Anchorage International Film Festival 2017

A First Friday to kick off winter, the Anchorage International Film Festival is stirring things up with its Opening Night. You're in for a treat!

As the film industry is reinventing itself, we too are changing things up and making some unconventional plans for Opening Night!  Short films are among our favorite programs, and they, too, deserve their time in the spotlight! 
Thus, we bring you a short film party to kick off the 17th Annual Anchorage International Film Festival!

Short Films Featured:

Cold Storage
Directed by Thomas Freundlich
Run Time 9min, Finland
On a desolate arctic shore, a lonely fisherman discovers his prehistoric counterpart frozen in the ice, and thaws him out as his newfound soul brother.

The Counselor
Directed by Guy Bauer
Run TIme: 11min, USA
At a crisis center in late 1971, a freshly minted counselor on the late shift takes his first call: a suicidal teenager whose parents won’t let her come home for Christmas.

Must Kill Karl
Directed by Joe Kicak
Run TIme: 12min, Canada
Everyone has “that” friend - the one who shows up uninvited, drinks all your booze, and hits on your girlfriend - who we all secretly hate and wish would just go away. One night, a group of friends decide enough is enough and there’s only one way to get rid of him for good…

Whoever Was Using This Bed
Directed by Andrew Kotatko
Run Time: 20min, Australia
A married couple is woken in the dead of night by a mysterious phone call. Unable to sleep, they are drawn into an unsettling examination of their fears and desires.

Iron
Directed by L. Gabriel Gonda
Run Time: 17min, USA
During the First World War an unflinching young woman determined to defy traditional roles, travels west to pursue a job working the rails.

**Intermission**

Feels Good
Directed by Andrew McLean
15min, Made in Alaska
Kelvin, a young Tlingit man living in the big city of Fairbanks, Alaska, is just getting by, trying to make that dollar delivering “packages” for village bootleggers. When his car breaks down on a deserted rural highway, Kelvin is picked up by Russ, a Gwich’in man looking for his runaway daughter. Their encounter sets off a chain of events that forces Kelvin to choose between heroism, and his front teeth.

The Robbery
Directed by Jim Cummings
Run Time: 15min
Crystal robs a liquor store. It goes pretty ok.


2D Run
Created by Marin Kafedjiiski
Run Time: 6 min
A top-down drone view of urban parkour free runner Ilko Iliev jumping all over Bulgaria. A nod to traditional video games, this aerial film is unlike all other aerial films. 

Game
Directed by Jeannie Donohoe
Run Time: 15min, USA
A new kid shows up at the high school boys' basketball tryouts and instantly makes an impression. Will talent and drive be enough to make the team once they discover a secret?


Blackwater Railroad Company, one of Alaska's favorite bands, is making AIFF opening night their homecoming show after touring in the Lower 48. This band is excited to announce a documentary project rolling out in 2018, and you'll hear their original music as soundtrack to the feature film, Broken Ghost. 

A festive photo booth, champagne and desserts, great live music, and many chances to talk with visiting filmmakers and guests will be part of an evening to remember!

7 p.m. Showtime (Door open at 6 p.m.)
BearTooth TheatrePub

Tickets are included with AIFF All Films Passes ($130, available at BearTooth Box Office), or for purchase separately ($30). Passes allow entry to all AIFF screenings and events, plus discounted admission to awards celebration.  Individual screenings throughout the ten-day festival will be $10, sold at venue box offices. Get your pass early!