Dear Friends... Welcome to the 2009 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival! Now in our sixth year, we are again pleased to present Missoula with the best in documentary film from around the world.

The 2009 installment includes 143 extraordinary films from more than 30 countries, a selection chosen from nearly 1000 submissions. The program is truly distinguished, offering the most diverse exhibition of work to ever screen under the Big Sky.

This year’s films cover the gamut of possibilities within the non-fiction form, with topics ranging from the ivory-billed woodpecker to art cars; from rock docs to opera; from Antarctica to Swaziland! Special Features include retrospectives of filmmakers Ron Mann & Joe Berlinger (both in attendance) and live musical accompaniment to silent film by the world renowned Alloy Orchestra.

Downtown Missoula’s historic Wilma Theatre, the 1100-seat venue that houses Montana’s largest screen, once again hosts a visual immersion into a world where reality plays itself. With packed audiences of avid moviegoers, most films are accompanied by a Q&A with their respective filmmakers.

We cordially invite you to the Wilma Theatre, February 13 - 22, 2009, as we showcase the best in compelling and artistic nonfiction film.

Enjoy!

Mike Steinberg Festival Director

Table of Contents PAGE

Welcome from the Big Sky Film Institute 3 Ticket Information and Pass Prices 5 Festival Jury 6 Special Events 8 Special Features 10 Schedule of Films 12 Film Descriptions (Alphabetical) 16 Festival Contact Big Sky Documentary Film Festival Wilma Theatre, 131 Higgins Avenue, Ste. 3-6 Missoula, MT 59802 (406) 541-3456 (FILM) www.bigskyfilmfest.org [email protected] Cover Art: Greg Twigg Production: Dan Funsch

1 The Big Sky Film Institute Festival Staff Celebrating and Supporting the Documentary Arts in the American West Documentaries connect us with the human experience like no other art form. They PROGRAMMING DIRECTOR DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR inspire our deepest passions and ideals. They have revolutionized how media is Doug Hawes-Davis Rita Pastore delivered and perceived by the public, and challenge us to think critically about the FESTIVAL DIRECTOR/PROGRAMMER SPECIAL EVENT COORDINATOR most important subjects of our time. Mike Steinberg Ingrid Lovitt The Big Sky Film Institute works to continue in the venerable traditions of PROGRAMMING ASSOCIATES VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR documentary. Our mission is to cultivate a vibrant center for documentary Dru Carr, Gita Saedi, Jeff Medley production and exhibition, and advance media literacy and public appreciation of Jenny Rohrer, and Doug BOX OFFICE MANAGER Whyte. film. The Institute is comprised of the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, the Big Mikel Robinson Sky Film Series, and High Plains Films. PROGRAMMING FELLOWS OPERATIONS MANAGER Jessica Kozeny, Josh Timm Stotts Big Sky Film Series Miller, Anthony Sanchez, The Big Sky Film Series is a periodic free monthly screening series highlighting and Sarah Worner TECHNICAL DIRECTOR traditional and innovative non-fiction film. It is held the first Friday of the month Ken Furrow FESTIVAL COORDINATOR as part of downtown Missoula, Montana's "Art Walk." The 2009 Series will take Travis Morss INTERN place May through October (excluding July) at the Wilma Theatre located at 131 N. Paige Browning VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR Higgins Ave. Niki Payton Special Thanks High Plains Films MARKETING to the residents of Missoula for Documenting Nature & Society Since 1992 Ian Marquand six years of continued support and to all the volunteers who High Plains Films produces films that challenge, inspire, and educate, and allow people make the event happen! to think critically about the relationships between human culture, economy, and environment. Our films raise provocative questions about community values, liberty, consumerism, and the constantly evolving ideal of what the American Dream is all about. Our films have been broadcast on national and regional television, including the PBS series P.O.V., and screened in hundreds of festivals, universities, and commercial theaters around the world. "Eschewing rhetoric, hysteria, or commentary, the filmmakers employ a form of direct cinema that, in its restraint and layering of details, has a cumulative power." Milton MAM37 Tabbot, IFP New York 37th BENEFIT ART AUCTION & DINNER "For High Plains Films, filmmaking isn't about big budgets or special effects. They stick to an even-handed, humane approach to filmmaking, yet never shy away from eliciting strong emotional responses." High Country News Critically acclaimed by national media including The New York Times, National Public Radio, USA Today, Mother Jones Magazine, High Country News, and Salon.com, our films have garnered more than 50 awards, including the "True West Visionary Award" at the True/False West Film Festival, given to a filmmaker that "places an indelible mark on the world of documentary filmmaking." How You Can Help Join us for the Missoula Art Museum’s 37th These programs are made possible by the support of foundations, other NGOs, and people like you who enjoy the work we create and present. We are asking for your Benefit Art Auction and Exhibition! print. gelatin , silver support to keep the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, Big Sky Film Series, and High 70 original contemporary artworks Plains Films strong and vibrant. By giving to the Big Sky Film Institute, you will help Exhibition through February 18 ensure that our programs flourish for the long-term future. Art Auction February 21, 5 PM The Big Sky Film Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation and all contributions are

Members $70 Non-members $80 Time This Perhaps fully tax-deductible. Please contact us to find out how to donate. For tickets & information: 406.728.0447 or www.missoulaartmuseum.org Big Sky Film Institute P.O. Box 8796, Missoula, MT 59807

Joshua Meier, Joshua Meier, (406) 541-FILM (3456) www.bigskyfilm.org

2 3 2009 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival Box Office Information • Individual tickets are sold at the Wilma Theatre box office before each show. • Passes are available for credit card purchase online at www.bigskyfilmfest.org or at the Wilma Theatre any time during the festival. • Passes purchased online will be held at the ticket window and available for pick up any time during the festival. Bring valid ID. • Passes are non-transferable. • All-Access Passes are good for all screenings, including the Awards Night screenings, and all filmmaker and VIP events/parties. Includes access to balcony seating. • All-Screenings Passes are good for all screenings, including Awards Night. Does not include special events or parties. • Awards Screening Tickets will be sold Friday February 13th at the box office.

PRICES: All-Access Festival Pass...... $250.00 All-Screenings Pass...... $100.00 One-Day Pass ...... $ 40.00 Recession Special (5 screening pass)...... $ 25.00 Single Screening Ticket (After 5 p.m.)...... $7.00 (Before 5 p.m.)...... $6.00

Individual tickets are good for one screening block. All films screen once, except award winners, which will screen again as special presentations February 20th, 21st, and 22nd. (Award winners to be announced at the Awards Ceremony, Thursday February 19th at the Wilma. See www.bigskyfilmfest.org for winning films.]

PLEASE NOTE: Most of the films at this festival are not rated by the MPAA. If you are bringing children, please read film synopses carefully as some films may have sensitive content. If you have questions, please call the festival office, (406) 541-FILM (3456).

IMPORTANT! Pass holders will have immediate entrance to the theatre. If purchasing tickets at the door, we recommend you arrive at least 10 minutes early for daytime screenings and 20 minutes early for evening screenings. Seating is first-come, first-served and all seats are general admission. Balcony seating is reserved for pass holders and overflow.

Barring any technical difficulties, SCREENINGS WILL START ON TIME.

4 5 2009 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival Kristen Fitzpatrick Kristen studied Film at Florida Atlantic University, and received a B.A. in Communications in 2004. She has worked in indie film for over a decade Festival Jury & Staff and has been with Women Make Movies for over eight years. A one time projectionist and programmer for the Florida International Film Series, she is now the Distribution Manager at Women Make Movies, where she Richard Beer handles the film festival programming and liaisons with the filmmakers. In her spare time, Kristen judges films for several other festivals including the NY Asian International Richard Beer is the Artistic Director of Film Action Oregon and the historic Film Festival and the Student Academy Awards. She is a film geek and lives with her cat in Brooklyn. Hollywood Theatre, which was recently selected as one of only 18 cinemas in the country to be part of Sundance Institute Art House Project. Richard oversees all of Film Action’s exhibition, production and education programs, Brett Ingram including: Project Youth Doc (an intensive summer documentary production program for teens 13-15) and the Project Partners program (where local Formerly an electrical engineer on the Space Shuttle Main Engine Pro- film productions, mostly documentaries, are being produced in partnership with Film Action). Having gram, Brett Ingram exchanged his calculator for a movie camera in 1990 trained in film production and film history at Columbia College Chicago, Richard has spent more than and has never looked back. His short documentaries and animated films 20 years working in the film exhibition and distribution business as well as serving as an advisor, have screened at more than 150 festivals and museums internationally. programmer and juror for film festivals across the U.S. and beyond. Ingram’s first documentary feature, Monster Road – about the life and work of legendary Seattle animator Bruce Bickford - premiered at the 2004 Slamdance Film Festival where it won “Best Documentary.” Monster Road eventually screened Joe Berlinger at 100 festivals and museums in fifteen countries, winning sixteen awards, before screening on Sundance Channel. Ingram’s latest documentary is Rocaterrania, a feature length journey into the Joe Berlinger is an award-winning filmmaker, journalist and photographer. secret world of scientific illustrator and visionary artist Renaldo Kuhler. Rocaterrania was supported He has also directed and produced numerous hours of television, including by a Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation in 2007. Ingram teaches the Emmy-winning 10 Days that Unexpectedly Changed America and the filmmaking at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. critically-acclaimed Sundance Channel series Iconoclasts, now entering its fourth season. A leading voice in nonfiction cinema, Berlinger made his first independent film in 1989. Outrageous Taxi Stories, a humorous look at New Anna Rau York City cab drivers, became a cult favorite on the international film festival circuit and won 10 major Anna Rau is an Investigative/Public Affairs Documentary Producer with awards, including a nomination for Distinguished Documentary Achievement from the International Montana PBS. She has produced 7 documentaries ranging from political Documentary Association. As a television producer, Berlinger has created numerous nonfiction series profiles and legislative issues to investigations of private schools and and specials, and has frequently served as a creative consultant to MTV, VH1, Court TV and HBO. His clean coal technologies. Rau was selected to attend the PBS Producer’s articles and photographs have appeared in numerous publications around the globe, including the Academy in Boston in 2006 and the WETA News Academy in D.C. in 2008. New York Times, ArtForum, Film Comment, and Aperture magazines. Joe Berlinger is a member of She received a National Cine Golden Eagle Award for her Documentary the DGA, the WGA, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the Academy of Television Who’s Watching the Kids?, one of 17 U.S. documentaries selected as international finalists in the Input Arts and Sciences. 2007 documentary competition, which recognizes public television work from around the world. Rau has also garnered two Regional Emmy Nominations since joining Montana PBS in 2004. Previous to that, Rau worked in commercial broadcast news as an Anchor, Reporter and Producer at the CBS Mike Bonfiglio affiliate in Billings and as a Political/Crime Reporter at the NBC affiliate in Boise, Idaho. She holds a degree in Broadcast Journalism with a Spanish Minor. Michael Bonfiglio is a producer, writer, director, and camera operator who has worked in documentary film for more than a decade. He has filmed courtrooms, jails, deserts, oceans, jungles, metropolises, rock concerts, Dawn Smallman Mardi Gras, off-road races and mental hospitals, working in eight different Dawn Smallman is a documentary filmmaker from Portland, Oregon. countries with people ranging from high-profile celebrities and politicians to Her films have aired on Oregon and Wyoming PBS and have screened rarely-photographed indigenous tribes. In 1999, Bonfiglio produced the pilot in numerous museums, including the American Folk Art Museum, the episode of the VH1 series FanClub, which ran for three seasons. He joined the staff of bi-coastal/inter- Smithsonian, the Western Folklife Center and the Andy Warhol Museum. national @radical.media in 2001, producing Hollywood High, AMC’s acclaimed documentary about drug Her documentary feature, Ridin’ & Rhymin’, was awarded the Big Sky culture in cinema. Bonfiglio wrote and produced the Emmy-nominated Gray Matter, a documentary for Documentary Film Festival’s 2005 Big Sky Award. Her 2002 short docu- Cinemax, France 2 and the CBC, about Vienna’s notorious Spiegelgrund children’s euthanasia clinic mentary, Richart, won awards at Microcinefest and the Black Maria Film and Video Festival. She has and a present-day search for former Nazi Dr. Heinrich Gross, nicknamed “the Austrian Dr. Mengele.” produced films for exhibits at the National Cowgirl Museum and Calgary’s Glenbow Museum. Dawn In 2006, he was nominated for a “Best Documentary” Emmy for his work as executive producer is currently producing/directing a series of documentary films about the restoration and creation of a of HBO’s Left of the Dial, about the launch of the progressive Air America Radio network. Michael nature preserve in the Mojave Desert. Bonfiglio is a member of the Directors Guild of America, and speaks Spanish and Portuguese. He lives in New York City. Christopher White Since November 2000, Chris has headed up the production department at Brendan Canty P.O.V., PBS’s premiere showcase for independent non-fiction film. Chris and the programming team oversee the submission, evaluation and selec- Brendan Canty is perhaps best known as the drummer of post punk tion process for the 800+ films considered annually for broadcast on P.O.V. indie rock band Fugazi. In addition to performing, and recording, he has Chris is active in the curatorial process, screening films and giving input composed music for numerous films. Together with collaborator Christoph on the schedule. Chris tracks works-in-progress, aids in developing new Green he runs Trixie, a production company founded in 2004. Their primary programming initiatives and represents P.O.V. at festivals, conferences and industry panels. Chris is passion and preoccupation has been the documentation of live music and on the Advisory Board for Checkerboard Films Foundation, an organization that documents individu- the continuing Burn To Shine series - of which the Seattle installment is als who have made important contributions to the American arts. From 2003-2008, Chris was on the featured at Big Sky 2009. Canty & Green shoot, edit, sound design, mix, program and package design Board of Directors of Global Action Project, an after-school media arts organization in New York City in house, at their studio in lovely Takoma Park, MD, but not in the lovely part. that provides training in video production and media technologies for youth.

