STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
The poet Maya Angelou once said, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
If that’s the case, an awful lot of agony got released over the duration of the just-ended 2017 Sun Valley Film Festival.
Films cast a light on little known tales, expanding viewers’ knowledge about the world around us.
“I love the film festival because it divides winter from spring. It gives you a chance to get out and see people you haven’t seen in months. And I love hearing from people who are so accomplished and creative. It gets my juices flowing,” said fine artist Steve Behal.
Festival Director Candice Pate said the festival was on pace to exceed last year’s 4,500 ticket sales, even though it butted up against Spring Break for Wood River Valley residents.
“I loved seeing Allison’s William’s movie ‘Get Out’ in the cinnematransformer,” she added. “It’s a fabulous movie.”
One of this year’s sleeper hits was “Finding Oscar,” which depicted the almost serendipitous efforts of Guatemalans to connect the dots to learn who massacred a village full of people years ago.
RFK’s daughter Rory Kennedy presented an absorbing look at big wave surfer Laird Hamilton, capsulizing everything you ever wanted to know about surfing in a two-hour flick that had some viewers ready to jump right into the waves on the screen by the end.
“Menashe” provided a poignant look into Brooklyn’s ultra-orthodox Jewish community—usually closed off to the secular world, serving up the revelation that a good life is composed of a good wife, obedient children and good dishware.
“Dave Made a Maze” turned out to be a wildly creative feature involving cardboard…and more cardboard. Local filmmakers Leah Washawski and Todd Soliday presented an engrossing look at a Holocaust survivor, feeding viewers bits and pieces of her story through the end of the movie, while “Dina” was a sweet, thoughtful tale of love between two autistic people.
Rebecca Rusch’s “Blood Road,” Gerry Moffatt’s “The Tenth Step” and Reed Lindsay’s “Charlie vs. Goliath” scored big points with locals, while Christian Lybrook and Gregory Bayne showed a sneak peak of their new black and white comic noir during a reception at Esta’s.
And “Brave New Jersey” was a lighthearted look at some of the reactions people had when “War of the Worlds” scared a nation in 1938, right down to the guy who panicked and left his wife and kids behind.
“The Sun Valley Opera House was built in 1937 and the broadcast took place in 1938 so there couldn’t be a more fitting place to show it,” Producer Taylor Williams told the audience.
Christine Warjone’s grandson Joey Greene, an aspiring filmmaker living in California, took in everything he could beginning with the Coffee Talks in the morning before watching films until midnight.
“I love bouncing from one thing to another. I especially loved listening to the composers talk about musical scores,” he said. “Nick Urata (‘Crazy Stupid Love’) produced the soundtrack from the best years of my life.”
Christina Calvert was attending her inaugural film festival, having been told by a friend it was a must-do.
“I’ve loved every minute of it,” said Calvert, who took in everything from National Geographic’s Salon Talks to the movies. “I love rubbing elbows with the filmmakers, the people from National Geographic. And I’ve seen some great movies—‘Blood Road,’ the movie on surfing…”
The Sun Valley Film Festival has been a launching pad for aspiring young filmmakers since its inception six years ago, thanks to the Screenwriters Lab, Film Lab and its Future Filmmakers Forum.
Filipe Deandradem, for instance, won a Nat Geo WILD to Inspire contest at the film festival and was back this year touting his new digital series “Untamed with Filipe Deandrade,” which can be seen at natgeowild.com/Untamed.
Film Festival Founder Teddy Grennan presided over a work in progress by other aspiring filmmakers at a Film Lab. He described how “Break the Hold” about at-risk youth who learned about life from wrestling had been cut from 650 hours of raw footage. Grennan said festival organizers spend a year looking for suitable films that are nearly done.
“It’s a really cool idea the Film Festival has for engaging with younger filmmakers,” added Trevor Groth, director of programming for Sundance Film Festival for 25 years. “It’s a chance for them to show their nearly done work to an audience outside their circle of friends to get honest feedback with which to make changes.”