ANCHORAGE

INTERNATIONAL
FILM FESTIVAL
WHAT FREEZES HERE, STAYS HERE.

DECEMBER
5 -14
TH TH 2008

BEAR TOOTH THEATREPUB • REGAL FIREWEED • ANCHORAGE MUSEUM

Info and full schedule at anchoragefilmfestival.org.

Call 786-4980 for more information.Volunteers needed.
 WELCOME
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

FILM
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

Part of the AIFF Programming
Department that reviewed over 500
films: Tony Sheppard, Teresa Scott,
Miranda Felch, Mike Allison, Doug
Griffin, Fran Kelly.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SELECTIONS
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 ver-
sions. 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.
Film categories include Feature Narra-
I'd like to thank all of the filmmakers, supporters and volunteers that have come together and con-
tives, Documentaries, Short Films, Su-
tributed their materials, resources and personal time. Can you believe that this is the eighth annual
per Shorts, Animation, Family, and our
Anchorage International Film Festival? Thank you for supporting the art of independent film. Thanks
Alaska showcase, Snowdance. Festival
for all of your hard work and sacrifices.
entries are open to all films regardless
Yours in good film,
of origin, content and genre.

General Information ................... 2 Tony Sheppard

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
Official selections include all films
Founder & Director of Film Programming, AIFF selected to be screened during the
Festival. Special presentations include
all films that are invited to fortify our
THE ANCHORAGE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (AIFF) IS A PROGRAM program. Films in competition are the
UNDER THE ALASKA MOVING IMAGE PRESERVATION ASSOCIATION (AMIPA) Official selections that are chosen by
UMBRELLA. AMIPA is proud to have the AIFF under our purview: It is a distinctly Alaskan 10-day our prescreening committee to be en-
film festival that brings cinema and media artists to Anchorage from all over the world, featuring tered into competition. Approximately
Films Worth Freezing For! 20% of our official selections are
entered into our competition. NOTE:
Thank you fellow film fanatics,for eight years of support! The Anchorage International Film Festival Most films are for mature audiences.
is a bright spot in 10 of the shortest days of our winter. We're honored to screen work from emerg- Please consult with Festival staff for
ing and established filmmakers, including world-class Snowdance films like Sikumi and The Last Days
of Shishmaref.
more information.

ANCHORAGE MUSEUM
Now, sit back, relax, and let the Anchorage International Film Festival take you far away – to an-
AT RASMUSON CENTER
other place, space and time – 10 glorious days of independent film!
121 West 7th Avenue

TICKETS
907.343.4326 Michele Miller
www.anchoragemuseum.org Executive Director, AMIPA

BEAR TOOTH THEATREPUB

& PASSES
WELCOME TO THE 2008 AIFF, AFTER 40 YEARS OF WORKING IN THE MOTION
1230 W 27th Avenue PICTURE INDUSTRY I DON’T THINK I’VE COME ACROSS ANYTHING AS CHAL-
907.276.4200 LENGING AS PUTTING ON A FILM FESTIVAL. This year the stars were aligned as the AIFF
www.beartooththeatre.net 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
REGAL FIREWEED together to bring a higher level of quality and efficiency to our festival and the benefits will be seen FESTIVAL TICKETS
661 East Fireweed Lane as this year’s festival progresses. The Bear Tooth is proud to be the premiere venue for the 2008 AIFF Individual tickets are available at the
907.566.3328 as well as a presenting sponsor. Thanks for being a part of it. door for all screenings and special
events on a first-come, first-served
OUT NORTH Rand Thornsley basis. The price is $7 for most screen-
3800 DeBarr Road Special Films Programmer and Studio Liaison, AIFF ings. (See the program guide for
907.279.3800 special prices on classic movies, family
www.outnorth.org matinees and Snowdance shorts.)

WILDA MARSTON THEATER @ A six-pack punch card good for any six
LOUSSAC LIBRARY screenings is also available for $36.
3600 Denali St
907.343.2975 Special event tickets for the opening
www.lexicon.ci.anchorage.ak.us night gala, Martini Matinee and the
Golden Oosikar Awards are available
at the venues the day of the event.

FESTIVAL PASSES
The $60 ALL FILMS pass allows expe-
dited 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

SPECIAL THANKS Oosikar Awards and all workshops.