6 7 2009 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival Special Events Friday, Feb 13, 6:00 pm HBO Special Presentation of Thriller In Manila In 1975, former friends Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier met in the Philippines for their third and final contest, now considered among the greatest boxing matches in history. Set against the backdrop of racial politics, the documentary follows this iconic event to its gripping conclusion, telling the story from the perspective of “the other man in the ring” – Frazier – and underscoring the role of the media in creating modern-day heroes. Photography: Tom Fullum Montana Premiere. See page 63 for more information. • FREE public admission. • Sponsored by HBO Documentaries

Friday, Feb 13, 6:00 pm Thursday, Feb 19, 7:00 pm Kickoff Party Awards Ceremony It's your chance to meet Big Sky’s filmmakers and judges, listen to live music, Festival Jurors announce winners of the competitive categories at the Wilma. have a drink and toast the art of documentary film! Music by TBD. Location: • Free and open to the public. TBD, (406) 541-FILM. • Free to All-Access Pass holders, otherwise $5. Feb 20, 21, 22, 7:00 pm Award Screenings Saturday, Feb 14, 8:00-11:00 pm This is your chance to see the best of the fest! Winners from each competition Filmmaker Welcome Party category will screen in front of a packed house. See www.bigskyfilmfest.org af- It's your chance to meet Big Sky’s filmmakers and judges, listen to live music, ter 8 p.m. on Feb 19th for the list of winning films and screening times. Awards have a drink and toast the art of documentary film! Music by Cash For Junkers. Night Screening tickets available at the box office all week long. Location: Union Hall, (406) 541-FILM. • Free to All-Access Pass holders, otherwise $5. Saturday, Feb 21, 9:00 pm Wrap Party Tuesday, Feb 17, 2:00 pm Come celebrate at a blow-out bash at The Badlander, Missoula’s top music Panel Discussion – The Art of Documentary Film club. Featuring Secret Powers, DJ Kris Moon, and special guest. NO COVER What is the relationship between Art & Commerce in Non-Fiction film? Is there for All-Access Pass holders, festival volunteers and ANYONE with BSDFF ticket a home for the so-called Art Doc in the wide fields dominated by issue driven stubs . The Badlander, 208 Ryman, 549-0235, Badlander.Net cinema? Come to this informative discussion and decide for yourself. Hosted by The Crystal Theatre, 515 S. Higgins Ave. All Week • Free and open to the public. Filmmaker’s Lounge A place to network, check your email and take a break, the filmmaker’s lounge Wednesday, Feb 18, 2:00 pm is located just around the corner from the Wilma at 115 W. Front Street. Panel Discussion - Short Form Documentary • All-Access Pass holders only In a market driven by high-profile documentary features, why make a short? What are the broadcast, exhibition and internet options for short-form docs? Hours: 9am – 6 pm Find out in this panel discussion, moderated by Doug Whyte, Director of the In- Saturday, Feb 14 Friday, Feb 20 ternational Documentary Challenge. At the Crystal Theatre, 515 S. Higgins Ave. Sunday, Feb 15 Saturday, Feb 21 • Free and open to the public. Monday, Feb 16 Sunday, Feb 22 (Closed , Tuesday – Thursday) Thursday, Feb 19, 2:00 pm Panel Discussion -The Business of Documentary Filmmaker and VIP receptions and parties. Learn how to market and distribute your independent documentaries in the Admission available to All-Access Pass holders only. All-Access Passes avail- world of mass media. Moderated by Chris White, Director, Programming & able for purchase at the Wilma Box Office. Production at POV. At the Crystal Theatre, 515 S. Higgins Ave. • Free and open to the public.

8 9 2009 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival The Alloy Orchestra PROVIDES A Special Features Live Musical Accompaniment TO THE FILM: South: ERNEST SHACKLETON AND THE ENDURANCE EXPEDITION Out of Africa Sidebar Alloy Orchestra is a three man musical ensemble, writing and Sunday Feb. 15th performing live accompaniment to classic silent films. Working 7:00 pm with an outrageous assemblage of peculiar objects, they thrash A collection of films that explore varied and complex cultures and people, Sponsored by: and grind soulful music from unlikely sources. Performing at this special series presents lesser-told stories of the African continent. prestigious film festivals and cultural centers in the US and From the struggles of South African women fighting against extreme child abuse (Rough Aun- abroad, Alloy has helped revive some of the great masterpieces ties) to the extraordinary life of a Senegalese pop icon (Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love), from of the silent era. An unusual combination of found percussion the day-to-day life of Grandmothers (Gogos) in Swaziland (Today the Hawk Takes One Chick) to and state-of-the-art electronics gives the Orchestra the ability the transformation of Kenyan cattle farmers (Milking The Rhino) – the sidebar of films reveals to create any sound imaginable. Utilizing their famous “rack an Africa rarely seen. Check the alphabetical listings for all Out Of Africa films. of junk” and electronic synthesizers, the group brings intensity and dynamic to Big Sky with their score for Frank Hurley’s silent document of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s attempt to reach the South Pole in 1914. One of the greatest epics in the history of explora- tion, the original film from 1919 beautifully captures the trial of the men of the Endurance as they struggle for survival. (See full description on page 64)

Ron Mann Retrospective

For more than 25 years, Canadian based filmmaker Ron Mann has mined the gold of alternative culture to produce an array of Music Docs with Brendan Canty & wild and engaging films. From in-depth profiles of artists to cavernous dives into the depths Christoph Green of counterculture, Mann’s films explore the fringes of the rich tapestry of high and low art and culture. Mann sees himself as more of a cultural historian who documents alternative and Brendan Canty & Christoph Green host a series of films – most of which dissent culture. The director of over a dozen films including the critically acclaimed Grass, Twist they have created – all exploring the boundaries of American rock music. With subjects rang- and more recently, Tales of the Rat Fink, Mann’s films have enjoyed theatrical release in the ing from indie rock icon Bob Mould (Bob Mould: Circle of Friends), to the Seattle underground US and Canada and around the world. They have played in hundreds of international festivals (Burn To Shine: Seattle), from Americana superstars Wilco (Ashes of American Flags), and post- including Toronto, Berlin and Sydney. Mann joins Big Sky 2009 for a rollick through subculture punk legends Fugazi (Instrument) of which Canty himself was the much admired drummer and perhaps a few surprises. – the films offer some of the best of what’s around in rock doc these days.

Joe Berlinger Retrospective

International Documentary Award-winning filmmaker, journalist and photographer, Joe Berlinger has Challenge Showcase created some of the most compelling non-fiction films of the last thirty years. Whether exploring the dark terrains of child murder and siblingcide or the complica- A perennial favorite at Big Sky, this year’s installment of the Doc Challenge Showcase includes tions of a heavy metal group’s therapy, Berlinger’s films go deep into the complex topography many of the award winning films from the 2008 timed filmmaking competition. If you’re new of humanness. Together with longtime documentary partner Bruce Sinofsky, Berlinger has to the idea, it’s very simple: Filmmakers from around the world are given a genre (Character created the landmark features Brother’s Keeper, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Study, Music, 1st Person, etc.) and a theme (this year’s: “Change”.) They then have 5 days to Hills, and Metallica:Some Kind of Monster. He has also directed and produced numerous hours develop, produce and edit a 4 to 7 minute non-fiction film. The result is a maddening five days of television, including the Emmy-winning 10 Days that Unexpectedly Changed America and for them, and, as the films reveal, a joy for the audience. Doc Challenge Creator Doug Whyte the critically acclaimed Sundance Channel series Iconoclasts, now entering its fourth season. will host the screening, along with attending Doc Challenge filmmakers. Berlinger joins Big Sky 2009 for an intimate look at his work.

10 11 2009 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival Sunday, February 15 (continued) 1:30 pm The Beetle, 70 min Bloomfield or A Childhood Memory, 97 min Schedule of Films 1:40 pm RON MANN RETROSPECTIVE Imagine the Sound, 90 min - Wilma 2 Unless indicated otherwise, all screenings 3:00 pm SHORTS PROGRAM #2 Wide Open Spaces will be held in Wilma 1 Coober: A Desert Speedway Story, 10 min I Can See Everything, 5 min Friday, February 13 I Love Alaska, 50 min Jennifer, 5 min 6:00 pm Thriller in Manila, 100 min - free screening! The Oldest Tree, 13 min 8:00 pm Fire Under the Snow, 75 min 3:30 pm The Dhamma Brothers, 76 min - Wilma 2 9:30 pm We Are Wizards, 79 min 4:45 pm Crude Independence, 71 min 11:15 pm Omen, 5 min Mare Liberum, 8 min Number One With a Bullet, 101 min 5:15 pm Naturally Obsessed, 60 min - Wilma 2 Saturday, February 14 7:00 pm South: Ernest Shackleton and the Endurance Expedition, 88 min 10:00 am Pickin’ & Trimmin,’ 23 min 9:00 pm Goth Cruise, 75 min Summer Sun Winter Moon, 56 min 10:30 pm I Think We’re Alone Now, 69 min 10:00 am RON MANN RETROSPECTIVE midnight Mellodrama, 75 min Comic Book Confidential, 85 min - Wilma 2 11:30 am SHORTS PROGRAM #1 The Land of The Free Monday, February 16 A Day Late in Oakland, 27 min Intifada NYC, 42 min 10:00 am Chasing Birds, 54 min Propaganda Repolution, 9 min 10:00 am A Nashville State of Mind, 83 min - Wilma 2 Secret: The Josephine Baker FBI Files, 18 min 11:15 am Carny, 75 min o 12:00 pm RON MANN RETROSPECTIVE 11:45 am 111 Longitude, 9 min - Wilma 2 Twist, 70 min - Wilma 2 Immokalee U.S.A., 77 min 1:15 pm Who Does She Think She Is?, 84 min 1:15 pm SHORTS PROGRAM #3 New York Stories 1:45 pm RON MANN RETROSPECTIVE Bronx Princess, 38 min Grass, 80 min - Wilma 2 Coney Island’s for the Birds, 15 min 3:00 pm Today the Hawk Takes One Chick, 72 min The Last Butcher in Little Italy, 6 min Tucheze, 24 min 1:30 pm As Slow As Possible, 60 min - Wilma 2 3:30 pm Out Late, 62 min - Wilma 2 Water Paper Time, 16 min 4:45 pm Bonecrusher, 69 min 2:45 pm The Ghost Mountain Experiment, 57 min 5:00 pm Secret Screening, 73 min - Invite Only - Wilma 2 Living Lightly, 24 min 6:30 pm In A Dream, 78 min 3:00 pm Delta Rising, 79 min - Wilma 2 8:15 pm The Reverse Graffiti Project, 3 min 4:20 pm Carts of Darkness, 59 min The Rock-afire Explostion, 69 min The Secret Life of Beards, 6 min 10:00 pm Gogol Bordello: Non Stop, 87 min 5:00 pm Chicago Block, 65 min - Wilma 2 midnight American Swing, 81 min 5:45 pm Prodigal Sons, 86 min 7:45 pm At the Edge of the World, 92 min Sunday, February 15 9:45 pm SHORTS PROGRAM #4 Some Dreamers Before the Sea, 8 min 10:00 am The Choir, 89 min Bob’s Knee, 4 min 10:00 am RON MANN RETROSPECTIVE The Champ, 6 min Tales of the Rat Fink, 76 min - Wilma 2 Mrs. Hendersons Kids, 7 min 11:40 am RON MANN RETROSPECTIVE No Strings Attached, 37 min Poetry in Motion, 90 min - Wilma 2 Roz (and Joshua), 3 min 12:00 pm The Mongolian Marmot, 23 min Say Cheese: The Hamburger Harry Story, 6 min Red Gold, 55 min 11:30 pm Flicker, 75 min

