Anchorage International Film Festival
DOCUMENTARIES
The Anchorage International Film Festival is extremely proud of it s 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
USA • 88 mins.• 2008 - In Competition
Directed by John Martin-Vogel and Eric La Rocca
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.
Monday, December 8 at 5:30 PM - Anchorage Museum
Wednesday, December 10 at 5:30 PM - Fireweed Theatre
USA • 91 mins. • 2008
Directed by Tom Cappello and Scott Thigpen
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.
Monday, December 8 at 7:30 PM - Anchorage Museum
Saturday, December 13 at 6:00 PM - Anchorage Museum
USA • 83 mins. • 2008 - In Competition
Directed by Michael Patrei
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 losses
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.
Thursday, December 11 at 7:45 PM - Anchorage Museum
Saturday, December 13 at 2:30 PM - Anchorage Museum
USA • 74 mins. • 2008 - In Competition
Directed by David Modigliani
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.
Thursday, December 11 at 5:30 PM - Bear Tooth Theatre
Sunday, December 14 at 5:30 PM - Anchorage Museum
USA • 72 mins. • 2008 - In Competition
Directed by Brett Mazurek
Narrated by Michael Franti
A group of young rappers in Uganda use hip hop to spread awareness about
the political and social troubles engulfing their country, and to bring about
positive change. Silas and Krazy Native are the two members of the Bataka
Squad, rapping in their native language. Silas’s family was forced to flee to
Canada when he was twelve, with his father subsequently falling victim to
politically motivated murder. During Silas’s exile, Krazy Native rises to become
one of Uganda’s most successful contemporary hip hop artists. When Silas returns to his homeland
to set up a charity foundation for young people, he and Krazy reunite for the first time in ten years.
Their journey goes from the riot-torn streets of the capital, Kampala, to the smallest villages in the
countryside; from the Pearl of Africa Music Awards to the Global African Hip Hop Summit in Johannesburg,
South Africa; and finally back across the Atlantic as Silas and Krazy bring their music and their
message to the United States. On the way, a host of other young rappers tackle subjects ranging from
genocide to AIDS in their music.
Sunday, December 7 at 12 noon - Bear Tooth Theatre
USA • 73 mins. • 2008 - Snowdance selection
Directed by Skye Borgman
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.
Saturday, December 6 at 12:30 PM - Anchorage Museum
Australia • 90 mins.• 2007
Directed by Fiona Cochrane
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.
Saturday, December 6 at 4:30 PM - Anchorage Museum
Friday, December 12 at 5:30 PM - Anchorage Museum
USA • 63 mins. • 2008
Directed by Tracie Donahue
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.
Saturday, December 13 at 4:15 PM - Anchorage Museum
Netherlands • 88 mins. • English - Snowdance selection - In Competition
and Iñupiaq with English subtitles • 2008
Directed by Jan Louter
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.
Sunday, December 7 at 6:15 PM - Bear Tooth Theatre
Saturday, December 13 at 12:30 PM - Fireweed Theatre
The director is confirmed to be in attendance at these screenings.
USA • 98 mins. • 2007 - In Competition
Directed by Denny Tedesco
“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.”
Friday, December 12 at 7:45 PM - Anchorage Museum
Sunday, December 14 at 12:30 PM - Fireweed Theatre
Germany • 97 minutes • English • 2008 - In Competition
Directed by Ben Kempas
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.
Tuesday, December 9 at 7:30 - Anchorage Museum
Saturday, December 13 at 3:15 PM - Bear Tooth Theatre