March 31, 2005

Aiff on with the shows, this is it

The fourth Ashland Independent Film Festival will be held at the Varsity Theatre in downtown Ashland, starting today.

A festival record 85 films will be shown on the intimate theatre's five screens in five days. The complete aiff schedule can be found at www.ashlandfilm.org. Films began showing at noon today with the last screening at 9:40 p.m., Monday.

Oregon's own Will Winton, the creator of the modern day Claymation - the stop action animation style made famous in the California Raisin commercials, is one of the festival's guests this year. His short film "The Morning After" is an inventive combination of live action and animation.

This is his first independent release since losing control of his namesake production company, to former Nike Chairman, Phil Knight. Some of Vinton's past works will be featured. His short film "The Dinosaur" is included in the family program and his full-length Claymation feature "The Adventures of Mark Twain" will also be screened. Vinton will show clips of his work and talk about his innovation with Claymation in a free presentation.

Engaging documentaries have always been a major element of the Ashland festival and this year is no exception. Among the 25 documentaries included is the Oscar winning "Born into Brothels." In Brothels, Briski and co-director Ross Kauffman chronicle the amazing transformation of the children of prostitutes they come to know in Calcutta's red light district. Briski, a professional photographer, gives them cameras and ignites sparks of creativity in a seemingly hopeless world. "Born into Brothels" won the prestigious Best Documentary Award from the L.A. Film Critics and The National Board of Review and the Film won the Human Rights Watch 2004 Nestor Almendros Prize for Courage in Filmmaking. Art-sized reprints of the children's photos will be available for sale during the festival at Houston's Custom Framing and Fine Art in Ashland.

Two other official selections of the 2005 AIFF made the final list to qualify for the Best Documentary Feature Academy Award. While they did not receive a nomination, they were considered by the Academy to be two of the 12 best documentaries made in the last year. "Home of the Brave" focuses on Viola Liuzzo, the only white woman murdered in the civil rights movement in America. Her story is told through the eyes of her children. Her daughter Mary Liuzzo Lilleboe lives in Grants Pass and will attend screenings and take questions after. The film explores the lingering mystery that surrounds Viola's killing, implicating FBI involvement. The Ashland screening corresponds with the 40th anniversary of the march on Selma in which Liuzzo participated.

"The Ritchie Boys," also an Academy Awards finalist, is the untold story of a group of young Jewish men who fled Nazi Germany in the 1930s and returned a few years later as soldiers in US uniforms. They knew the psychology and the language of Germany and shared a personal motivation to help bring down Hitler's Reich. In Camp Ritchie, Maryland, they were trained in intelligence and psychological warfare. Not always courageous, but determined, bright and inventive they fought their own kind of war against their native country.

In 1978, Oakley Hall III was a promising playwright on the verge of national recognition when his life was interrupted and violently transformed by a mysterious fall from a bridge. "The Loss of Nameless Things" is the haunting story of Hall's fall from grace and what happens when 25 years later a Grass Valley, Calif. theater company discovers the very play he was writing the night he fell. Interviews with friends, family and colleagues, including OSF actor and aiff juror Michael J. Hume, paint a picture of a gifted playwright and stage actor. Oakley is the epitome of a driven, artistic genius cut down in his prime. Hume, the director of the film and a special guest will all take part in the post-film Q/A.

Another feature length documentary at the festival that is gathering praise is "Monumental: David Brower's Fight for Wild America." David Brower's life was tied to the fight to preserve the American wilds for future generations and he is considered by many to be one of the greatest environmentalists in our history. Not since John Muir had an American fought so hard, or been more successful, in protecting our natural heritage. He led the Sierra Club to its place as a major force in environmental politics. He is credited with helping to save Yosemite and the Grand Canyon from human destruction. In his later years he founded the Earth Island Institute and Friends of The Earth.

"DIG!" is a feature-length documentary shot over seven years about musicians Anton Newcombe, leader of the Brian Jonestown Massacre, and Courtney Taylor, head of the Dandy Warhols, star crossed friends and bitter rivals.

Other aiff offerings include:

o "Laundry and Tosca," which follows Marcia Whitehead, a rare and gifted lirico-spinto soprano who lives in a little garage apartment in Southern California and works a modest-wage job. Marcia Whitehead will travel to Ashland to sing at the Opening Night "Meet The Filmmaker" reception.

o "Scared Sacred" is about the search for meaning in times of turmoil. The film is based on the five-year odyssey of award-winning filmmaker Velcrow Ripper.

o "In Twins," the extraordinary bond between twins is revealed. The short documentary is inspired by the book Twins by world famous photographer Mary Ellen Mark, known for her work in The New Yorker magazine.

