This story appeared in Synthesis in the summer 05.

Cinema fans flock to the mountain:
Mt. Shasta Film Festival offers quality documentaries, feature films

With the opening of the first film at the second annual Mt. Shasta International Film Festival, a community will rejoice in seeing a vision fulfilled. The 32 films showing at the Festival October 7th, 8th and 9th, as well as the Filmmakers Symposium and Opening Night Gala, represent the work of Festival director Jeffery Winters and a core of volunteers. As the alpine village of Mt. Shasta works to create the annual event, North State residents can enjoy the benefits.

The three-day Festival features American independent films, foreign features, well-crafted documentaries and works by new filmmakers. The selection of the films was part of the community effort that went in to this festival: screening committees watched more than 100 films, rather than using a film-listing service, to create the character of the Festival. Winters sought advice from other festival directors and contacted filmmakers to compile a special lineup of movies.

“I started networking this year. I found that 70 percent of directors feel that we have a bond, that we’re trying to help our communities,” Winters said.

The blend of 17 documentaries and 15 feature films provides something for everyone, whether you prefer a psychological thriller like Chan-Wook Park’s “Oldboy”, the American classic “West Side Story” or the account of women in post-Taliban Afghanistan embracing freedom of expression in the documentary “The Beauty School of Kabul”. The films also range from well-known festival award winners, such as the documentary “Born Into Brothels”, which won awards at the Sundance Film Festival and an Academy Award for Best Documentary, to brand new films that include the feature film “Millions”.

Festival assistant director Sandra Haugen was on a screening committee that viewed 115 films over a six-month period. Many of the films that were selected have garnered awards from festivals around the world, she said, but awards were not the primary criteria in evaluating a film.

“’Millions’ is one of the better features that I’ve seen,” said Haugen. “But it doesn’t have any awards.”

Winters and the screening committees found an array of films that offer both strong documentaries and compelling, entertaining feature films. In addition to the wonderful films in the lineup, the Festival will also include six question and answer sessions with filmmakers following both documentaries and feature films. The Filmmakers Symposium on Sunday afternoon will give film buffs another opportunity to talk with directors.

Winters said he is very proud of the documentaries at this year’s Festival, which include the nationally acclaimed “The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill”. This whimsical and delightful film by director Judy Irving tells the true story of homeless musician Mark Bittner’s relationship with a wild flock of green and red parrots and the bond that grows between them. Irving recently made a series of documentaries about the San Francisco Bay Area’s wildlife and open space. Her work has earned awards at the Sundance Film Festival as well as Emmy awards. Irving and Bittner will come together for a rare question and answer session after the Saturday night showing. They will also participate in the Filmmakers Symposium.

Other documentaries are “Born Into Brothels”, the story of children living in Calcutta’s red light district, and “Fragile Machine”, which garnered film festival awards for its beautiful animation as it explores the issue of religion, science and humanity’s role in nature. “Dances of Ecstasy” tells the story of dancers from around the world and will be followed by a dance to world fusion and global rhythms music.

“This year we have extraordinary documentaries coming in. The quality of documentaries in the United States is really improving,” Winters said. “They’re just spectacular, they take you to another culture. They’re beautiful.”

While the Festival’s documentaries are all from the US, its feature-length films come from around the globe. “Le Grand Voyage”, from France, traces the journey of a father and son on a pilgrimage to Mecca. The themes of family and faith are explored as they struggle to communicate and understand the journey. From Israel, “Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi”, is a surprising love story and heartening family comedy.

“Postman in the Mountains”, another father-son story, is set in the beautiful rural Chinese countryside where the son prepares to take on his father’s responsibilities as postman for the mountain of Hunan.

The Festival opens Friday with films beginning at 11am and the Opening Night Gala is set to begin at 8:15pm at a downtown gallery in Mt. Shasta. Food, wine and locally brewed beer will be on tap while cinema fans get the opportunity to talk with filmmakers.

Tickets are on sale in Mt. Shasta at Village Books by calling 800-344-0436. Event organizers encourage early ticket purchases, as some films sold out early at last’s year Festival. Tickets are $10 per film with a $5 discount for every five tickets purchased. To learn more about the films, visit www.shastafilmfest.com. To learn about the Mt. Shasta area’s lodging and dining options, consult www.visitmtshasta.org