Please note: events may sell out. A pass

does not guarantee you a seat, but it
Huge endeavors like a film festival require the hard work and endless patience of volunteers and does promise expedited entry. Pass
Rand Thornsley
dedicated professionals. The staff, programmers and managers of the Anchorage International holders can pick up tickets (without
Special Films Programmer
Film Festival want to thank the following people and businesses for their expertise and generous charge) from the hosts at each screen-
and Studio Liaison, AIFF
support: Feature screeners John McKay, Karen Miovas, Keith Popely and Roberta Spayd; anima- ing. AIFF passes are NOT transferable.
tion screeners Laura Jungreis, Max Jungreis, Sally Jungreis, Buzz Schwall and Katie Scott; animation Your purchase helps make the festival
judges Janes Cruz, Richard Dowling, Dave Hoffman, Becky Fox-Krogstad and Sam Krogstad; feature possible, so thank you for not sharing!
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 Purchase your festival passes or punch
screener Tom Dolan; super shorts screener Kristian Pettyjohn; documentary screeners Jess Doherty, cards in advance or during the festival
Kim Flemming, Travis Shinabarger, Chuck Crew, and James Gwynn; documentary judges Jess at the Bear Tooth Theatrepub, AMIPA
Doherty, Kim Flemming, Travis Shinabarger, James Gwynn; Dawnell Smith; and for capturing this or www.anchoragefilmfestival.org.
year’s festival, photographers Chris Arend, Clark Mishler and Hal Gage; Bear Tooth owners Rod The Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson
Hancock, Matt Jones and Warren Hancock for giving Rand so much time to work on the festival Center and Regal Fireweed will also
and projectionist Dillon Miller for covering shifts; John Brower and Christopher Wilhelm for allowing sell passes and punch cards during
us to use their home theater for judging; Shari Hart at Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum; Carolyn the festival's run.
Kinneen, the special events wizard; Barb Miller of Midnight Sun Brewing Company; Café Amster-
dam, the Middle Way Café, Bosco's and the Bear Tooth for contributing to hospitality bags; special Passes purchased online can be picked
thanks to Pat Walsh, Jack Sheppard, Sara Croop, Karen Miovas, Catherine Shenk and the AMIPA staff up at the Bear Tooth box office. You
-- Kevin Tripp, Michael Walsh and Greg Schmitz. must present the confirmation number
or the credit card used to make the
Michele Miller
purchase to receive your AIFF pass.

CAST & CREW

Executive Director, AMIPA

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 develop-
ment; 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 man-
ager; Sara Croop program designer; Michael Walsh, media compilation; Doug Griffin and Kelly Gw-

www.amipa.org ynn, 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.

2
 SPECIAL EVENTS OUR SPONSORS
OPENING NIGHT GALA The 2008 Anchorage International Film Festival is generously brought to you by:
Friday 12/5 9pm • Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum, 4721 Aircraft Drive
This is your chance to make a personal connection with our international guests and welcome them FOUNDING SPONSOR
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!
$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,
PRESENTING SPONSORS
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 commit-
ment 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.
$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
$5 • Free with All Events Pass • Limited seating! Consulat du Canada / Anchorage

WORKSHOPS Red - Pantone 180

Black - Pantone Hexachrome Black U

PRIMARY SPONSORS
ANIMATION FOR EVERYONE:
Consulate of Canada / Anchorage
UNDERSTANDING THE ILLUSION OF LIFE 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
Red - Pantone 180

animation filmmaker, writer and artist who founded Meditating Bunny Studio Inc. and has explored
Black - Pantone Hexachrome Black U

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.

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.
SUPPORTING SPONSORS
FILMMAKER WORKSHOP WITH JAN LOUTER
Director of The Last Days of Shishmaref.
12/13 Sat 11am • Out North Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum Karl's Action Video
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 internation-
Anchorage Museum Municipality of Anchorage,
al film festivals and sold to foreign TV stations. The workshop will focus on documentary filmmaking, from at Rasmuson Center Arts & Culture Foundation
creation to distribution. He will discuss the making of The Last Days of Shishmaref: giving the viewer entry by Anchorage Convention Municipality of Anchorage,
way of a third eye; the friendships made over the several years of traveling to and working with the villagers & Visitors Bureau Office of the Mayor
of Shishmaref; and some of the difficulties of filmmaking in such a remote location.
Copper Whale Inn Oscar Gill House
QUICK FREEZE FILM PROJECT G Street B&B Out North
12/12 Fri 8pm • Out North Inlet Tower Hotel & Suites 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 De-
cember 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, mike.allison@anchoragefilmfestival.org.

www.walshsheppard.com

Take Action. Get Involved. We are proud to support the Anchorage International Film Festival.