12 13 Tuesday, February 17 Friday, February 20 (continued) 3:15 pm One Bad Cat, 81 min 5:00 pm The First Kid to Learn English From Mexico, 20 min 4:45 pm Bloodsucker, 4 min - Wilma 2 Tattooed Under Fire, 56 min The Money Fix, 80 min - Wilma 2 6:30 pm SHORTS PROGRAM #5 Wide Open Spaces II 5:00 pm Rocaterrania, 74 min Dead Lonesome, 17 min 7:00 pm Feature Film Award Screening TBA, 120 min In Place Out Of Time, 45 min 9:30 pm Ashes of American Flags, 88 min Lessons in America Episode 17: Montana, 4 min 11:30 pm Instrument, 111 min Western Brothers Adventure Story, 11 min 8:00 pm Frontier Youth, 16 min Saturday, February 21 March Point, 54 min 9:30 pm Upstream Battle, 98 min 10:00 am Bingo Nation, 7 min 11:30 pm Song Sung Blue, 87 min Sync or Swim, 90 min 10:00 am JOE BERLINGER RETROSPECTIVE Wednesday, February 18 Revelations: Paradise Lost 2, 130 min - Wilma 2 11:50 pm Killer Poet , 77 min 5:00 pm INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY 12:30 pm JOE BERLINGER RETROSPECTIVE CHALLENGE FILMS, 90 min Gray Matter, 45 min - Wilma 2 Ars Magna, 8 min Iconoclasts: Sean Penn & Jon Krakauer, 45 min Beholder, 7 min 1:30 pm Whatever it Takes, 92 min Bend & Bow, 7 min 2:30 pm JOE BERLINGER RETROSPECTIVE Click Whoosh, 8 min Metallica Some Kind of Monster, 135 min - Wilma 2 Fiercely Independent, 7 min 3:15 pm Witch Hunt, 91 min I=me2, 8 min 5:05 pm Matchstick Traveller, 51 min - Wilma 2 Ice Fishing, 8 min Monster Dudes, 22 min Jetty, 7 min 5:00 pm The Way We Get By, 74 min Meet the Freegans, 7 min 7:00 pm Big Sky Award Screening TBA, 120 min Red Light Blues, 8 min 9:15 pm Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love, 103 min Stick & Pound, 5 min 11:30 pm Burn to Shine: Seattle 6:45 pm Boy Interrupted, 92 min 8:45 pm Rough Aunties, 103 min Sunday, February 22 11:00 pm Automorphosis, 77 min 10:00 am The Greening of Southie, 72 min Thursday, February 19 10:00 am 10 Short Documentries of My Childhood Home, 10 min - Wilma 2 5:00 pm Crude, 100 min Summerchild, 60 min 7:00 pm Awards Presentation 11:30 am That’s My Time, 70 min 8:00 pm Garrison Keillor: The Man on the Radio in the 11:30 am All of Us, 82 min - Wilma 2 Red Shoes, 86 min 1:00 pm Life.Support.Music, 79 min 9:45 pm Guest of Cindy Sherman, 90 min 1:15 pm Lost in the Fog, 81 min - Wilma 2 11:30 pm Bob Mould:Circle of Friends, 111 min 2:45 pm The Garden, 80 min 3:15 pm SHORTS PROGRAM #6 What Work Is - Wilma 2 Friday, February 20 Body Job, 11 min The Bush Man, 6 min 10:00 am Africa 11, 21 min Hair Cowboy, 11 min Milking the Rhino, 83 min Pigeon Men, 8 min 11:45 am JOE BERLINGER RETROSPECTIVE Smile Boston Project, 20 min Brother’s Keeper, 103 min - Wilma 2 Jobsite, 37 min 12:00 pm Blast!, 73 min 4:30 pm The Lord God Bird: The Enduring Quest for the 1:45 pm Hotel Gramercy Park, 74 min Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, 90 min 2:00 pm JOE BERLINGER RETROSPECTIVE 5:00 pm Ask Not, 120 min - Wilma 2 Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at 6:15 pm Throw Down Your Heart, 97 min Robin Hood Hills, 150 min - Wilma 2 8:00 pm Short Film Award Screening TBA

14 15 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival Saturday, February 14 • 11:30am A Day Late in Oakland

USA, 2009, 27 Minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere 2 0 0 9 Short Film Competition A Day Late in Oakland tells the story of Screening Guide slain California journalist Chauncey Bailey and the evolution of Your Black & Schedule of Films Muslim Bakery, the organization implicated in his killing. Mixing interviews with a variety of archival materials, the film follows the paths of Welcome to this year’s Festival. "Bakery" members from their common roots to their troubling intersection.

Thank you for attending! Screening with Shorts Program #1 Director: Zachary Stauffer (in attendance)

Sunday, February 22 • 10:00am • Wilma 2 Monday, February 16 • 10:00am • Wilma 2 10 Short Documentaries About My Childhood A Nashville State of Mind Home USA, 2008, 10 minutes USA, 2008, 83 minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere Montana Premiere

Ten Short Documentaries About My A Nashville State of Mind is the Childhood Home mixes observational inspiring story of a band's entry into documentary, old movie piano music, Nashville, Tennessee and its alternative re-enactments with masks, and old community of transplant musicians. slides of my childhood to examine our After Samantha Gibb's father (Maurice family’s feelings and actions during a Gibb of the Bee Gees) passes away, she time of great transition – my mother’s and her band M.E.G. move to Nashville move to an assisted living situation and the sale of the house we grew up in. At the center to pursue their dreams. Featuring local musicians and industry professionals, the film offers a of this investigation is the house, located in Starnberg, Germany, which for so many years glimpse into the lives of a few of the many musicians and song writers that struggle to make provided us with a home and, later, after we moved out, a home base when we came to visit. it day in and day out.

Director: Dorothea Braemer Screening with Summerchild Director: John-Martin Vogel

Monday, February 16 • 11:45am • Wilma 2 Friday, February 20 • 10:00am 111o Longitude Africa 11

USA, 2008, 9 minutes Austria, 2008, 21 minutes

World Premiere North American Premiere

The 111th meridian runs through Emanuel Ekeigwe is an immigrant of the heart of the American west. In Nigerian descent. Arriving in Austria this short documentary two women in 2001, the former professional explore their respective homes along football player decided to try his luck the meridian, one in Bozeman, MT, at Viennese soccer. After many trying and one in Tucson, AZ. Using visuals, encounters with native players and text and voice-over, the two women their provisos towards people of color, Emanuel founded his own soccer team for African discover shared questions about expectations, commitment, and family within their parallel immigrants: the “New African Football Academy.” Since 2005, the team has become well lives. accepted by most other teams in the Vienna football league. But life as an African-born soccer player remains tough and various hurdles must be overcome. Directors: Cindy Stillwell & Yuri Makino (in attendance) Screening with Immokalee USA Screening with Milking the Rhino Director: Stefan Lukacs (in attendance)

16 17 Sunday, February 22 • 11:30am • Wilma 2 Monday, February 16 • 1:30pm • Wilma 2 All of Us As Slow as Possible

USA, 2008, 82 minutes Canada/Germany, 2007, 60 minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere Northwest Regional Premiere

This timely feature documentary A young writer (Ryan Knighton) investigates the social factors that embarks on a pilgrimage to put African American women at the Halberstadt, Germany to listen to a greatest risk for HIV/AIDS, and exposes single note change in the notorious the common power struggle that 639 year-long performance of the John women across boundaries of race, Cage composition, As Slow as Possible. class and country face every night in The twist – Ryan has been going blind the bedroom. for the past 15 years. A film about Change, as seen through the eyes (and ears) of a man going blind. Director: Emily Abt Screening with Water Paper Time Director: Scott Smith (in attendance)

Saturday, February 14 • midnight Wednesday, February 20 • 9:30pm American Swing Ashes of American Flags

USA, 2008, 81 minutes USA, 2008, 88 minutes

Montana Premiere World Premiere

The year was 1977 and New York City The definitive Wilco concert film, Ashes burned. As the metropolis hurtled of American Flags, captures Wilco into bankruptcy, the city’s nightlife hit as they travel through the American unprecedented heights. In midtown, South, playing small historic venues to the ultra-exclusive Studio 54 was a diehard fans and sharing, in interviews, cocaine-fueled celebrity clubhouse. their perspectives on one another and Downtown, at the spartan CBGB’s, the changing American landscape. punk rockers set out to destroy everything Pop. Meanwhile, in the basement of the prestigious Beautifully shot, edited and mixed, this music film captures the band at the height of their Ansonia building on the conservative Upper West Side, Plato’s Retreat opened its doors to powers. ordinary couples who came to dance, to swim, and... to swap. Directors: Brendan Canty & Christopher Green (in attendance) Directors: Mathew Kaufman and Jon Hart

Wednesday, February 18 • 5:00pm Sunday, February 22 • 5:00pm • Wilma 2 Ars Magna Ask Not

USA, 2008, 8 minutes USA, 2008, 73 minutes,

Montana Premiere Montana Premiere Minidoc Competition Cory Calhoun, creator of the famous Ask Not is a rare and compelling Hamlet anagram, is an average guy exploration of the U.S. military’s with an obsession for finding meaning “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, revealing in jumbled phrases. personal stories of gay Americans who serve in combat under a veil of secrecy. The film exposes the tangled political battles that led to the discriminatory law, and profiles charismatic activists determined to abolish it. Director: Cory Kelley Director: Johnny Symons

18 19 Monday, February 16 • 7:45pm Monday, February 16 • 9:45pm At the Edge of the World Before the Sea

USA, 2008, 92 minutes USA, 2008, 8 minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere World Premiere Documentary Feature Competition Minidoc Competition The most dramatic environmental A little boy and his fisherman father campaign ever filmed. At the Edge confront life and death at the edge of of the World chronicles the efforts the ocean, where their idle drag boat, of the controversial Sea Shepherd the Anne Marie, blankets them in a Conservation Society to intervene dream. against Antarctic whaling. First, Sea Shepherd volunteers must find the whaling fleet somewhere in the 370,000 square miles of the Ross Sea, a uniquely beautiful Screening with Shorts Program #4 Director: Charlene Music and dangerous corner of the world. An extraordinary David-vs-Goliath tale unfolds – a real-life adventure encompassing courage & empowerment, politics & injustice and ends & means.

Director: Dan Stone (in attendance)

Wednesday, February 18 • 11:00pm Wednesday, February 18 • 5:00pm Automorphosis Beholder

USA, 2008, 77 minutes USA, 2008, 7 minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere Montana Premiere Documentary Feature Competition Minidoc Competition What if you could morph your car into a Beholder is a photographer’s reflection mobile work of art for all to see? What on the passage of time and his shifting would the world think? How would you perceptions of New York City. be changed? Automorphosis looks into the minds and hearts of a delightful collection of eccentrics, visionaries, and just plain folks who have transformed their autos into artworks. On a humorous and touching journey, we discover what drives the Director: Eric Metzgar creative process for these unconventional characters. And in the end, we find that an art car has the power to change us -- to alter our view of our increasingly homogeneous world.

