The Anchorage International Film Festival doesn't get underway for another couple of months, but Alaskan film buffs can get their fix Sunday at the Anchorage Museum with a batch of films created by and focusing on Alaska's indigenous peoples at the Alaska Native Film Festival.
The festival, which takes place from 1-6 p.m., will feature a number of events, including a discussion of upcoming opportunities for Alaskan filmmakers to create and share their work, with organizers of the AIFF and a representative from the lengthily-named National Museum of the American Indian Native American Film + Video Festival.
After the presentations, Alaskan filmmakers Rachel Naninaaq Edwardson and Andrew Okpeaha MacLean will present short, previously released films and previews of upcoming works. Edwardson is a documentary filmmaker who is currently producing a series of films titled "The History of the Inupiat," which highlights important events in Alaska Native history in oral history form. The event will feature a preview of the latest installment, which focuses on the ill-fated "Project Chariot," a plan to create a harbor in Northwest Alaska by detonating nuclear bombs -- a plan eventually stopped by a group of Alaska Natives and environmentalists.
MacLean, meanwhile, has been getting positive press for his feature-film "On the Ice," which was screened at Sundance and was filmed entirely in MacLean's hometown of Barrow featuring Alaska Native actors. The feature-length film was inspired in part by an earlier short film entitled "Sikumi."
At Sunday's event, he will screen his 2004 short film, "Natchiliagniaqtuguk Aapagulu," which translates as "Seal Hunting with Dad," as well as a preview for "On the Ice," which is being prepared for U.S. distribution following a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised more than $80,000 for the cause. The preview was created with a portion of those funds.
The event will also feature screenings of short films from two organizations that encourage youth filmmaking, followed by a presentation of five other short films, including the trailer for another full-length Alaska film, "Smokin' Fish," created by Tlingit filmmakers Luke Griswold-Tergis and Cory Mann.
For more information about the Alaska Native Film Festival and all of the guests and films to be screened, visit the event page at the Anchorage Museum.