Crowds fill film festival events
If one word could describe the events on the opening day of the Ashland Independent Film Festival it's this: packed.
Local residents and out-of-town visitors sampled Rogue Creamery cheeses, Rising Sun Farms tortas and other specialty foods paired with Southern Oregon wines and ale during Thursday night's sold-out Opening Night Bash at the Ashland Springs Hotel.
The gala gave more than a dozen local companies wider exposure as people from around the country and even the world descended on the hotel.
"It's a chance for people from out of the area who may not have tasted Lillie Belle Chocolates or Rogue Valley wines to try these things," said Jesse Longhurst, owner of Red Letter Event Planning and the organizer of the gala.
Roger Estey of Redding, Calif., said he was enjoying the event and plans to see two films while in Ashland.
"It's very nice. I love a good wine tasting and pairing with cheeses," he said.
Many people at the gala had just come from watching films and were planning on catching more late-night screenings.
Ashland resident Ann DiSalvo said she watched "Prison Town, USA" earlier in the day and will see many more films. She called the documentary about a small town that tries to revive its economy by building a prison intensely emotional.
"We're trying to see as many as we can in five days. We have 20 tickets," she said. "We're in it for the long haul. We're going to be mole people."
Movie buffs got to mingle with filmmakers, who were conveniently marked with badges listing their names and the films they created.
Tiffany Shlain of San Francisco has had her film "The Tribe" — a look at the Jewish experience in America as told through the history of the Barbie doll — screened at 50 festivals, including Sun Dance and Tribeca. She has only traveled to a handful, but decided to come to Ashland.
"I heard great things about the Ashland film festival. I heard Ashland is beautiful and the film festival is great for filmmakers. I heard they take good care of filmmakers, and they've done that. So many others are about the hype and not about the films," Shlain said.
Outside the Varsity Theatre, Ashland resident Kay Aldrich braved the unseasonably cold weather to catch a 9 p.m. showing of "Ten Canoes," a feature that blends English and an Aboriginal language in a haunting and humorous exploration of myth, social customs and traditional skills.
Aldrich said she already saw the movie a month ago at an outdoor film festival in Australia, but wanted to see it again with friends here. She said she has tickets for eight films.
"It's really, really hard to choose because you can't see all of them. I like foreign films and documentaries," Aldrich said. "It's a big event. It's wonderful to be able to see so many films in such a short amount of time."
Inside the Varsity Theatre, people filled the rows from front to back to watch "Ten Canoes."
Some of the screenings for films have sold out already, said Tom Olbrich, executive director for the festival.
"But we have thousands of tickets still available because we have so many screenings over so many days," he said.
Some people think the festival ends on Sunday, although it actually runs through Monday — a good day to get tickets for hard-to-see films. Tickets also have been held back to be sold during "rush," the five-minute period before screenings begin, Olbrich said.
He said the strong response so early in the festival has been gratifying.
"Again, it's proving to be such a community event. We're seeing people go to film after film after film. There are people who have traveled from far and wide and there are people from across the street," Olbrich said.
For more information, including a list of films and screening times, visit www.ashlandfilm.org. Printed guides with film descriptions also are available at the Varsity Theatre box office in downtown Ashland.
Staff writer Vickie Aldous can be reached at 479-8199 or vlaldous@yahoo.com. To post an on-line comment, visit www.dailytidings.com.