Director: Harrod Blank (in attendance)

Sunday, February 15 • 1:30pm Wednesday, February 18 • 5:00pm The Beetle Bend and Bow

Israel, 2008, 70 minutes USA, 2008, 7 minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere Montana Premiere Documentary Feature Competition Yishai Orian, the owner of an old Natalia Paruz reveals the moment that Volkswagen beetle, is about to become changed her life and how she became a father. His mechanic says that the known as the “Saw Lady” to millions of car will not last long, while his wife New York subway riders. complains that the car is unsuitable for a baby. Attempting to keep his beloved car, Yishai goes on a journey that begins with the previous owners of the beetle, continues to Jordan to renovate the old car, and Director: Profluence Productions ends with the birth of his first child. The exciting, funny, sad, and intimate memories of the beetle’s previous owners blend with the director’s personal story.

Director: Yishai Orian Screening with Bloomfield or a Childhood Memory

20 21 Saturday, February 21 • 10:00am Sunday, February 15 • 1:30pm Bingo Nation Bloomfield or a Childhood Memory

USA, 2007, 7 minutes Israel, 2008, 8 minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere North American Premiere

Every Saturday night, Joanna and the I walked by my father’s side, hanging gals court Lady Luck at the local bingo on to his right hand, trying to catch up hall. But lately, Lady Luck has been with his big steps. I was about to be in hiding. Bloomfield football stadium for the first time. People, all dressed in red, called my father’s name. “This is my son,” he said, a large hand stroked my hair. Director: Stephanie Stender Screening with Sync or Swim Next to the box office, I lost my father. A Cinematic journey to Bloomfield football stadium from a child's point of view.

Screening with The Beetle Director: Eran Barak (in attendance)

Friday, February 20 • 12:00pm Thursday, February 19 • 11:30pm Blast! SCIENCE HANGING BY A THREAD Bob Mould: CIRCLE OF FRIENDS

USA, 2008, 73 minutes USA, 2008, 55 minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere Brendan Canty Music Doc

Blast! is astrophysics Indiana Jones Filmed live at the legendary 9:30 style, a risky adventure story that takes Club in Washington, DC in 2005, Bob you on an exciting and enlightening Mould reaches deep into his songbook journey around the world and across for a career-spanning electric band the Universe to launch a revolutionary performance. Joined onstage by new telescope on a NASA high-altitude Brendan Canty (Fugazi), Richard Morel balloon in an effort to understand the (Morel), and Jason Narducy (Rockets origins or our Universe. Over Sweden), the show features Bob’s compositions from Husker Du, Sugar’s Copper Blue, and his most recent solo release, Body Of Song. Circle Of Friends is the first fully authorized Director: Paul Devlin live concert release by Bob Mould; the definitive collection for new and longtime fans alike.

Director: Brendan Canty (in attendance)

Friday, February 20 • 4:45pm • Wilma 2 Monday, February 16 • 9:45pm Bloodsucker Bob's Knee

USA, 2007, 4 minutes USA, 2008, 4 minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere Northwest Regional Premiere Minidoc Competition Huge numbers of abandoned homes, “How do we walk?” – Frustrated by left vacant by foreclosure, have the fallibility of his joints, an inventor communities facing a new form of employs unconventional methods to suburban blight. understand the mechanics of the knee.

Director: Meghan O’Hara Screening with The Money Fix Screening with Shorts Program #4 Director: Mike Attie

22 23 Sunday, February 22 • 3:15pm • Wilma 2 Monday, February 16 • 1:15pm Body Job Bronx Princess

USA, 2008, 11 minutes USA/Ghana, 2008, 37 minutes Northwest Regional Premiere North American Premiere Short Film Competition Inspired by a dancing traffic cop in Bronx Princess follows headstrong 17- Brooklyn, NY, Body Job is a fast-paced year-old Rocky’s journey as she leaves meditation on unique physicality in the behind her mother in New York City workplace. The film is a profile of a to reunite with her father, a chief in scientist, farmer, and preacher, who Ghana, West Africa. Filmed during the transform their jobs with active bodies: tumultuous summer between high- the scientist walks on a treadmill while school and college, Bronx Princess tells he works, the farmer teaches body mechanics with tools, and the preacher awes us with his Rocky’s coming-of-age story. By confronting her immigrant parents’ ideas of adulthood, Rocky physical awareness and spiritual presence. reconciles her African heritage with her dream of independence.

Director: Joanne Nereuberg Screening with Shorts Program #6 Screening with Shorts Program #3 Directors: Yoni Brook & Musa Syeed

Saturday, February 14 • 4:45pm Friday, February 20 • 11:45am • Wilma 2 Bonecrusher Brother's Keeper

USA, 2008, 68 minutes USA, 1992, 105 minutes

Montana Premiere Joe Berlinger Retrospective

Bonecrusher is a moving account Delbert, Bill, Lyman, and Roscoe Ward of the love between a father and are illiterate bachelor brothers who son, and the unbreakable bond they never ventured beyond their 99 acre share. They live in the foothills of the dairy farm, sharing a two-room shack Appalachian Mountains where a tight- with no running water. Their quiet knit community of coal miners and life was shattered in 1990 when Bill their families face their harsh life with a was found dead in bed. By day’s end, toughness and camaraderie as enduring as the earth itself. Delbert had confessed to suffocating the ailing Bill as an act of mercy, but the community believed Delbert was framed. Delbert’s subsequent retraction, the village’s fervent belief in Director: Michael Fountain (in attendance) his innocence, and the national media attention visited upon a sleepy rural community make Brother’s Keeper a real-life murder mystery that examines larger social issues.

Director: Joe Berlinger (in attendance) Wednesday, February 18 • 6:45pm Saturday, February 21 • 11:30pm Boy Interrupted Burn to Shine: SEATTLE

USA, 2008, 92 minutes USA, 2008, 55 minutes

Montana Premiere Brendan Canty Music Doc Documentary Feature Competition Boy Interrupted is a feature-length Burn to Shine is a set of films documentary about the life, bipolar documenting special live illness and suicide of Evan Perry. performances, with each film focusing The film, from the point of view of his on a single city’s music scene. mother, director Dana Perry, describes The Seattle installment features his struggle and the effect his death appearances by Eddie Vedder, David had on those who loved him the most. Bazan, and The Long Winters.

Director: Dana Perry Director: Brendan Canty (in attendance) Presented by:

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26 27 Sunday, February 22 • 3:15pm • Wilma 2 Monday, February 16 • 9:45pm The Bush Man The Champ

USA, 2008, 6 minutes USA, 2007, 6 minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere Northwest Regional Premiere Minidoc Competition The Bush Man hangs around After getting into one too many fights Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. at school, 17-year-old Fatima Alcantar He carries two bushes with him and finds the one place where she can hides at a corner. He jumps out and punch people as hard as she wants and scares you when you least expect. nobody will complain--the boxing ring. Fatima’s coach Johnnie shows her that being a fighter is not just about boxing, Director: Hanh Nguyen Screening with Shorts Program #6 it’s about life.

Screening with Shorts Program #4 Director: Peter Jordan

Monday, February 16 • 11:15am Monday, February 16 • 10:00am Carny Chasing Birds

Canada, 2008, 75 minutes Australia, 2008, 55 minutes

Montana Premiere Northwest Regional Premiere

Carny follows the lives of 5 carnival Three teams. Over 500 kilometres to workers during a season on the fair travel from the Australian outback circuit. Each character unfolds their to the sea. More than two hundred aspirations and struggles involving love, species to find along the way. And only friendship, family, and the middle class 24 hours to do it… Chasing Birds is a dream. As well as telling the often crazy race that takes us to the heart gritty stories of the carnies, the film of the birding community and the uses imagery shot with Super 8 mm Kodachrome 40, conveying the nostalgic timelessness of obsession that binds them together. You will never look at the sky in the same way again. the carnival and what the carnivals bring to small towns through which they travel. Director: Greg Woodland Director: Alison Murray (in attendance)

Monday, February 16 • 4:20pm Monday, February 16 • 5:00pm • Wilma 2 Carts of Darkness Chicago Block

Canada, 2007, 59 minutes Netherlands, 2008, 65 minutes

U.S. Premiere Northwest Regional Premiere Big Sky Award Competition The vehicle drifts across the centre- On the left bank of the scheldt, a line, its speed pushing 70 km/hr. As block off flats towers above the rest. it races downhill, the rider hangs on. The people of antwerp have named Metal screams and rattles, and small ‘chicagoblock’ and consider it a place wheels struggle to grip the pavement. to avoid. Belgians of modest means Welcome to the picture-postcard live here next door to immigrants, community of North Vancouver, where represting over 35 nationalities on 26 local bottle pickers have turned the act of binning into a thriving subculture of shopping cart storeys. The camera is set up in the lift of this concrete beehive, catching the occupants as racing. they pass by. It follows some of them home, picking up on their stories, some big, others small; stories that rise above their surroundings. Director: Murray Siple Screening with The Secret Life of Beards Director: Ingeborg Jansen

28 29 Sunday, February 15 • 10:00am Monday, February 16 • 1:15pm The Choir Coney Island's for the Birds

Australia, 2008, 89 minutes USA, 2008, 15 minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere Northwest Regional Premiere

The Choir is the story of Jabulani Coney Island’s for the Birds takes us to Shabangu, a juvenile inmate battling to the quirky underground world of pigeon survive in South Africa’s biggest prison. racing, spotlighting Anthony and Larry Jabulani is rebellious and angry until Martire, a father and son pigeon racing he meets a Coleman, who recruits him team. From training to the actual for the prison choir. Under Coleman’s races, through wins and losses, we guidance Jabulani is transformed – but witness the Martire’s ups and downs will he have the tools to survive in the outside world after he is released? and get an intimate glimpse into a special relationship bonded by their shared love of the amazing rooftop creatures. Director: Michael Davie Screening with Shorts Program #3 Director: Alexis Neophytides

Wednesday, February 18 • 5:00pm Sunday, February 15 • 3:00pm Click Whoosh Coober: A DESERT SPEEDWAY STORY

USA, 2008, 8 minutes Australia, 2007, 10 minutes

Montana Premiere North America Premiere Minidoc Competition Minidoc Competition A short documentary about the They do things a bit differently in disappearance of a familar piece of Coober Pedy. A stick of dynamite is a Americana: Polaroid cameras and film. device for conflict resolution, the locals live in underground homes, and until they paved the roads back in 1988, you could break your ankle just by crossing the street. Once a month this desert Director: Reid Kuennen & Mandy Hubbard town comes to life for a night of dirt, noise and metal at the local speedway track, a remnant of the opal mining community’s former wealth. This is speedway racing Coober-style.

Screening with Shorts Program #2 Director: Caro Macdonald

Saturday, February 14 • 10:00am • Wilma 2 Thursday, February 19 • 5:00pm Comic Book Confidential Crude

USA, 1989, 85 minutes USA/Ecuador, 2008, 100 minutes Ron Mann Retrospective Joe Berlinger Retrospective Documentary Feature Competition Comic Book Confidential is a feature- Three years in the making, this length documentary that profiles cinéma-vérité feature is the epic story twenty-two of the most significant of one of the most controversial legal artists and writers working in cases on the planet. An inside look comic books, graphic novels and at the infamous $16 billion “Amazon strip-art in North America today. Chernobyl” case, Crude is a high stakes In an entertaining and informative legal drama set against a backdrop of the environmental movement, global politics, celebrity combination of interviews, historical footage and state-of-the-art animation techniques, Comic activism, human rights advocacy, the media, multinational corporate power, and rapidly- Book Confidential provides a positive answer to that burning existential question of the late disappearing indigenous cultures. The film subverts the conventions of advocacy filmmaking twentieth century first posed by Zippy the Pinhead: “Are we having fun yet?” while bringing an important story of environmental peril and human suffering into focus.

Director: Ron Mann (in attendance) Director: Joe Berlinger (in attendance)

30 31 Sunday, February 15 • 4:45pm Sunday, February 15 • 3:30pm • Wilma 2 Crude Independence The Dhamma Brothers

USA, 2008, 71 minutes USA, 2007, 76 minutes

World Premiere Montana Premiere Big Sky Award Competition The heartland is in the process of East meets West in the Deep South. transplanting itself, and the new heart An overcrowded maximum-security is pumping oil. Welcome to Stanley, prison-the end of the line in Alabama’s North Dakota, sitting atop the largest correctional system-is dramatically oil discovery in the history of the North changed by the influence of an ancient American continent. Through revealing meditation program. The Dhamma interviews and breathtaking imagery Brothers tells a dramatic tale of human potential and transformation as it follows the stories of the northern plains, Crude Independence is a rumination on the future of small town of the prison inmates at Donaldson Correction Facility who enter into a Vipassana retreat, an America—a tale of change at the hands of the global energy market and America’s unyielding emotionally and physically demanding course of silent meditation lasting ten days. This film, in thirst for oil. the words of Sister Helen Prejean (Dead Man Walking), “gives you hope for the human race.”

