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Alaska-Only Film Festival Kicks Off TonightIt's part of an effort to solidify homegrown filmmaking throughout the state.Related Content
By now, everyone knows that Hollywood has come to Alaska. But a movement is under way for Alaskans not just to serve as support for outside filmmakers but also to create a local film community. On Thursday night and Friday night at the Discovery Theatre in the Performing Arts Center in Anchorage, a total of 15 Alaskan films will be screened, with awards being given on the second night. Simultaneously, Alaskan films also will be shown in Juneau and Bethel, with screenings in Barrow a week later. It's part of an effort to solidify homegrown filmmaking throughout the state. Woodruff Laputka and Aaron Mattson have organized a few 24-hour filmmaking competitions in Anchorage. But they are widening their focus to include filmmakers from across Alaska. This week's “Never Sets Film Festival” reflects their desire to go beyond the supporting roles that Alaskan actors and technical crews are playing in major motion pictures such as “Everybody Loves Whales” and the upcoming “The Frozen Ground.” "And so the concept was that we would create this festival that would celebrate just Alaskan short films, by Alaskans for Alaskans, pretty much, to sort of create this -- I guess this venue clubhouse, if you will -- to try and get us all together,” Laputka said. “Because then, we can have consistency. And in numbers, we know that we're here. And then creatively, we could start to work to make a more suitable creative environment for filmmaking in Alaska, rather than just a crew base and a financial base." "Bringing filmmakers together at this festival is going to be key to each of them learning off of each other and maybe generating ideas for future projects, bigger projects, you know, something maybe that they can get funding for and get a budget for,” Mattson said. “A lot of this stuff was shot with -- they own the camera, they pretty much paid for everything themselves. They have their own editing suites." The films range in length from three minutes to 41 minutes, they were shot on a variety of equipment, mostly digital video formats, and as for the content, the organizers say we can expect diverse material. "The 41-minute film was more of a story about family and relationships, and then you have a 20-minute film that kind of dives into the deep darkness of the human mind and explores a lot of psychological concepts. So you have two very complete opposites," Mattson said. "Over the years, the content has gotten better and better,” Laputka said. “And the technical has gotten better and better, which the means the films are getting better and better. Because all of that combined creates confidence in the filmmaker because other filmmakers are starting to like it. And that only means they want to collaborate more. And if they want to collaborate more, that means the films will probably only get better, and if the films get better, that will inspire more filmmakers to come up and start making films. And the whole process continues." Laputka and Mattson hope to branch out with next year's festival to remote communities such as Nome, Kotzebue and Sitka. But for now, it's a wrap. Now as much as Laputka and Mattson want to bring filmmakers together, they also hope for attendance by others who just want to see the work. The event is free. The program begins at 7 both evenings. On Thursday, about two hours of short films will be screened. There will be another hour on Friday, with an awards ceremony afterward. Anchorage attendees can vote in the “people's choice” competition, as well.
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