3
 DOCUMENTARIES
THE ANCHORAGE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTI-
VAL 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.
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
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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 Johannes-
burg, 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

4
 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
REEFER MADNESS • Canada
23 min. • Documentary short • 2008
Reefer Madness
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.
Directed by Steve Hanson
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, Mani-
toba, the coldest city on earth with a popula-
tion 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
to Antarctica, discovering along the way how
the past and present connect in surreal ways.
Directed by Simon Arazi
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
HEALTH. PEACE. HAPPINESS
clubs in America, as they go to the Champion-
24 min • Documentary short
ships in Berlin to compete as the face of the
English subtitles • 2008
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
PROGRAM: THE HUMAN
CONDITION SHORT DOCS
12/6 Sat 6:15pm • Museum
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
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 aban-
doned 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/screening-
room/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
PROGRAM: EVERYDAY PEOPLE
SHORT DOCS
12/9 Tue 5:30pm • Museum
Look At Me
MARTINI MATINEE
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.
Friday 12/12, 3p • Mixx Grill, Inlet Towers, 1200 L Street
$5 • Free with All Events Pass • Limited seating!
BROKEN RAINBOW ‧ USA • 9 min.
A melancholy lamb caged in the zoo tries to
escape. However, he doesn’t know some-
thing behind the door is waiting for him.
By Chia-Chien Mai
CODSWALLOP • UK • 3 min.
Based on a series of surreal stream of con-
sciousness postcards sent by the filmmaker to
his son, Codswallop features a collection of
uncanny characters.Beware of hats!
By Brothers McLeod
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, shift-
ing, and evolving sense of place.
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 memo-
rable enough! By Tom Senior
This short film details an endearing story of
friendship between two terminally ill women,
involving their families and the staff of the hos-
pital. 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
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
PROFILE • Canada • 5 min.
A woman is profiled by an airport behavior
detection device searching for “Otherness”
or threat. By Sharon Katz
AN UNQUIET MIND • USA • 6 min.
Inspired by his struggle with Bipolar Disor-
der 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 Chihwen Lo
SPIDER • Australia
6 min. • Super short
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 reminis-
cent of Robert Service meets The Charlie
Daniels Band, a plucky musher must defend
Alaska pride and her soul when she is chal-
lenged to a sled dog race by Satan.
By Peter Dunlap-Shohl
5
 ANIMATION
THE 2008 AIFF OFFERS A BIG WILD RIDE
THROUGH ANIMATION, WITH SUBMISSIONS
FROM AROUND THE WORLD. With this year’s anima-
tion 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 anima-
tion you’ll see anywhere.
—Teresa Scott & Fran Kelly, Co-Directors AIFF Animation
PROGRAM:
SEX, DRUGS & ROCK ’N ROLL
12/07 Sun 8:30pm • Bear Tooth
Queer Duck
TEAT BEAT OF SEX: EPISODES 8-11
Italy & USA • 7 min.
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
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.
By Signe Baumane
QUEER DUCK: THE MOVIE
USA • 72 min.
From Emmy-winning “Simpsons” writer Mike
Reiss comes this feature-length animated musi-
cal 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
Distraxion
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 stan-
dardized masses. By Erick Oh
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
6
A FLAT IN B MINOR • Canada • 3 min.
The rhythm of an orchestrated tango lays the foun-
dation for this animated short about the changing
of a flat on the other side of the universe.
By Scott Fiander
BOTNIK • USA • 11 min.
A struggling beatnik goes to robotic extremes to
break into the art scene in this retro-style, jazz-
driven animated short.
By Jackie Smessaert Brennan
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 “Cra-
mer Collection” set in a 1930’s cartoon office as
the staff struggle to plan a meeting.
By Jason Doll
LOST IN SNOW • Latvia • 8 min.
In winter some people go ice fishing and as the
excitement is intensified by freezing tempera-
tures and strong drinks, unpredictable conse-
quences 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 mocku-
mentary, about the making of a stop-motion
animated film at an art college in the Southern
United States. By Brad Pattullo
SEBASTIAN’S VOODOO • USA • 4 min.
In Competition
A voodoo doll must find the courage to save his
friends from being pinned to death.
By Joaquin Baldwin
MADAME TUTLI-PUTTI • Canada • 18 min.
Special Selection
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 craftsman-
ship in form and detail bring to life a fully imag-
ined, 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
CHICKEN COWBOY • USA • 7 min.
PROGRAM: Shelly the Chicken Cowboy wasn’t looking for
ADVENTURES IN ANIMATION
a fight, but he found one. Can he face his fears
12/07 Sun 5:30pm • Museum
and stand up for himself? By Stephen Neary
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 By Alex Ferrari
OPERATION: FISH • USA • 11 min.
In Competition
LOVESPORT • UK • 25 min.
After a series of mysterious goldfish abduc-