Director: Noah Hutton (in attendance) Screening with Mare Liberum Directors: Jenny Phillips, Anne Marie Stein, Andrew Kukura

Tuesday, February 17 • 6:30pm Wednesday, February 18 • 5:00pm Dead Lonesome Fiercely Independent

USA, 2006, 17 minutes USA, 2008, 7 minutes

Montana Premiere Montana Premiere

Dead Lonesome is a non-narrative A short documentary about the only cinematic experience that explores volunteer deejay public radio station the sights, sounds, and surreal in the state of Utah, KZMU in Moab, atmosphere of the America West. It is *Fiercely Independent* won Best a journey that explores nature, history, Social Commentary at the International and the realm of the infinite. The Documentary Challenge 2008. film develops a theme then shapes it like a dream. Dead Lonesome was filmed using non-traditional cinematic techniques with Director: Laurie Collins sequences filmed at night, using moon and starlight as the only source of illumination.

Director: Joe Taylor Screening with Shorts Program #5

Monday, February 16 • 3:00pm • Wilma 2 Friday, February 13 • 8:00pm Delta Rising Fire Under Snow

USA, 2008, 79 minutes USA/Japan, 2008, 75 minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere Montana Premiere

A personal, inside look at the making The Venerable Palden Gyatso, a of one of the years best Blues albums. Buddhist monk since childhood, was We ride shotgun with Chris Cotton as arrested by the Chinese Communist he journeys to Clarksdale, Mississippi Army in 1959. He spent 33 years in to record his latest album, ‘I Watched prison for the ‘crime’ of demonstrating the Devil Die’, in the studio of former peacefully. He was starved and Squirrel Nut Zippers front man James tortured. His nation and culture Mathus. Featuring interviews with ‘Philidelphia’ Jerry Ricks and Morgan Freeman. were destroyed, his teachers, friends and family displaced, jailed or killed under Chinese occupation. Despite this, he remains unbroken, and keeps the flame of his spirit ablaze. Director: Michael Afendakis Director: Makoto Sasa

32 33 Tuesday, February 17 • 5:00pm Sunday, February 22 • 2:45pm The First Kid to Learn English The Garden From Mexico USA, 2008, 20 minutes USA, 2008, 80 minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere Northwest Regional Premiere Short Film Competition 9-year-old Pedro’s reluctant journey From the ashes of the 1992 L.A. riots, through elementary school in pursuit the South Central Farmers have of the American Dream, which nurtured the nation's largest urban he describes as a “nightmare.” farm. They have created a miracle Misbehaving and failing at school, in one of the country’s most blighted Pedro becomes isolated from other neighborhoods. Growing their own children and tries to befriend unsuspecting animals he encounters along his way. food. Feeding their families. But now bulldozers are poised to level their 14 acre oasis. The Garden is an unflinching look at the struggle between these Latino farmers and the City of Los Director: Peter Jordan Screening with Tatooed Under Fire Angeles and a powerful developer who want to evict them and build warehouses. Leaving the farmers to ask ‘Where is our ‘Justice for all’?’

DIrector: Scott Hamilton Kennedy

Monday, February 16 • 11:30pm Thursday, February 19 • 8:00pm Flicker Garrison Keillor: THE MAN ON THE RADIO IN THE RED SHOES

USA, 2008, 75 minutes USA, 2008, 86 minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere Montana Premiere Documentary Feature Competition The dream machine looks simple America’s foremost humorist and enough: a 100-watt light bulb, a motor commentator, Garrison Keillor, and a rotating cylinder with cutouts. takes his skits and jokes, music and Just sit in front of it, close your eyes monologues across the country and wait for the visions to come. The in his traveling radio show, spinning his dream machine offers a drugless stories into American gold. high that its creator believed would This free form, intimate look at the private man in the public spotlight goes behind the revolutionize human consciousness. He wasn’t alone. Flicker takes us on a journey into the scenes of America’s most popular radio show, A Prairie Home Companion, and inside the life of Brion Gysin – his art, his complex ideas and his friendships with some of the 20th imagination of the man who created it. century’s key counterculture figures. Sponsored by: DIrector: Peter Rosen Director: Nik Sheehan

Tuesday, February 17 • 8:00pm Monday, February 16 • 2:45pm Frontier Youth Ghost Mountain Experiment

USA/Mexico, 2008, 16 minutes USA, 2008, 57 minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere North America Premiere Big Sky Award Competition Ray, Ariel, and Alondra are young Rugged idealist Marshal South and people growing up in Douglas, his family fled the city hoping to live Arizona,and Agua Prieta, Mexico off the land in the California desert in — neighboring towns divided by a steel the 1930s but found that the simple border fence. As physical security along life was not so easily attainable. In this the border continues to tighten, they fascinating documentary, filmmaker enter adulthood with inseparable ties John McDonald uses interviews with to both sides. two of the three South children to show how their father’s audacious experiment in self- sufficiency went awry as the difficult desert life sparked conflict in their home. Director: John Kane (in attendance) Screening with March Point Screening with Living Lightly Director: John McDonald

34 35 IP H

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36 37 Saturday, February 14 • 10:00pm Saturday, February 21 • 12:30pm • Wilma 2 Gogol Bordello: NON-STOP Gray Matter

U.S. and A., 2008, 87 minutes USA/France, 2004, 55 minutes Northwest Regional Premiere Joe Berlinger Retrospective From New York City’s sensational A contemporary story that illuminates Russo-disco scene to a non-stop one of history’s darkest periods, Gray touring marathon with his band Gogol Matter is a compelling tale of murder, Bordello, Eugene Hütz takes us deep conspiracy, guilt, and redemption. The into his artistic life and influences. The film follows filmmaker Joe Berlinger’s story unfolds over five years, beginning hunt for 89-year-old Dr. Heinrich in 2001, and follows Eugene and Gogol Bordello’s progress from underground legend to Gross, one of Austria’s leading forensic international phenomenon. psychiatrists and the alleged murderer of hundreds of handicapped children. Sponsored by KGBA Radio Director: Margarita Jimeno Screening with Iconoclasts Director: Joe Berlinger (in attendance)

Sunday, February 15 • 9:00pm Sunday, February 22 • 10:00am Goth Cruise The Greening of Southie

United Kingdom, 2008, 75 minutes USA, 2007, 72 minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere Montana Premiere

Goth Cruise follows 150 pale, ‘people What happens when you’re asked to in black’ on a boat, taking part in the build the city of tomorrow... today? Set absolute antithesis of Goth – a cruise on the rugged streets of South Boston, in the blazing sunshine, as they sail The Greening of Southie is the story of around Bermuda for five days on the a revolutionary green building, and the 4th Annual Goth Cruise. men and women who bring it to life. From wheatboard cabinetry to recycled Director: Jeanie Finlay (in attendance) steel, bamboo flooring to dual-flush toilets, The Macallen Building is something different––a leader in the emerging field of environmentally friendly design. But Boston’s steel-toed construction workers aren’t sure they like it. And when things on the building start to go wrong, the young development team has to keep the project from unraveling.

Director: Ian Cheney & Curtis Ellis Saturday, February 14 • 1:45pm • Wilma 2 Thursday, February 19 • 9:45pm Grass Guest of Cindy Sherman

USA, 2000, 80 minutes USA, 2008, 90 minutes

Ron Mann Retrospective Montana Premiere

Marijuana is the most controversial Analyzing his relationship with drug of the twentieth century. Smoked reclusive artist Cindy Sherman leads by generations of musicians, students videographer Paul H-O to confront his and workers to little discernible ill own ego and identity in this personal effect, it continues to be reviled by the and often humorous documentary, vast majority of governments around which features unprecedented access the world. Veteran filmmaker Ron to Sherman and a unique view of the Mann brings his impeccable historical facility and story telling skills to recount how a relatively New York art world. harmless drug has been demonized for decades. Director: Tom Donahue Director: Ron Mann (in attendance)

38 39 Sunday, February 22 • 3:15pm • Wilma 2 Sunday, February 15 • 3:00pm Hair Cowboy I Love Alaska

USA, 2008, 11 minutes Netherlands, 2008, 50 minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere World Premiere Big Sky Award Competition Kanu Saul has been hustling haircuts August 4, 2006, the personal search on the sidewalks and alleyways of Los queries of 650,000 AOL users ended Angeles for over 10 years. In “Hair up on the Internet. I Love Alaska tells Cowboy,” we try to track down and the story of one of those AOL users, get a cut from the elusive guerilla a middle-aged woman from Houston, hairdresser. Texas, who spends her days behind her TV and computer. The list of her search Director: Patrick Robins Screening with Shorts Program #6 queries show a woman in menopause looking to rejuvenate her sex life. When she cheats on her husband with a man she met online, her life seems to crumble around her. She regrets her deceit, admits her Internet addiction and dreams of a new life in Alaska.

Screening with Shorts Program #2 Directors: Lernert Engelberts & Sander Plug

Friday, February 20 • 1:45pm Sunday, February 15 • 10:30pm Hotel Gramercy Park I Think We’re Alone Now

USA, 2008, 74 minutes USA, 2008, 70 minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere Northwest Regional Premiere

Hotel Gramercy Park is perhaps the I Think We’re Alone Now focuses on two real life story behind The Shining, a individuals, Jeff and Kelly, who claim story of ghosts, madness, betrayal to be in love with the 80’s pop singer and redemption. From the eccentric Tiffany. The film takes you inside the owner who realized too late that he lonely lives of these two characters, shouldn’t have raised his family there, revealing the source of their clinging to the drug-fueled parties amidst rock- obsessions. This age-old story of and-roll royalty like David Bowie, Madonna and The Clash, the Gramercy Park Hotel, and its unrequited love takes a comedic and emotional trip through themes of desperation, isolation, countless inhabitants, is an integral part of New York history. and hope, in the end showing that having something, or someone, to believe in can be more powerful than anything reality has to offer. Director: Douglas Keeve Director: Sean Donnelly

Sunday, February 15 • 3:00pm Wednesday, February 18 • 5:00pm I Can See Everything I=me2

USA, 2008, 5 minutes USA, 2008, 8 minutes

World Premiere Montana Premiere Minidoc Competition This film poem considers the planet The parallels and divergences of twins through the words of Yuri Gagarin Chris and Kevin as they get ready for aboard the first manned space flight work one morning. in 1961.

Director: Kristine Samuelson Screening with Shorts Program #2 Director: Kevin Thomas

40 41 Wednesday, February 18 • 5:00pm Monday, February 16 • 11:45am Ice Fishing Immokalee U.S.A.

Canada, 2008, 8 minutes USA, 2008, 77 minutes

Montana Premiere Northwest Regional Premiere

As the ice fishing season comes to a ...an intimately observed documentary close, families and friends drive to their focused on today’s migrant huts on the frozen lake to get away farmworker, a misunderstood, from the city, breathe fresh air, drink a maligned, necessary yet frequently few beers and fish one last time before forgotten group living in the shadows the surface of the lake melts away. of America’s massive food production machinery. Georg Koszulinski’s at Director: Ari Cohen times invisible camera follows a family of undocumented workers as they work hard, raise their children, and are systematically exploited with poor conditions, menial wages, and the threat of prosecution constantly hanging over them.