Dramatic Films at aiff

o "The Miracle of Bern," about a pivotal event in post-war German history. The "miracle" occurs when the German national soccer team conquered a seemingly unbeatable Hungarian team to win the World Cup in Switzerland on July 4, 1954. This honor has been credited with restoring German self-confidence and initiating the so-called economic miracle of the 1950s.

o "The Land Has Eyes" is about culture, class divisions and history of Rotuma, a Fijian Island. The story interweaves the challenges of an impoverished young woman with the courageous example of one the island's first inhabitants.

o "In Tennis, Anyone...?" Danny Macklin, a B-list Hollywood actor is the subject. His career is imploding and he's married to a woman who hates him. Playing doubles in celebrity tennis tournaments with Gary, also a struggling actor, becomes his only respite. In each match, the pair attempts to find redemption, revenge, and meaning in their lives. Writer/director Donal Logue and writer Kirk Fox also play the leads. Logue has a home near Shady Cove and, schedule allowing, he will visit the AIFF.

o "Yoshino's Barbershop" is a Japanese film highlighting the affect of tradition on a modern culture. A peaceful small town, where everyone knows everyone else, is typical and ordinary in every way but one. Every boy in the whole town wears the same hairstyle. The practice supposedly dates back to an ancient tale of a mountain spirit who would kidnap little boys. The ritual and tradition of old Japan provide a backdrop to this tale of changing ways.

Short films

The Ashland Independent Film Festival provides a rare chance to see short dramatic films that struggle to find an audience in mainstream American media. This year the festival will follow it's tradition of showing at least one short film before most of the features, and will have two programs consisting completely of shorts. Short Cuts and Short Takes, will each feature several of the festival's best films in one program block - several films for the price of one. These include:

o "Lift" Otis is an elevator operator and he is in love. The object of his affection is a junior stenographer named K. She too is quiet and lacks Otis' self-confidence. K is even afraid to take the elevator. Will love overcome?

o "The Lost Cause" The writer, director and producer of the film is Jim Taylor, the Golden Globe winning and Academy Award nominated co-writer of the hit movie "Sideways." Taylor has co-written with Alexander Payne other popular films including "About Schmidt" and "Election." In his short film, "The Lost Cause," a re-enactment Confederate soldier's commitment to his "hobby" takes a heavy toll on his family life.

o "Joe Blow" is a product of Phil Knight's company, Will Vinton Productions. This is the story of one man's quest for companionship. It's a cautionary tale of passion, loss and pneumatics. Joe, who lives by himself in a trailer, finds that love can be a breathtaking experience.

Local flare

This year there are many local productions among the aiff official selections and several of these will be featured in a free locally produced program. An SOU student, Shakespeare actors and other local filmmakers will have works in the annual free program.

Eric Danson, producer of the drama "Repetition," recently moved to Ashland from Chicago. In his dramatic feature film, a method acting class demands its students to connect, immediately and truthfully, to each other. Two featured characters fail miserably and we see how this pattern of failure is repeated in their personal lives. Danson will be joined at post- Q/A by the director, creator of the soundtrack and the two lead actors.

The film "Wow and Flutter" was made in the Rogue Valley and stars Ashland resident, 14-year-old Ethan Moskowitz. It is a tender portrait of adolescent love and heartbreak that follows David as he makes a mix tape for his first crush, Amber. Underscored by a wonderful soundtrack, this film is a testament to the fragility and exhilaration of growing up and falling in love. All the locations will be familiar to locals.

Tim Blough, an actor at OSF wrote and directed the short film "The Other Side of Heaven." The only cast members are Shakespeare Festival company members David Kelly and Charisse Loriaux, and local actor Jim L. Garcia. The cemetery it is filmed in is local too.

This year the AIFF presents a new event during the festival: Stop, Motion! - Photographs from the 2005 AIFF Films. Each year the souvenir program includes a synopsis and still picture from every film. Many of these single frames are works of art in their own right and this year audiences will have the opportunity to view them as such - on the gallery wall! Approximately 35 still photographs from the festival films will be on display at the Nuwandart Gallery from April 1-10. An opening reception will be held at the gallery, 258 'A' Street in Ashland, from 5-8 pm during Artwalk on Friday, April 1. The short film Pillow Girl, an official festival selection will be screened throughout the evening.

Seminars

AIFF will present many other free opportunities to interact with filmmakers and attend seminars.