A series of very short films filled with color, action,
tions, a secret agent is dispatched with a time
rivalry, excitement and all that encompasses the
displacement gun to bring the criminals behind
wonderful world of sports using moving geometric
the “fishnappings” to justice, and possibly save
shapes, sound and amazing movement.
By Grant Orchard with Studio aka the world! By Jeff Riley
HEADWINDS • Canada • 2 min. • In Competition
PROGRAM: KID FRIENDLY
Ready for his base jump, Dan, perched high
12/06 Sat 4:00pm • Bear Tooth
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
Dreammaker
TIMOTHY AND THE GREAT ROBOTIC
INVADERS FROM OUTERSPACE
BURLEY! • Australia • 9 min. USA • 13 min.
Feeling lonely and bored, a young tetra fish just When Timothy discovers hostile alien signals on
wants some attention. Attracted by the manic an- a homemade radio, it’s up to him to stop the
tics of a gang of older fish who spend hours in- impending doom. The film is a loving tribute to
venting new extreme sports, she begins a quest 50’s sci-fi. By Tamarind King
to gain their acceptance. By Andrew Goode
DREAMMAKER • Germany • 13 min.
SUSITNA STORY • Alaska • 4 min.
Once, long ago, the Dreammaker made the
Accompanied by narration that is reminiscent of
most beautiful dreams for people. Now he lives
Robert Service meets The Charlie Daniels Band,
a solitary existence for only one purpose, the
a plucky musher must defend Alaska pride and creation of a special dream, his dream.
her soul when she is challenged to a sled dog By Leszek Plichta
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.
By Kristian Perry
THE MISADVENTURES OF MOON KITTY
USA • 12 min.
Follow the antics of the musical cat that lives on PLAIN & SIMPLE • USA • 30 min.
the moon as she frolics through space, nurtures This is a story about a plain penguin who is
her baby, entertains her fellow lunar loonies threatened with removal from a zoo run by
and escapes a meteor shower induced by a money-grubbing capitalists because he does not
stampede of dangerous dinosaurs! generate enough interest to guarantee profits.
By DeWayne Austin By Merrin Marra
VARMINTS • UK • 24 min.
KHODA • UK• 5 min.
In the face of overwhelming urbanization,
Khoda is a psychological thriller of a man
indifference and recklessness, a small creature
trapped in his aging body created from more
struggles to preserve a remnant of the peace
than 6000 paintings that were painstakingly
he once knew and with his selfless acts of love
produced during a two year period to create a
plant the seeds of change that will prove the
five minute film that would meet the filmmaker’s
salvation of his world.
high personal standards. By Reza Dolatabadi
By Marc Craste with Studio aka
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.
The Magistical
12/14 Sun 1:00pm • Bear Tooth
A beautifully produced animated adven- darkness and shadow, she begins killing all
ture film for the entire family. In order to of the other Drakens in hopes of becom-
protect and preserve all precious life, The ing the last, so she can rule as she pleases,
Magistical creates a spell which grants without fear of death. Soon there is only
immortality to the last remaining of every one last obstacle to her evil ambitions, a
type of creature. A powerful and evil Drak- helpness,baby draken cub named Knot.
en sees an opportunity to use the spell to Produced by Out of Our Mind Studios
further her ambitions to rule the world. In www.outofourmindsstudios.com
PRESENTED BY:
 FEATURE FILMS (AIFF 2008 BEST FEATURE FILM
WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON-LINE.)
OPENING NIGHT FILM
Friday, Dec. 5, 7:00 pm, Bear Tooth Theatrepub
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
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 adoles-
cence. 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
7
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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 documen-
tary 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 suburban-
ite 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 CHINATOWN
USA • 131 min. • Crime Thriller • Film Noir • 1974
12/8 Mon 8:00pm Bear Tooth
Consulate of Canada / Anchorage
Presented by: A private detective investigating an adultery case stumbles on to a scheme of murder that has
Consulat du Canada / Anchorage
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
MR. FOE (HALLAM FOE)• Scotland • 95 min. • Drama • 2007 for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being
12/9 Tues 5:30pm Bear Tooth “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
Hallam’s talent for spying on people reveals his darkest fears-and his most Directed by Roman Polanski
peculiar desires. Driven to expose the true cause of his mother’s death, Cast: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunnaway, and Robert Towne
he instead finds himself searching the rooftops of the city for love.
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
THE GREAT ESCAPE
12/10 Wed 7:45pm Fireweed Big Theatre
MPAA RATING: R for strong bloody violence and gore, language, some drug and
sexual content USA • 172 min. • War Drama • 1963 • 45th anniversary
Several hundred Allied POWs plan a mass escape from a German POW camp. Based on a
This will be a partnership presentation. Regular Bear Tooth admission price with AIFF true story, The Great Escape deals with the largest Allied escape attempt from a German POW
pass holders getting in free for the Saturday night screening at 10:15 PM. The film will camp during the Second World War. The Great Escape is heralded as one of the best war
open on Friday, 12/5 for it's regular run. 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