Screening with 111o Longitude Director: Georg Koszulinski

Saturday, February 21 • 12:30pm Saturday, February 14 • 6:30pm Iconoclasts: SEAN PENN & JON KRAKAUER In A Dream

USA, 2007, 45 minutes USA, 2008, 78 minutes

Joe Berlinger Retrospective Montana Premiere Documentary Feature Competition Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer’s In A Dream is the story of Isaiah Zagar, bestselling novel adapted for film by the renowned Philadelphia mosaic Sean Penn,serves as a roadmap for artist, and his wife Julia. Touching on their journey to Alaska. The two retrace themes of infidelity, drug-addiction, backpacker Chris McCandless’ steps obsession and ultimately, forgiveness, along the Stampede Trail to the bus In A Dream explores the joys as well where he was found dead 15 years ago. as the pitfalls of a life lived in pursuit of While driving, flying in a helicopter and hiking to the shrine-like bus, the duo share a deep artistic discovery and presents a hopeful portrait of a couple rediscovering the value of their connection to the Alaskan landscape and discuss their thoughts on McCandless’ spirit of marriage, their family and the dreams they’ve created together. adventure, their common bond with nature and the creative process it inspires. Director: Jeremy Yaches (in attendance) Director: Joe Berlinger (in attendance) Screening with Gray Matter

Sunday, February 15 • 1:40pm • Wilma 2 Tuesday, February 17 • 6:30pm Imagine the Sound In Place Out Of Time

USA, 1981/2007, USA, 2008, 45 minutes 90 minutes Northwest Regional Premiere Ron Mann Retrospective Big Sky Award Competition The first feature documentary by Ron In Place Out of Time is a poetic portrait Mann is an eloquent tribute to a group of a fourth generation New Mexican of highly celebrated artists that helped who sold his backhoe and picked up forge the avant-garde jazz of the 1960s. a camera in pursuit of a photographic quest. At the age of 65, Embree Critic and film historian Jonathan “Sonny” Hale had a spark of inspiration Rosenbaum has said Imagine and started a quixotic journey to take The Sound “may be the best documentary on free jazz that we have.” The film features a picture of every petroglyph and pictograph in New Mexico. This film illustrates Hale’s day- articulate interviews and dramatic performances by pianists Cecil Taylor and Paul Bley, tenor to-day triumphs, challenges and survival strategies as he pursues his passion to capture and saxophone Archie Shepp, and trumpet player Bill Dixon. preserve the memory of ancient inscriptions on rock. landscape, and memory.

Director: Ron Mann (in attendance) Screening with Shorts Program #5 Director: Erin Hudson (in attendance)

42 43 Wednesday, February 20 • 11:30pm Wednesday, February 18 • 5:00pm Instrument Jetty

USA, 2008, 55 minutes USA, 2008, 7 minutes

Brendan Canty Retrospective Montana Premiere

A feature length film/video about A “Mom and Pop” fishery on the the band Fugazi. A collaboration Oregon Coast is threatened by an between filmmaker Jem Cohen and ecologically unsustainable crabbing the Washington DC band, the project policy. covers the ten-year period from the band’s inception in 1987. Far from a traditional documentary, the project is a musical document: a portrait of musicians at work. Director: Karlyn Gibson

Direcor: Jem Cohen

Saturday, February 14 • 11:30am Sunday, February 22 • 3:15pm • Wilma 2 Intifada NYC Jobsite

USA, 2008, 42 minutes USA, 2009, 37 minutes

World Premiere World Premiere Short Film Competition The United States’ first Arabic language John Nizzari gives an intriguing inside public school opened in New York City perspective of a union construction site to a firestorm of controversy. As right and humanizes the nameless men who wing critics and the media stoked the build New York City. Through a series of flames in the uneasy climate of post- interviews and debates, the outspoken 9/11 America, the fallout brought tragic workers candidly express their views on consequences to the school’s founding religion, government and race. Soon, principal. camaraderie and banter give way to rage and suffering. Captured with raw insight, tensions ultimately build and graphic events unfold, during the rise of a luxury condominium on the Director: David Teague (in attendance) Screening with Shorts Program #1 west side of Manhattan.

Screening with Shorts Program #6 Director: John Nizzari

Sunday, February 15 • 3:00pm Saturday, February 21 • 11:50pm Jennifer Killer Poet

USA, 2008, 5 minutes USA, 2008, 77 minutes

World Premiere Northwest Regional Premiere Minidoc Competition In the short film Jennifer, filmmaker Killer Poet is the story of Norman Stewart Copeland explores his Porter, a convicted double murderer relationship with his mother through a from Massachusetts who served 25 recorded conversation between eighth- years in prison before escaping to grade students and astronauts aboard Chicago. There he spent the next two the international space station. decades living as a poet/intellectual by the name of JJ Jameson - an Director: Stewart Copeland (in attendance) Screening with Shorts Program #2 elaborately crafted false identity - until he was apprehended in 2005.

Director: Susan Gray

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46 47 Monday, February 16 • 1:15pm Monday, February 16 • 2:45pm The Last Butcher in Little Italy Living Lightly

USA, 2007, 6 minutes USA/Canada, 2007, 24 minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere Northwest Regional Premiere Short Film Competition The Last Butcher In Little Italy Living Lghtly offers a magical glimpse documents the changing landscape of into a world where one 21st century little Italy, told by one Italian American family lives with the land in its seasons. who never left the famous Manhattan In a corner of New Brunswick, Canada, neighborhood. the craft of scything, is practised as meditation in action. Robin Burke’s poetic film explores a way of relating to and loving the land and the bounty it conveys in return for devotion. Cassis Birgit Staudt’s Director: Laura Terruso (in attendance) Screening with Shorts Program #3 music works with the dancing rhythms of the scythe. This is a study in how we might heal our relationship with planet Earth.

Screening with The Ghost Mountain Experiment Director: Robin Burke

Tuesday, February 17 • 6:30pm Sunday, February 22 • 4:30pm Lessons in America: EPISODE 17: MONTANA The Lord God Bird: THE ENDURING QUEST FOR THE IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER USA, 2008, 4 minutes USA, 2008, 91 minutes

World Premiere Montana Premiere

Episode 17 of Lessons in America The report in the spring of 2005 that the recounts Montana’s history through a ivory-billed woodpecker, supposedly unique set of eyes: white, patriarchal extinct, had been discovered deep in hegemony. Bring the kids! the swamps of Arkansas made front- page news across the country and even around the world. These news reports, however, told only part of the story. Director: Andrew Sobey Screening with Shorts Program #5 While for the majority of Americans this came as a wholly unexpected piece of rare good news from the conservation front, to the inner circle of bird enthusiasts this was the latest installment in a very old, indeed legendary tale of hope and survival.

Director: George Butler

Sunday, February 22 • 1:00pm Sunday, February 22 • 1:15pm • Wilma 2 Life.Support.Music Lost in the Fog

USA, 2008, 79 minutes USA, 2007, 81 minutes

Montana Premiere Northwest Regional Premiere

From Independent Spirit Award- It had all the makings of a horse-racing nominated director Eric Daniel Metzgar fable - a cantankerous owner, a salty comes a documentary film about trainer, and a blazing fast blue-collar recovery. This epic but intimate journey colt - but the equine gods intervene at about a young, successful musician the last minute to turn this fairy tale who suffers a brain injury proves that upside down. ‘family’ may be the strongest material in the universe. Featuring interviews with Norah Jones, Marshall Crenshaw, Teddy Thompson Director: John Corey and others.

Director: Eric Metzgar

48 49 Tuesday, February 17 • 8:00pm Wednesday, February 18 • 5:00pm March Point Meet the Freegans

USA, 2008, 54 minutes USA, 2008, 7 minutes

World Premiere Montana Premiere Big Sky Award Competition Cody Nick and Travis, three teens from Steve is an educated man. A school the Swinomish Tribe, wanted to teacher. A home owner. He also enjoys make a gangster movie, but they ended eating food from dumpsters. up filming one about the impact of two oil refineries on their rez.

A film by: Tracy Rector, Annie Silverstein, Nick Clark, Cody Director: Travis Sheilds Cayou and Travis Tom (in attendance) Screening with Frontier Youth

Sunday, February 15 • 4:45pm Sunday, February 15 • midnight Mare Liberum Mellodrama

USA, 2008, 8 minutes USA, 2008, 75 minutes

World Premiere Northwest Regional Premiere

Created in anticipation of the twenty- From a California garage to Royal year anniversary of the Tiananmen Albert Hall, how the haunting sound Square protest, Mare Liberum is a of an ingenious contraption called the motion-design series juxtaposing Mellotron changed the production key moments in American, Chinese and texture of popular music, from and European history between 1974 “Strawberry Fields” and the Moody and 1989 that set a pattern for global Blues to Radiohead and Kanye West. development in the twenty-first century. Director: Dianna Dilworth (in attendance) Directors: Dr. Robert Batchelor & Sari Gilbert (in attendance)

Screening with Crude Independence

Saturday, February 21 • 5:05pm • Wilma 2 Saturday, February 21 • 2:30pm • Wilma 2 Matchstick Traveller Metallica: SOME KIND OF MONSTER

Germany, 2008, 53 minutes USA, 2003, 140 minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere Joe Berlinger Retrospective

“Al Hansen – The Matchstick Traveller” Three years in the making, this film portrays an artist who was everything provides a fascinating, in-depth at once: beat poet, pop artist, portrait of the most successful heavy performer, Fluxus artist, author, porn metal band of all time, as they faced editor, actor, composer, punk band monumental personal and professional manager - an axis for all post war challenges while recording their first movements, and still an outcast. The studio album of original songs in five film looks back at his chaotic life, and examines the notion of failure. years. The film trades rock-star posing for truthful introspection, and reveals an intimate portrait of the individuals behind a legendary band and their unique creative journey. Director: Mareike Wegener Screening with Monster Dudes Director: Joe Berlinger (in attendance)

50 51 Friday, February 20 • 10:00am Saturday, February 21 • 5:05pm Milking the Rhino Monster Dudes

USA, Namibia, South Africa, USA, 2008, 22 minutes Kenya, 2008, 83 minutes Montana Premiere Northwest Regional Premiere Two of the oldest cattle cultures on Heralding from Boise, ID, a five-year- earth are beginning to see that wildlife old noise-rock drummer and his father conservation can rival the benefits of tour the country with their masked livestock. Not all community members band of ‘Monster Dudes,’ bestowing embrace change. Shot in some of joyful havoc in the ears of the innocent. the world’s most magnificent locales, Welcome to the Monster Dudes Milking The Rhino offers complex, playground, a space where adults are intimate portraits of rural Africans in deep cultural change. free to be children, and children are free to rock. Director: David E. Simpson Screening with Africa 11 Screening with Matchstick Traveller Director: Lance Bauscher

Friday, February 20 • 4:45pm • Wilma 2 Monday, February 16 • 9:45pm The Money Fix Mrs. Hendersons Kids

USA, 2008, 79 minutes USA, 2007, 7 minutes

World Premiere Northwest Regional Premiere

Money is at the intersection of nearly A retired elementary school teacher every aspect of modern life. Most who never had children but has of us take the monetary system for instead collected, named, and given granted, but it has a profound and personalities to thousands of dolls largely misunderstood influence on our contemplates what her collection lives. The Money Fix is a feature-length means to both her own and society’s documentary exploring our society’s views of girlhood, motherhood, and relationship with the almighty dollar. old age.

Director: Alan Rosenblith (in attendance) Screening with Bloodsucker Screening with Shorts Program #4 Director: Veena Rao (in attendance)

Sunday, February 15 • 12:00pm Sunday, February 15 • 5:15pm • Wilma 2 The Mongolian Marmot Naturally Obsessed

USA, 2008, 23 minutes USA, 2008, 60 minutes

World Premiere Northwest Regional Premiere

This is the story of the Mongolian The pressure is on as three graduate Marmot and its unique place in both students race to beat the competition past and present Mongolian culture. to discover the switch that controls Today, the marmots in Mongolia are appetite in the human body. First, they threatened by over-hunting and habitat must conquer their personal demons: destruction and the loss of this species Gabrielle, timidity; Rob, rebelliousness, would cause devastation across the Kil, ambivalence. Professor Larry is a genial mentor and a tough critic, but his success entire ecosystems they support. ‘The Mongolian Marmot’ features Mongolians from all walks depends on theirs! of life- from nomadic herders to young biologists- to tell unique and fascinating cultural importance and natural history of the Mongolian Marmot. Directors: Richard Rifkind & Carole Rifkind

Director: Thomas Winston (in attendance) Screening with Red Gold

52 53 Monday, February 16 • 9:45pm Friday, February 13 • 11:15pm No Strings Attached Omen

USA, 2008, 37 minutes Australia, 2007, 5 minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere North American Premiere

Bursting with sex appeal and kitschy Omen has been redefining the charm, No Strings Attached is a playful boundaries of graffiti with his singular romp through the world of burlesque, style of painting, both on and off from the late nineteenth century to the streets. Using spray cans as his today. The film peeks through feathers primary medium, he has been leading and glitter at the Scenic Sisters, a San the aerosol movement towards a Francisco duo, as they prepare for the international Tease-o-Rama convention. truce with the established art world. No other medium has met with such resistance in its quest to be accepted as a valid form of Director: Lisa Whitmer (in attendance) Screening with Shorts Program #4 expression. The majority of the art world’s curators and collectors continue to view graffiti as a form of vandalism and “lower art”. This is where Omen wants to set things straight.

