STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Last March dozens of youngsters managed to get time off from school to crowd into The Argyros for one of the Sun Valley Film Festival’s Coffee Talks.

Their mission: To see a stage full of young actors not much older than themselves who were starring in the popular Netflix series “Outer Banks,” an action-adventure mystery teen drama that plays off the conflict between the wealthy seasonal teens and their working-class counterparts in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Six young actors trotted across the stage sporting new Rising Star Awards given them by the festival. And when it was over the youngsters in the audience ran to the front to get selfies taken with the stars.

Young people—and adults—will get the chance to see more at 5:30 p.m. Monday at The Argyros in Ketchum when the Sun Valley Film Festival offers an advance screening of the third season of the series, then trots out actor Charles Esten, producer Sunny Hodge and Josh Pate, the show’s creator and executive producer.

It just so happens that Pate is the husband of Candice Pate, the Festival’s executive director.

The event is free, thanks to the support of Sun Valley Film Festival patrons. And it’s one of three events the Festival is presenting over President’s Day Weekend with the Festival set to take place March 29-April 2.

• On Sunday, Feb. 19, at 2:30 p.m. the Festival will present a free Encore Presentation screening of the National Geographic Documentary Films’ “Fire of Love” at The Argyros.

  The documentary, which kicks off with fire and molten lava, is billed as the extraordinary love story of French scientists Katia and Maurice Krafft, whose passion for studying volcanoes eventually took them to their deaths in the 1991 eruption of Mount Unzen. Much of the footage in the film, which was nominated for an Academy Award Best Documentary Feature, was taken by the couple.

• On Sunday, Feb. 19, at 5:30 p.m. George Prentice, who has served as moderator for the Film Festival’s Coffee Talks since the Festival’s inception in 2012, will host a fast-paced showcase of the most talked about films of the season at The Argyros. The event will feature exclusive moments with the year’s most celebrated storytellers and offer a sneak peek at the 2023 Sun Valley Film Festival slate.

There also will be prizes, games and more surprises.

Prentice, who hosts Boise Public Radio’s Morning Edition, is a film fanatic who attends several film festivals each year offering him an insider’s look at the industry.

The event is free for those with a Festival Patron Pass and $10 for general admission.

NEW STUDENT PASSES ON SALE

The Sun Valley Film Festival has created a new $75 Student Pass for high school and college students. The Festival is also offering supporters the ability to sponsor a student through a “pass it forward” program for local students.

The Student Pass includes admission to five festival films, the Screenwriters Lab and the Sun Valley Jr. Film competition screening and meet and greet event. As with all festival passes, students with passes will receive priority access to screenings and events over individual ticket holders and the general public.

Passes are available at www.sunvalleyfilmfestival.org.