8
 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: REEL MACABRE
12/06 Sat 8:45pm • Museum
12/09 Tue 8:15pm • Fireweed Theatre
Verboten
SQUARE PEGS • USA • In Competition
20 min. • Short • 2007
A teenage girl, her childish mother and her young-
er sister find themselves in a strange restaurant.
Directed by Ben Hicks
www.elephantdreamspictures.com/squarepegs
REALITY SHOW • Mexico
16 min. • Short • 2007 • In Competition
Can a TV reality show change the course of
your own life?
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.
Directed by David Michan
VERBOTEN • USA
15 min. • Short • 2007
A peculiar teenage boy develops an obsession
with his tyrannical father’s girlfriend.
Directed by Martin Keegan
www.verbotenmovie.com
COSITA LINDA (PRETTY LITTLE THING)
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
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
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 suc-
cess. 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
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
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 apart-
ment 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.
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
PROGRAM: SUBJECTIVE SUBTLETIES
12/6 Sat 12:00pm • Bear tooth
12/13 Sat 8:00pm • Museum
Animated American
ANIMATED AMERICAN • USA
15 min. • Short • 2008 • In Competition
A toon-hating executive has a hare raising experi-
ence when he meets an out of work toon rabbit.
Directed by James Baker & Joe Haidar
www.animatedamericanmovie.com
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.
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.
Directed by Annetta Marion
www.sirenfilms.net
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
AL’S BEEF • USA
35 min. • Short • 2008
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
SIKUMI (ON THE ICE) • Alaska/USA
PROGRAM: OBJECTIVE OBSERVATIONS 15 min. • Short • 2008 • Only Plays 12/7
12/7 Sun 5:15pm • Fireweed
12/14 Sun 3:15pm • Museum An Inuit takes his dog team out onto the frozen
Arctic Ocean hunting for seals only to inadver-
tently stumble upon a murder.
Directed & Written by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean
www.sikumifilm.net
Spielzeugland
I SAVED THE WORLD FROM GLOBAL
WARMING • USA
18 min. • Short • 2007
LONGSHOTS • USA
Kiefer Donovan saved the world from global
warming. The only problem is ... no one re- 17 min. • Short • 2008 • Only Plays 12/14
A pregnant horse gets caught up in a mother-
ally cared. Now, 10 years later, he’s trying to
deal with his past while getting fired from his daughter confrontation when 14 year-old Allie
discovers that her hard-earned prom dress
teaching position, facing a scientific nemesis
and confronting his own animated psyche. Can savings have been spent on the thoroughbred
Kiefer come to terms with the fact that global horses her mother raises.
Directed by Kate Buhrmaster
warming is ‘like, so 10 years ago’?
www.longshotsfilm.com
Directed by Nolan Wang & Kyle Dickinson
www.myspace.com/globalwarmingmovie
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
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. SUR LA TERRE COMME AU CIEL (ON
Directed by Chris Jones
EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN)
www.livingspirit.com
Quebec, Canada • 21 min. • Short • 2007
When his loving wife passes away, a retired farm-
SPIELZEUGLAND • Germany • In Competition
er faces the silent looks of those around him who
14 min. • Short • 2007
seem to condemn him to an imminent death.
Germany 1942: In order to protect her son
Directed by Herve Demers
Marianne Meißner tried to make him believe
www.hervedemers.com
that the Jewish neighbors are going on a jour-
ney to “Toyland.”
Directed by Jochen Alexander Freydank
THE CONSULATE OF CANADA IS PROUD
TO SPONSOR THESE CANADIAN FILMS:
Reefer Madness pg. 5 Headwinds pg. 6
Leave Her to Die pg. 5 Only pg. 8
Look at Me pg. 5 Stone Angel pg. 8
Mock ‘n Boyd pg. 6 Profile pg. 9
A Flat in B Minor pg. 6 Sur La Terre Comme Au Ciel
Yellow Sticky Notes pg. 6 (On Earth as It Is in Heaven) pg. 9
Madame Tutli-Putti pg. 6 Boyfriend Latte. pg. 13
The Consulate of Canada hopes
you enjoy the Canadian films at
the Anchorage International Film Festival.
Please join us for a reception following the
8 p.m. screening of The Stone Angel at the
Bear Tooth on Tuesday, Dec. 9.
www.anchorage.gc.ca
9
 SNOWDANCE
PROGRAM: SNOWDANCE SHORTS
12/13 Sat 12:45pm • Bear Tooth