Screening with Number One With a Bullet Director: Oksana Sokol

Friday, February 13 • 11:15pm Friday, February 20 • 3:15pm Number One With a Bullet One Bad Cat

USA, 2008, 90 minutes USA, 2008, 81 minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere Montana Premiere

This film documents gun culture and Meet renowned outsider artist, violence within the urban community Reverend Albert Wagner-outrageous and its relation to Rap Music. Featuring and unforgettable. Miraculously interviews with recording artists on transformed by religion at age 50, both ends of the barrel (Young Buck, B Albert was called by God to paint and Real, Obie Trice, The Last Mr. Bigg, and used this gift to renounce a life of sin Prodigy), they are joined by a diverse and inspire others. Still, controversy cast of Hip Hop luminaries (Mos Def, KRS One, Ice Cube, 50 Cent, Prodigy, Jerry Heller and surrounds the Reverend’s work, which at times provokes unexpected racial tension. Judge more) community activists, police officers, doctors and citizens to expose the physical, mental for yourself...... this One Bad Cat! and emotional scars of gun violence in the streets and in the music. Director: Thomas Miller Director: James Dziura (in attendance) Screening with Omen

Sunday, February 15 • 3:00pm Saturday, February 14 • 3:30pm • Wilma 2 The Oldest Tree Out Late

USA, 1997, 13 minutes USA, 2008, 62 minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere Montana Premiere

Bristlecone pines are the oldest Out Late introduces five individuals living trees on earth. Their gnarled who made a decisive change later in appearance on precarious rocky life — to come out as lesbian, gay, or perches is unforgettable. The Oldest transgender — as senior citizens. Why Tree appears to simply educate did they wait until their 50’s, 60’s, or the viewer about bristlecones but a 70’s to come out? And what was the surprise is in store when modern man turning point that caused each of these meets ancient tree. Human perceptions of time and relationship to other organisms are people finally to openly declare their sexuality? From Canada to Florida to Kansas, we find out called into question. what ultimately led these dynamic individuals to make the liberating choice to pursue fully integrated lives. Director: Dale Elrod Screening with Shorts Program #2 Director: Jennifer Brooke

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56 57 Friday, February 20 • 2:00pm • Wilma 2 Sunday, February 15 • 11:40am • Wilma 2 Paradise Lost: THE CHILD MURDERS AT Poetry in Motion ROBIN HOOD WOODS

USA, 1996, 150 minutes USA, 1982, 90 minutes

Joe Berlinger Retrospective Ron Mann Retrospective

One of the most provocative and Called the “Woodstock of Poetry” by influential true crime films of all time, American Film, and “Dazzling” by the Paradise Lost captures the infamous Los Angeles Times, Poetry in Motion is saga of the 1993 “West Memphis an unprecedented anthology of twenty- Three” murders. When the bodies of four leading North American poets who three eight-year-old boys were found sing, chant, anything but “read” their mutilated in an Arkansas ditch bank, work. Featuring performances by Alan the public demanded an answer. Local police quickly arrested three disaffected teenagers, Ginsberg, Tom Waits, Amiri Baraka, labeling the killings “Satanic.” The film is a heartbreaking portrait of a community in agony, a Charles Bukowski, and others. tense courtroom drama and a stunning depiction of the American justice system. Director: Ron Mann (in attendance) Director: Joe Berlinger (in attendance)

Saturday, February 14 • 10:00am Monday, February 16 • 5:45pm Pickin’ & Trimmin’ Prodigal Sons

USA, 2008, 23 minutes USA, 2008, 86 minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere Montana Premiere Short Film Competition Documentary Feature Competition At a rural North Carolina barbershop, Kimberly Reed returns home to a small the atmosphere is laidback, the town in Montana for her high school conversation free, and the music a cut reunion, hoping for reconciliation above the rest. An engagingly genuine with her long-estranged adopted slice of old-time Americana. brother. But along the way Prodigal Sons uncovers stunning revelations, Director: Matt Morris Screening with Summer Sun Winter Moon including a blood relationship to Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth, intense sibling rivalries, and unforeseeable twists of plot and gender. This unflinching look at identity and the past challenges us to wonder if we can ever truly become someone new.

Director: Kimberly Reed (in attendance)

Sunday, February 22 • 3:15pm • Wilma 2 Saturday, February 14 • 11:30am Pigeon Men Propaganda Repolution

Australia, 2008, 8 minutes Germany/Spain, 2008, 9 minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere World Premiere

A short documentary about the bizarre Horna is a culture jammer from subculture of pigeon-flying. Pigeon Men Barcelona, Spain. His new graffiti follows a group of men in Sydney’s campaign “Propaganda Repolution” Western suburbs, as they travel from exploits his own image as a means backyard to backyard showcasing their to subvert mass marketing. With the birds in monthly flies. Ismail, a fast street as his canvas, Horna steals the talking bodybuilder and former national advertising monopoly from big media champion, judges these competitions. The obsession and devotion these men have for their and connects art with the public on a pigeons, and the tight knit community of the flyers, is fascinating. more personal level.

Director: Marryanne Christodoulou Screening with Shorts Program #6 Screening with Shorts Program #1 Director: Jeremy Flores

58 59 Sunday, February 15 • 12:00pm Saturday, February 14 • 8:15pm Red Gold The Reverse Graffiti Project

USA, 2008, 55 minutes USA, 2008, 4 minutes

Montana Premiere Northwest Regional Premiere Big Sky Award Competition Minidoc Competition Imagine a pristine Alaskan watershed He calls himself Moose, and his art with the most productive Sockeye is called reverse graffiti. No paint. salmon rivers in the world, teeming No defacing. He creates his art by with millions of native fish pushing cleaning, by removing the ills of dirt up river to spawn. Now imagine the and pollution, by de-defacing, leaving world’s largest open pit gold and nothing behind but things the way copper mine at their headwaters. they’re meant to be. Produced by Felt Soul Media and Trout Unlimited Alaska, Red Gold is a one-hour documentary film on the proposed Pebble Mine told through the voices of commercial, Screening with The Rock-afire Explosion Director: Amanda Goodroe subsistence and sport fishermen of Bristol Bay, Alaska.

Directors: Ben Knight, Travis Rummel (in attendance) Screening with The Mongolian Marmot

Wednesday, February 18 • 5:00pm Saturday, February 20 • 5:00pm Red Light Blues Rocaterrania

Netherlands, 2008, USA, 2008, 55 minutes 8 minutes Sneak Preview Montana Premiere Could this be the Swan Song of the Rocaterrania is a feature-length world’s oldest profession? documentary journey into the secret world of 76-year old Renaldo Kuhler, a visionary artist who invented an imaginary country to survive his disaffected youth, and illustrated the nation’s history for six decades. Director: Izzy Abrahami Director: Brett Ingram (in attendance)

Saturday, February 21 • 10:00am • Wilma 2 Saturday, February 14 • 8:15pm Revelations: PARADISE LOST 2 The Rock-afire Explosion

USA, 1999, 130 minutes USA, 2008, 69 minutes

Joe Berlinger Retrospective World Premiere Documentary Feature Competition Picking up where Paradise Lost left The Rock-afire Explosion is the story of a off, this disturbing sequel revisits small-town car salesman, a struggling the notorious Robin Hood Hills case inventor, and an animatronic rock band, six years after the murders, offering that quickly becomes an eccentric fascinating new evidence and a variety portrait of childhood memories, broken of alternative theories about what really dreams, and the resilience of the happened in West Memphis on May 5th human spirit. 1993. Featuring new interviews with nearly all of the key players in the story, the film answers a number of lingering questions while raising many new concerns about the likelihood of a Screening with The Reverse Graffiti Project Director: Brett Whitcomb (in attendance) gross miscarriage of justice having occurred.

Director: Joe Berlinger (in attendance)

60 61 Wednesday, February 18 • 8:45pm Monday, February 16 • 4:20pm Rough Aunties The Secret Life of Beards

United Kingdom/South Africa, USA, 2008, 6 minutes 2008, 103 minutes Northwest Regional Premiere World Premiere Documentary Feature Competition Minidoc Competition

Fearless, feisty and resolute, the A Muslim, a Sikh, a world champion... ‘Rough Aunties’ are a remarkable How does having a beard affect our group of women unwavering in their perception of ourself and the people stand to protect and care for the around us? What compels those abused, neglected and forgotten who have beards to stand by their children of Durban, South Africa. The facial foliage? In an age when the film follows the outspoken, multiracial beard is at once more trendy and cadre of Thuli, Mildred, Sdudla, Eureka and Jackie, as they wage a daily battle against more controversial than ever ‘The Secret Life of Beards’ explores man’s most evocative and systemic apathy, corruption and greed to help the most vulnerable and disenfranchised of distinctive facial feature. Challenging documentary’s traditional mode - the film incorporates, their communities. Neither politics, nor social or racial divisions stand a chance against the performance, stunning visual imagery, and original music. united force of the women. Screening with Carts of Darkness Director: Melanie Levy Director: Kim Longinotto Monday, February 16 • 9:45pm Saturday, February 14 • 11:30am Roz (and Joshua) Secret: THE JOSEPHINE BAKER FBI FILES

USA, 2009, 3 minutes USA, 2005, 18 minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere Northwest Regional Premiere Minidoc Competition A mother’s longing for her child Drawn from over a thousand FBI files can create optimism even in the and archival material, Secret tells face of extreme destitution. That the story of revered artist entertainer all-consuming love pushes Roz to Josephine Baker and two men who liberate her heart and mind from pursued her: media personality Walter the suffocating confines of her daily Winchell and FBI director J.Edgar struggle. The result is hope, which resonates as strength in Roz’s voice in this minimalist film Hoover. Mixing old and new sound and buoyed by black and white imagery. images to link the present and past, Secret uncovers Baker’s little known identity as a human rights activist. Director: Charlene Music Screening with Shorts Program #4 Screening with Shorts Program #1 Director: Kathy Corley (in attendance)

Monday, February 16 • 9:45pm Sunday, February 22 • 3:15pm • Wilma 2 Say Cheese: THE HAMBURGER HARRY STORY Smile Boston Project

USA, 2008, 6 minutes USA, 2007, 20 minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere Northwest Regional Premiere

Enter into the exciting and wacky world Smile Boston Project follows artist Bren of hamburger memorabilia! Your tour Bataclan through the first four years guide: the eccentric yet charming Harry of his Smile Boston Project in which Sperl (preferred alias, Hamburger he leaves paintings in public places Harry) who has procured over 10,000 for people to find with a note that says, pieces of “burgerbelia” over the past ‘this painting is yours to keep if you twenty years. promise to smile at random people more often.’ Director: Erin Szwejkowski (in attendance) Screening with Shorts Program #4 Screening with Shorts Program #6 Director: David Tames

62 63 Tuesday, February 17 • 11:30pm Saturday, February 14 • 10:00am Song Sung Blue Summer Sun Winter Moon

USA, 2008, 87 minutes USA, 2008, 56 minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere Montana Premiere Big Sky Award Competition Song Sung Blue is a documentary An unlikely collaboration between a feature film that tells the alternately Blackfeet poet and an unconventional inspiring and tragic love story of classical composer results in a Lightning & Thunder, a homegrown provocative symphony about the Milwaukee husband and wife singing Lewis and Clark expedition from the duo who pay tribute to the music of perspective of American Indians today. Neil Diamond. Screening with Pickin' & Trimmin' Director: Hugo Perez Director: Greg Kohs

Sunday, February 15 • 7:00pm Sunday, February 22 • 10:00am South: ERNEST SHACKLETON AND Summerchild THE ENDURANCE

Antarctica, 1919, 80 minutes Finland/Russia, 2007, 60 minutes

Special Screening Northwest Regional Premiere with the Alloy Orchestra Live! When Sir Ernest Shackleton set sail Can charity save a broken childhood? on the Endurance on August 8, 1914, An internationally awarded he was already an internationally documentary film that follows the renowned Antarctic explorer and a emotions and journey of an 11-year-old national hero. He planned a brave Svetlana as she travels from a Russian attempt to cross the continent of Antarctica via the Pole. With an eye toward profiting from orphanage to a Finnish family to spend their adventures, Shackleton hired experienced cameraman Frank Hurley. But within a day’s her summer vacation. travel of land, the Endurance was trapped in unusually heavy pack ice. What followed is one of the greatest adventure stories ever and a unbelievable tale of courage and survival. Screening with 10 Short Documentaries... Director: Iris Olsson Sponsored by: Director: Frank Hurley

Wednesday, February 18 • 5:00pm Saturday, February 21 • 10:00am Stick & Pound Sync or Swim

USA, 2008, 5 minutes USA, 2008, 90 minutes

Montana Premiere Montana Premiere

A documentary that explores the Dive into the world of elite synchronized rhythmic language of the Gullah swimming as 9 young women compete people. for spots on the U.S. Synchronized Swimming team and train in pursuit of an Olympic medal. Day after day, these swimmers hone their skills and perfect the timing of their precisely choreographed routines. In the midst of their training, they Director: It Donned On Me Productions pull together to support a teammate who attempts to recover from an unthinkable tragedy. Juxtaposing scenes that are intense and emotional, uplifting and mesmerizing, humorous and heart breaking, Sync or Swim offers a candid, intimate look at this misunderstood sport.

