Seven of festival's films have familiar setting

By MIKE CAMPBELL
mcampbell@adn.com

Published: November 30th, 2009 10:50 PM
Last Modified: November 30th, 2009 10:51 PM

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Among the array of films at the Anchorage Film Festival are several dealing with the outdoors, with seven set in Alaska.

One is already an award winner. Anchorage photographer Carl Battreall's "Fat Bike," a 26-minute documentary on winter riding in Alaska won first place at the Boston Bike Film Festival earlier this year.

Battreall's film documents the passions and perils of winter biking, following Josh Morehouse and Mike Morganson as they ride through town and train for the Susitna 100 race.

Other outdoors-oriented films at the Anchorage Film Festival are:

• "Year of Denali" -- Chronicle of an 11-member team's adventure as they attempt to reach the summit of Denali, each for different personal reasons. Director: Jonathan Van Ballenberghe. When: 3 p.m. Sunday at Bear Tooth and 5:45 p.m. Dec. 10 at Alaska Experience Theater. Screens with "In the Company of Moose."

• "In the Company of Moose" -- The story of a Denali wildlife biologist who has spent the last three decades observing moose. Director: Gerald Salmina. When: 3 p.m. Sunday at Bear Tooth and 5:45 p.m. Dec. 10 at Alaska Experience Theater. Screens with "Year of Denali." The director will be on hand for both performances, answering questions.

• "Mount St. Elias" -- Three of the world's best ski mountaineers -- an American and two Austrians -- travel to the Mount St. Elias to attempt ski down the second tallest peak in the U.S. When: Sunday at 5:30 p.m., Bear Tooth; Thursday Dec. 10 at 7:30 p.m., Bear Tooth.

• "Paddle to Seattle: Journey Through the Inside Passage" -- For three months, two friends paddle homemade wooden kayaks the length of the Inside Passage and maintain their sense of humor. U.S., 85 minutes. Director: Josh Thomas & J.J. Kelley. When: Monday 8:15 p.m. at the Beartooth; Friday Dec. 11 at 5:45 p.m. at the Alaska Experience Theater 1;

• "Last American Homesteader" -- In the 1960s, a group of Alaskans go into the wild and thrive. U.S., 135 minutes. Director: Fil Pierce. Playing: Sunday at 6:30 p.m. at Anchorage Museum.

• "Ice Bears of the Beaufort" -- A look, five years in the making, at Alaska's Beaufort Sea coast as a critical polar bear habitat endangered by efforts to drill for oil. U.S., 52 minutes. Directors: Jennifer and Authur Smith III. When: Dec. 11 at 6 p.m. at Anchorage Museum.

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