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
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 Spanish-
dramatist Federico García Lorca.
Directed by Buzz Scwhall
www.buzzoplex.net
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.
Directed by Peter Dunlap-Shohl
KYES–TV5 is proud to
again sponsor the
Anchorage International
Film Festival.
When the festival ends
look to KYES–TV5 for movies you’ll want to see.
10
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.
Simon Goldstein was visiting friends in Minne-
apolis, during spring finals of 2008. He met two
aspiring filmmakers who were in need of an
actor and visual/sound direction. This 15-min-
ute film is the outcome. A post-apocalyptic film
about the struggle for survival as well as amuse-
ment, 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 ac-
tion, dialog, and music, T&S really gets into the
heart of these young women, and their hilari-
ous 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.
Directed by Hannah Kaplan
www.cameraq.com
Producer Kodiak Resource Development &
Camera Q Productions
SIKUMI (ON THE ICE) • 15 min.
An Inuit takes his dog team out onto the frozen
Arctic Ocean hunting for seals only to inadver-
tently 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
Way Up North is a whimsical tall tale about
betrayal and revenge set in the last frontier. Lo-
cal director Levi A. Taylor brings a community of
ambitious artists together to experiment with a
unique brand of storytelling. Featuring the musi-
cal 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
SNOWDANCE
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES
GREAT PROJECTS:
BUILDING ALASKA
12/7 Sun 4:00pm Bear Tooth
Celebrates Alaska’s engineering achieve-
ments during the 50th anniversary of
statehood. Vast, mountainous and seismi-
cally 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 As-
sociation 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
ALASKA FAR AND AWAY • 91 min.
12/11 Thurs 5:30pm Musum
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 encom-
passes the despair of the Depression, the
creative energy of the New Deal, the ad-
venture of pioneering in Alaska, and the
best and worst of our government and
ordinary citizens in facing those extraordi-
nary challenges.
Directed by Paul Hill & Joan Juster
Presented By:
IT’S NOT JUST A PERSPECTIVE
ON THE WORLD.
IT’S A WORLD OF
PERSPECTIVES.
APRN KAKM
IN THE WAKE OF THE BELGICA
55 min.
12/6 Sat 6:15pm Museum
An international crew of seven adventurers
retraces the saga of the 1897 Belgica expe-
dition 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 environ-
mentalists 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 situa-
tion 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 villag-
ers 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 televi-
sion 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/shish-
maref_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 en-
counter 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
APTI 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, sexu-
ally romantic short and animation films. Great fun with or without a date.
12/12 Fri 10:10pm • Bear Tooth
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.
By Signe Baumane
Free and Fun for All Ages!
FAMILY FILMS
Office of the
Mayor
Anchorage, Alaska
MAYOR'S OFFICE PRESENTS
SATURDAY 12/6 • ALL DAY • LOUSSAC LIBRARY
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 Hoga-
rth, the unlikely duo ultimately saves the resi-
dents 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 an-
swer 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
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.
By Mike Stern
SOLE MATES • USA
5 min. • Super Short
COME BACK SWEET HEART • USA
7 min. Take a shoe’s eye view of the world and find
your true “Sole Mate.” By Alex Jeffries
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 WAY UP NORTH • USA
22 min. • Short/Snowdance
explore the meaning of give and take between
the people I love and me.” By Chang-Pei Wu Way Up North is a whimsical tall tale about
betrayal and revenge set in the last frontier. Lo-
cal director Levi A. Taylor brings a community of COSITA LINDA (PRETTY LITTLE THING)
FALL • Thailand
ambitious artists together to experiment with a Mexico • 20 min. • Short
5 min. • Super short
unique brand of storytelling. Featuring the musi- This graphic horror thriller set in Mexico has been