Screening with Bingo Nation Director: Cheryl Furjanic (in attendance)

64 65 Sunday, February 15 • 10:00am • Wilma 2 Friday, February 13 • 6:00pm Free Screening! Presented by Tales of the Rat Fink Thriller in Manila

USA, 2006, 76 minutes USA, 2008, 94 minutes Ron Mann Retrospective Opening Night Special Event From the award-winning director of In 1975, former friends Muhammad Ali Comic Book Confidential and Grass and Joe Frazier met in the Philip- comes Tales Of The Rat Fink, Ron pines for their third and final contest, Mann’s wildly inventive bio about now considered among the greatest Renaissance man Ed “Big Daddy” boxing matches in history. Set against Roth, who engineered a shift in mid- the backdrop of racial politics, the twentieth century culture with his documentary follows this iconic event customized cars, “monster” T-shirts and America’s alternative rodent - “Rat Fink.” to its gripping conclusion, telling the story from the perspective of “the other man in the ring” - Frazier - and underscoring the role of the media in creating modern-day heroes. An official Director: Ron Mann (in attendance) selection of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

Director: John Dower

Tuesday, February 17 • 5:00pm Sunday, February 22 • 6:15pm Tattooed Under Fire Throw Down Your Heart

USA, 2008, 56 minutes USA/Gambia/Mali/Tanzania/ Uganda, 2008, 97 minutes World Premiere Montana Premiere Tattooed Under Fire is an intimate, Uplifting and inspiring, this is the type character-driven portrait of war-bound of film capable of really connecting with and returning soldiers as they go under audiences. Bela Fleck’s boundary- the tattoo needle. The film interweaves breaking musical adventure takes him the soldiers' personal stories with to Uganda, Tanzania, The Gambia, and the visual expressions of the tattoos Mali, and provides a glimpse of the themselves- an evocative, poignant and highly personal look at the human and cultural cost beauty and complexity of Africa. Using of war. his banjo, Bela transcends barriers of language-the musicians literally converse through song, speaking notes instead of words- and culture, finding common ground and forging Director: Nancy Schiesari (in attendance) Screening with The First Kid to Learn English ... connections with musicians from very different backgrounds.

Director: Sascha Paladino

Sunday, February 22 • 11:30am Saturday, February 14 • 3:00pm That’s My Time Today the Hawk Takes One Chick

Canada, 2008, 70 minutes USA/Swaziland, 2008, 72 minutes Northwest Regional Premiere Northwest Regional Premiere That’s My Time chronicles comedian Witnessing the highest prevalence of Irwin Barker on his journey with HIV in the world and the lowest life terminal cancer, and his determination expectancy, three grandmothers in that he will “find the funny” in what Swaziland cope in this critical moment is for most of us the least funny in time. Today The Hawk Takes One predicament imaginable. Chick moves delicately between the lives of three unique grandmothers Director: Adamm Liley (in attendance) whose experiences highlight a rural community at the threshold of simultaneous collapse and reinvention. Presented without narration, the film’s drama emerges from the patient accumu- lation of steady details that, in sum, tell a greater story of family, struggle, and the weight of an uncertain future in a world dictated by AIDS.

Screening with Tucheze Director: Jane Gillooly (in attendance)

66 67 Saturday, February 14 • 3:00pm Monday, February 16 • 1:30pm • Wilma 2 Tucheze Water Paper Time

Denmark/Tanzania, USA, 2008, 16 minutes 2008, 55 minutes Montana Premiere World Premiere By a crackled house corner in Rundugai, What is the relationship between art a small village in Northern and nature? In Gretchen Hogue’s short Tanzania, where the horizon is film Water Paper Time the gradual and dominated by the reflection of the glaring oftentimes imperceptible processes sunlight in the snow-covered peaks of of natural change are given artistic Kilimanjaro, you discover a gathering of form through a sensitive portrayal of men all facing their common passion: A the work of paper artist Helen Hiebert. Using time-lapse photography the film explores how board game. external forces such as time, gravity and molecular structure bend, tear and wrinkle Hiebert’s handmade paper, producing startlingly allusive and organic forms which recall the fibers and Director: Benjamin Kirk Nielsen Screening with Today the Hawk Takes One Chick plants that the artist used in the paper-making process.

Screening with As Slow As Possible Director: Helen Hiebert

Saturday, February 14 • 12:00pm • Wilma 2 Friday, February 21 • 5:00pm Twist The Way We Get By

USA, 1992, 78 minutes USA, 2008, 83 minutes

Ron Mann Retrospective Sneak Preview

Combining rare and often hilarious A captivating and intimate look at three archival footage with interviews, Twist senior citizens in America as they chronicles the evolution of rock and roll struggle with the losses that come with dance. From the time when moving hips growing old and the uplifting ways they marked you as a social degenerate, to a rediscover their reasons for living. By time when shaking your “thing” became greeting nearly one million troops at the dance-form that rocked the world. a tiny airport in Maine, they find the strength to overcome their personal battles and demonstrate the meaning of community at a Director: Ron Mann (in attendance) time when most Americans have lost faith in their country.

Director: Aron Gaudet (in attendance)

Tuesday, February 17 • 9:30pm Friday, February 13 • 9:30pm Upstream Battle We Are Wizards

USA/Germany, 2008, 98 minutes USA, 2008, 79 minutes

Northwest Regional Premiere Montana Premiere Big Sky Award Competition Native Americans in Northern We Are Wizards tracks the influential California fight for their fish and for the figures leading the creative subculture survival of their culture -- against an surrounding the popular series. The energy corporation. The tribes along film follows a set of individuals ranging the Klamath River are about to trigger from web journalists, authors, artists, the largest dam removal project in filmmakers and musicians, as they history. enhance and expand the Harry Potter story, often in unexpected ways. We Are Wizards is a portrayal of creative fans with a common Director: Ben Kempas (in attendance) goal: to make their voices heard.

Director: Josh Koury

68 69 Tuesday, February 17 • 6:30pm Saturday, February 21 • 3:15pm Western Brothers’ Adventure Story Witch Hunt

USA, 2008, 79 minutes USA, 2007, 91 minutes

Montana Premiere Northwest Regional Premiere

A young boy living in rural Texas Sean Penn narrates Witch Hunt, a constructs an adventure story gripping documentary chronicling the incorporating family, friends, and the unraveling of a small town’s justice filmmaker. system. The people in this film were all working class moms and dads who were wrongly convicted of child molestation in Bakersfield, California Director: Drew Xanthopoulos Screening with Shorts Program #5 in the 1980’s. They served lengthy prison time and were ultimately exonerated. All of the convicted were recklessly pursued by the same District Attorney who remains in office today.

Director: Don Hardy

Saturday, February 21 • 1:30pm Saturday, February 21 • 9:15pm Whatever it Takes Youssou Ndour: I BRING WHAT I LOVE

USA, 2008, 92 minutes Switzerland/Luxembourg/ Senegal, 2008, 103 minutes Sneak Preview Northwest Regional Premiere Whatever It Takes chronicles the first A vibrant, soulful and in-depth look at year of a radically innovative high one of the world's most popular and school in New York City’s notorious inspiring musicians, Senegalese hero South Bronx. This deeply emotional, Youssou Ndour, Youssou Ndour: I Bring verité-style documentary examines the What I Love was shot over two years lives of two characters: Edward Tom, and across three continents. It follows the school’s brash rookie principal, and the Grammy-winning African icon as he releases his most ambitious album, Egypt, a best- Sharifea Baskerville, a spunky ninth-grade girl with big dreams but even bigger obstacles. selling record in which, for the first time, Ndour sings about Islam. Upon release in Senegal, the album was considered blasphemous, bringing Ndour, perhaps the most popular Muslim Director: Christopher Wong (in attendance) artist in the world, face to face with the contradictions of his own religion.

Director: Chai Vasarhelyi

Saturday, February 14 • 1:15pm Who Does She Think She Is?

USA/St. Vincent/Grenadines, 2008, 84 minutes

Montana Premiere In a half-changed world, women often feel they need to choose. Who Does She Think She Is?, a documentary by Academy Award-winning producer Pamela Tanner Boll, features five bold women who navigate some of the most problematic intersections of our time: parenting and creativity, partnering and independence, economics and art.

Director: Pamela T. Boll (in attendance) Sponsored by L.E.A.W. Family Foundation

70 71 Festival Sponsors & Contributors Please support our advertising sponsors with your patronage.

1st Way Pregnancy Support Center Located in the new City Life Center, 1st Way provides complimentary pregnancy tests, ultra- sounds, counseling, clothing, and diapers to women facing unplanned pregnancy. 1515 Fairview Ave. Suite 250, Missoula 406.549.0406 www.1stway.org Big Dipper Ice Cream Located just across the bridge from the Wilma on the corner of 5th and Higgins. Big Dipper has been serving up homemade ice cream and sorbet for the past 13 years. We have unique flavors served up in cones, dishes, sundaes and shakes. Voted “Best of Missoula” by both the Independent and Missoulian for as long as we can remember. www.bigdippericecream.com 406.543.5722 Catalyst Café and Espresso Open seven days a week 7a.m. till 5p.m., serving breakfast, lunch, house-baked treats, and excellent coffee. Downtown, in the Florence Building, across from Macy's. 111 North Higgins Ave., Missoula (406) 542-1337 Dark Room Missoula’s locally owned and operated photographic hotspot, located in downtown Missoula, on the corner of Higgins and Main. The Darkroom carries new & used digital & film cameras & accessoreis. We can help you choose and use your equipment. We offer a variety of classes and workshops to help you along your way. We also do film & digital processing, scanning, retouching & printing. 135 North Higgins, Missoula (406) 549-1070 www.darkroomofmontana.com

George M. Olsen, DDS Family and Cosmetic Dentistry. 237 SW Higgins Ave (406) 721-2830 www.smilemissoula.com Monte Dolack Gallery Located around the corner from the Wilma, the gallery displays Monte's award-winning original paintings, lithographs, limited edition prints and fine art posters. 139 W. Front St., Missoula (406) 549-3248 www.dolack.com Ten Spoon Winery A Montana vineyard and winery since 1991 featuring French-American hybrids and using all organic grapes and fruit. For more information visit our website. 4175 Rattlesnake Drive, Missoula (406) 549-8703 www.rattlesnakecreekvinyard.com

are exceedingly grateful for the tremendous support We of our local, regional and national sponsors – with- out whom BSDFF would not be possible. If you are interested in sponsoring next year’s event, please contact Mike Steinberg, the festival director at 406-541-FILM (3456) or drop him a line at [email protected]. Our aim is to make the Big Sky Docu- mentary Film Festival the most enjoyable event in the region. Your feedback is always welcome.

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