Following each film screening the filmmaker(s) will answer questions from the audience with a facilitator moderating. Any one Q & A session may have the director, the starring actor, the editor, or the writer-or maybe all of those rolled into one as the quintessential independent filmmaker who does it all. The ashland independent film festival believes the interaction between the filmmaker and the audience is an essential part of the creative process.

For those left wanting more after the film and the Q & A is over, bring those thoughts to the free Filmmaker Forum panel discussions. With three separate sessions on Features, Documentaries, Shorts & Students, each day will offer a wide ranging, lightly moderated forum. Attendees have a chance to ask a question or just listen as filmmakers discuss the vision and creative process of their projects as well as the challenges and opportunities of financing, directing, finding locations, editing, utilizing new technologies, and overall producing independent film and all that entails.

Master Steadicam operator and instructor Peter Abraham will provide a free seminar and demonstrate professional-level Steadicam use, with his demonstration Flyer rigged to a remote video feed so participants can see what his camera sees. After a Q & A discussion, Abraham will also screen and dissect various steadicam sequences he has shot, showing how a steadicam operator designs the choreography of moving camera shots. He will include production stories to clarify how they got the shots and how difficulties were surmounted.

Peter Abraham has 18 years of Steadicam work on features and television including Sex & the City and The Sopranos as well as live events including the 1996 Olympic Summer Games. His work has been nominated for four Emmy Awards. Peter also contributed to the design of the Steadicam Flyer with Steadycam's CEO/head inventor, Garrett Brown, and continues to work closely with The Tiffen/Steadicam Company on the development of the newest generation of lightweight Steadicams.

The winners

The Awards Ceremony and Party at Historic Ashland Armory is at 7 p.m. on Sunday. Nine juried and audience awards will be presented with film clips of the top five in each category, including Best Feature. At every screening through Sunday afternoon, audience members will be handed a ballot to rate the films. The ballots will decide the John C Schweiger Audience Award for Best Feature film as well as the Audience Award for Best Documentary. John C. Schweiger is the owner Coming Attractions Theatres, including the Varsity, and has sponsored and advised the festival since its inception.

Deciding the juried awards are many local judges with national credentials. Others are joining the jury from other locations and will attend the festival. In the Best Dramatic Feature category, Ernest Hardy lives in LA and writes about film and music, appearing in the LA Weekly, the LA Times, the New York Times and Rolling Stone, among others. A Sundance Fellow, he's been a juror for the Sundance Film Festival, the San Francisco International Film Festival and Los Angeles Outfest. Also in the Best Dramatic feature category, Carla Meyer is a film critic for the San Francisco Chronicle. She specializes in independent and foreign film, with the occasional gross-out Hollywood teen film thrown in for good measure.

Jan Krawitz has been making documentary films for 30 years and will serve on the Feature Documentary jury. Krawitz's work has been screened at many film festivals such as Sundance, the New York Film Festival, Full Frame, and Edinburgh. Her films include Big Enough, In Harm's Way, Mirror Mirror, Drive-In Blues, and Little People. Four of her films have been broadcast on national PBS. She is a Professor in the Graduate Program in Documentary Film and Video at Stanford University.

Relatively new locals are also joining the judging panels. Mark Vincente was born in Johannesburg, South Africa where he was a news cameraman and shot music videos and commercials. Mark Vincente was Director of Photography on 14 feature films including the musical Sarafina starring Whoopi Goldberg. His film, "What the #$*! Do we Know?" was winner of the Best Documentary award, the category he will judge this year, at the 2004 AIFF and recently was rated "One of the 10 biggest surprises of the year" by Entertainment Weekly. Rogue Valley resident Shane Bishop is an award winning producer and an 11-year veteran of NBC News and will also be one of the judges for Best Documentary. Bishop won an Emmy in 2003 for NBC's "Dateline" coverage of the Elizabeth Smart case, and a Sigma Delta Chi Gold Medallion for his work covering the 9/11 attacks.

Michael J. Hume is in his 14th season with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and is currently appearing in "Room Service." He will help judge the Best Acting Category. Hume co-authored "They Came From Way Out Here!" which was performed last season at the Oregon Cabaret Theatre. Bob McCracken has worked as a professional actor and director for the past 30 years and is a Best Acting judge. McCracken was a frequent guest star on television shows including ER, Jag, The Practice, and many more. He had recurring roles in the dramas Players, Nothing Sacred and Dangerous Minds, and has directed episodes of Any Day Now and Judging Amy.

There are several other local judges, some who have served for the last two years on the AIFF juries.