A young woman chases after the man in her
cal stylings of Anchorage¢s own Rebuttals, Way banned from screening in its home country.
fantasies through skyscraper-lined New York City
streets and a serene tall grass meadow. Up North will have you tapping your feet to By Fernando Urdapilleta
every unspeakable act and leave you grinning
By Visra Vichit-Vadakan
for more. By Levi Taylor YELLOW STICKY NOTES • Canada
6 min. • Animation
BOYFRIEND LATTE • Canada
Twenty three hundred drawings on 4x6 inch
8 min. • Super short
yellow sticky notes with a black ink pen, Yellow
A sassy young female executive has a deep
Sticky Notes is a small internal reflection on
desire for a boyfriend who will be honest and
one’s role as an artist manifests into a discussion
true and faithful and passionate and new and
about major political and environmental crises.
exciting and deep and affectionate and funny
By Jeff Chiba Stearns
and smart and caring and sensitive and ambi-
tious and loyal and very hot. Her freshly brewed
SPIDER • Australia
latte delivers all these admiral qualities, but can
TEAT BEAT OF SEX: EPISODES 8-11 6 min. • Super short
a woman and a take-out coffee have a real
ITALY & USA • 7 min. • Animation It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye.
long-lasting relationship?
A young girl, Cynthia, experiences her first kiss, By Nash Edgerton
By Mark Sanders
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
VOLUNTEER
Opportunities
BE A PART OF THE AIFF '08 VOLUNTEER TEAM.
We have available positions: Theater Venue Leads, Box Office/IT, Ticket Takers, Venue Floaters,
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: PR DIRECTOR
Juliet Hildreth juliet@anchoragefilmfestival.org Lee Bullington
Nancy Moore nancy@anchoragefilmfestival.org
2:00PM
LITTLE MISS DEWIE:
A DUCKUMENTARY
29 min.
A funny and insightful story about life with
the grandest of ducks, and the animal wel-
fare consciousness living with her entailed, is
ready for the world.
By Mira Tweti & Sarro
www.dewieduck.com
More Cars.
2:30PM
EATING ALASKA
56 min. • Public Broadcasting
A documentary about a vegetarian, who
More Locations.
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 enlighten-
ing adventures in eating as the filmmaker
More Service.
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
4:15PM
STUDENT FILM FORUM
Please join us for a mix of local short film pro-
ductions 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 5:30 ADVENTURES IN ANIMATION FIREWEED BIG THEATRE
FIREWEED THEATRE
BEAR TOOTH pg. 6 Animation
7:45 THE GREAT ESCAPE
7:30 TOP OF THEIR GAME pg. 8 Classic Feature 12:30 LAST DAYS OF SHISHMAREF
7:00 CAMILLE pg. 5 Doc. Compilation pg. 4,10 Doc/Snowdance
pg. 7 Premiere Feature ANCHORAGE MUSEUM
2:45 OFFSIDE
OUT NORTH 5:30 BIG WILD ANIMATION
AVIATION MUSEUM pg. 7 Feature
pg. 6 Animation
2:00 FILMMAKER WORKSHOP 4:30 VANAJA
9:00 GALA PARTY WITH ANDREW MACLEAN 8:00 STREETSWEEPER pg. 8 Feature
pg. 3 Special Events pg 3 Workshop pg. 8 Feature
6:45 MR. FOE (HALLAM FOE)
pg. 8 Feature Special Selection
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6 MONDAY, DECEMBER 8 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11 8:45 SUPER SHORTS
pg. 11 Compilation
BEAR TOOTH BEAR TOOTH
BEAR TOOTH
12:00 SUBJECTIVE SUBTLETIES
ANCHORAGE MUSEUM
5:30 VANAJA 5:30 CRAWFORD
pg. 9 Short Compilation pg. 4 Documentary
pg. 8 Feature 12:30 BIG WILD ANIMATION
4:00 ANIMATION FOR KIDS pg. 6 Animation
8:00 CHINATOWN 7:30 BART GOT A ROOM
pg. 6 Animation pg. 7 Feature
pg. 8 Classic Feature 2:30 BALLOU
5:45 BART GOT A ROOM pg. 4 Documentary
9:45 RESURECTION COUNTY
pg. 7 Feature FIREWEED THEATRE pg. 8 Horror Feature 4:15 SECRETS TO LOVE
7:55 CHRONIC TOWN pg. 4 Documentary
5:45 BUTTERFLY DREAMING
pg. 7 Feature pg. 7 Feature
FIREWEED THEATRE
6:00 A POWERFUL NOISE
10:15 REPO: THE GENETIC OPERA 5:45 OFFSIDE pg. 4 Documentary
7:45 MOON & OTHER LOVERS
pg. 8 Feature Special Selection pg. 7 Feature pg. 7 Feature
8:00 SUBJECTIVE SUBTLETIES
8:00 SKY IN DECEMBER pg. 9 Short Compilation
ANCHORAGE MUSEUM ANCHORAGE MUSEUM pg. 8 Feature
12:30 JUNK DREAMS
MIDDLE WAY CAFE
5:30 A NASHVILLE STATE OF MIND
pg. 4,10 Doc/Snowdance pg. 4 Documentary
ANCHORAGE MUSEUM
8:30 GOLDEN OOSIKAR AWARDS
2:30 STREETSWEEPER 5:30 ALASKA, FAR, AND AWAY pg. 3 Special Events
7:30 A POWERFUL NOISE
pg. 8 Feature pg. 4 Documentary pg. 10 Snowdance
OUT NORTH
4:30 RACHEL: A PERFECT LIFE 7:45 BALLOU
pg. 4 Documentary pg. 4 Documentary 11:00 FILMMAKER WORKSHOP

