORTS pg. 11 Compilation

MARTINI MATINEE Special Event

QUICK FREEZE FILM PROJECT Special Event

FIREWEED THEATRE 12:30 LAST DAYS OF SHISHMAREF pg. 4,10 Doc/Snowdance 2:45 pg. 7

OFFSIDE Feature

4:30 pg. 8

VANAJA Feature

6:45 pg. 8

MR. FOE (HALLAM FOE) Feature Special Selection

8:45 SUPER SHORTS pg. 11 Compilation

ANCHORAGE MUSEUM 12:30 BIG WILD ANIMATION pg. 6 Animation 2:30 pg. 4

BALLOU Documentary

4:15 pg. 4

SECRETS TO LOVE Documentary

6:00 pg. 4

A POWERFUL NOISE Documentary

8:00 pg. 9

SUBJECTIVE SUBTLETIES Short Compilation

MIDDLE WAY CAFE 8:30 pg. 3

GOLDEN OOSIKAR AWARDS Special Events

OUT NORTH 11:00 FILMMAKER WORKSHOP WITH JAN LOUTER pg. 3 Workshop 3:00 pg. 3

ANIMATION FOR EVERYONE Workshop

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14 BEAR TOOTH 1:00 pg. 6

THE MAGISTICAL Feature Animation

3:15 pg. 8

ONLY Feature

5:30

AUDIENCE AWARD SHOWING Documentary

8:00

AUDIENCE AWARD SHOWING Feature

FIREWEED THEATRE 12:30 THE WRECKING CREW pg. 4 Documentary 2:30 pg. 7

MOON & OTHER LOVERS Feature

4:45 pg. 7

HALF LIFE Feature

7:15 pg. 7

COYOTE Feature

ANCHORAGE MUSEUM 3:15 pg. 9

OBJECTIVE OBSERVATIONS Short Compilation

5:30 pg. 4

CRAWFORD Documentary

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13 BEAR TOOTH 12:45 SNOWDANCE SHORTS pg. 10 Short Compilation 3:15 pg. 4

UPSTREAM BATTLE Documentary

5:30 pg. 7

HALF LIFE Feature

8:00

BEST FEATURE

15