6:15 THE HUMAN CONDITION

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9 pg. 3
WITH JAN LOUTER
Workshop
pg. 5 Doc. Compliation BEAR TOOTH
8:45 REEL MACABRE
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12 3:00
pg. 3
ANIMATION FOR EVERYONE
Workshop
5:30 MR. FOE (HALLAM FOE)
pg. 9 Short Compilation
pg. 8 Feature Special Selection
BEAR TOOTH

LOUSSAC LIBRARY 7:45

pg. 8
STONE ANGEL
Feature Special Selection
5:30
pg. 7
CHRONIC TOWN
Feature SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14
10:30 IRON GIANT
pg. 13 Animated Feature 9:45 RECEPTION 7:45 COYOTE BEAR TOOTH
pg. 3 Sponsored by Consulate of Canada pg. 7 Feature
12:30 MIX OF ANIMATION 1:00 THE MAGISTICAL
pg. 13 Family Films 10:10 LOVE & PAIN ADULT SHORTS pg. 6 Feature Animation
FIREWEED THEATRE pg. 13 Short Compilation
2:00 LITTLE MISS DEWIE (No one under 18 admitted.) 3:15 ONLY
pg. 13 Family Films 5:45 CARROT CAKE CONVERSATIONS pg. 8 Feature
pg. 7 Feature
FIREWEED THEATRE
2:30 EATING ALASKA 5:30 AUDIENCE AWARD SHOWING
pg .13 Family Films 8:15 REEL MACABRE Documentary
pg. 9 Short Compilation 5:45 THE PROJECT
pg. 8 Feature 8:00 AUDIENCE AWARD SHOWING
4:15 STUDENT FILM FORUM
pg. 13 ANCHORAGE MUSEUM 7:30 HOW TO BE
Feature
pg. 7 Feature
5:30 EVERYDAY PEOPLE FIREWEED THEATRE
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7 pg. 5 Doc. Compilation 9:30
pg. 8
RESURECTION COUNTY
Feature 12:30 THE WRECKING CREW
7:30 UPSTREAM BATTLE pg. 4 Documentary
BEAR TOOTH pg. 4 Documentary
ANCHORAGE MUSEUM
2:30 MOON & OTHER LOVERS
12:00 DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH pg. 7 Feature
pg. 4 Documentary 5:30 RACHEL: A PERFECT LIFE

4:00 BUILDING OF ALASKA

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10 pg. 4 Documentary 4:45 HALF LIFE
pg. 7 Feature
pg. 10 Snowdance BEAR TOOTH 7:45 THE WRECKING CREW
pg. 4 Documentary 7:15 COYOTE
6:15 LAST DAYS OF SHISHMAREF 5:30 HOW TO BE pg. 7 Feature
pg. 4,10 Doc/Snowdance pg. 7 Feature MIXX GRILL
8:30 QUEER DUCK/SEX & DRUGS
ANCHORAGE MUSEUM
7:45 DREAM BOY (*GAY-LA) 3:00 MARTINI MATINEE
pg. 6 Feature Animation & Shorts pg. 7 Feature pg.9 Special Event 3:15 OBJECTIVE OBSERVATIONS
pg. 9 Short Compilation
FIREWEED THEATRE 10:00 GAY-LA AFTER PARTY
OUT NORTH
Party
5:30 CRAWFORD
1:00 SERIOUS... 8:00 QUICK FREEZE FILM PROJECT pg. 4 Documentary
pg. 9 Short Compilation FIREWEED THEATRE pg. 3 Special Event
3:15 SKY IN DECEMBER 5:30 NASHVILLE STATE OF MIND
pg. 8 Feature pg. 4 Documentary
5:15 OBJECTIVE OBSERVATIONS 7:30 SERIOUS...
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13
pg. 9 Shorts pg. 9 Short Compilation BEAR TOOTH
7:45 THE PROJECT 9:40 SKID MARKS
pg. 8 Feature 12:45 SNOWDANCE SHORTS
pg. 8 Feature
pg. 10 Short Compilation
ANCHORAGE MUSEUM 3:15 UPSTREAM BATTLE
pg. 4 Documentary
3:15 SUPER SHORTS
pg. 11 Compilation 5:30 HALF LIFE
pg. 7 Feature

8:00 BEST FEATURE

15