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So last weekend I went to the Bend Film Festival. I remember missing it the year before, and wishing I had gone. My parents live in Bend, so I have a place to stay, making a weekend visit both feasible and affordable. The last, and only other film festival I've attended was the Anchorage International Film Festival in 2005. Jannell Brisson, as an early birthday present, bought me a pass for any and all showings at the AIFF. It was one of the best weeks I ever had to that date, so I figured I could at least get a small slice of that at the Bend festival. So I looked over all the films playing over the two days I could be there, and made myself an itinerary of 6 full-length films, and a smattering of short films, all in the span of 2 days. They also offered free Q&A kind of sessions with film-makers, organized by topic. I attended one on documentary filmmaking and one on how to promote your film once you've already finished it. They both seemed appropriate to my particular situation. Anyway, I went to the film festival to see some cool independent films, and try my hardest not to let my brain ooze out my ears from sitting for so long. But what I came away with was far more than just a couple amazing films, though there were some really amazing films.

So though the films were great, my favorite parts were the little Q&A sessions, particularly the one featuring a panel of documentarians. They talked about their craft, their inspirations, their current projects, and while nothing they said really blew my mind, I was just happy to get to listen to people who vocationally so what I want to do. Two of the filmmakers were particularly interesting to me. Tom Putnam recently made a film called "Red, White, Black and Blue" which is about Attu Island on the tip of the Aleutians. The film follows two WWII vets as they revisit the island 60 years after the 17-day battle to win it back from the Japanese. Attu is the only American soil occupied by a foreign force since 1812. Anyway, it's a great film, and for those of you who are interested, it'll be on PBS on November 6, I believe. The other filmmaker I was interested in is named Adrian Belic. He and his brother were nominated for an Oscar for a documentary they finished in 1999 called "Genghis Blues." If you're a fan of Tuvan throat-singing, (and who isn't in this crazy post-9/11 world) you'll love "Genghis Blues." Adrian's newest film is called "Beyond the Call," and was my favorite documentary of the festival. It chronicles the journeys of three post-middle-aged men as they display the most incredible humanitarian effort three independently-funded men can display. Seriously, these guys are pretty bad-ass and love helping people who can't help themselves. So, coming back to the story, Tom Putnam and Adrian Belic were pretty cool and knowledgeable guys in the business. So I decided to meet them.

For some of you, it may come as no surprise that I'm a bit of a social phobic. Well, close to phobia. Meeting new people is quite a chore for me, especially people who happen to be attractive or important. These two guys are actually eking out a living as documentary filmmakers, which is quite a feat, so I was a little intimidated. Fortunately I didn't find them attractive. That would've really been a chore. Anyway, the two of them, Tom and Adrian, were having a conversation or networking session, so I waited nearby for them to be done. I was going to talk to Tom because he seemed a little more conversational. Well, when they finished my conversation and asked if I needed to talk to either of them, I managed to rope them both in. Because Tom's film is based in Alaska, I used that as a common point, mentioning that I'm from Alaska, and that it was nice to see a film made about Alaska. We talked a bit about Alaskans and their starvation to see themselves larger than life, about how his showing of his latest film sold out its first showing, forcing a second one. I don't remember how it came about, but I got to tell them I just finished a film set in Alaska. Adrian congratulated me and shook my hand at that, and they wanted to know more about it. I told them that "Bible Camp" is a documentary about a Bible camp in Alaska's interior, a camp my grandfather started 43 years ago. I had this unusual energy as I was telling them about it, and managed to keep their attention throughout my little Bible Camp exposition. So I had the complete undivided attention of two actual career filmmakers, and got to share about the film I made about a camp I love. Wow.

After talking up Kokrine Hills a little longer, I asked them about self-promotion, ad how one gets better at it. Probably my least favorite part of this process has been the fact that I have to sell myself to everyone, and never think I do a great job. they stopped me right there and said that not only do all filmmakers have a hard time with self-promotion, but that I had in fact done a great job selling the film to them. They commended my use of knowing my audience (Alaska as a commonality) and said that I had both their attentions throughout. That was pretty much the most encouraging thing anyone could have ever said to me. Two guys who know how it works told me one of my greatest weaknesses wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. Tom even offered to view my film and let me know what he thought. They both told me I needed to submit my film to the Anchorage film festival, and that I needed to drop both their names to the guy in charge in Anchorage. Turns out the deadline for entrance into the Anchorage festival was the beginning of September, so I lost my chance, but I tried anyway. Tom and Adrian both gave me great advice on selling myself and networking, both of which are paramount to the filmmaker existence. I needed business cards and post cards with my film's info on them, didn't have either, and was chastised by the two guys for my lack of connectibles. But I suppose I hadn't ever come with the intention of even mentioning "Bible Camp" anyway, so no big deal this time. All in all, it was an incredible 15 minute interaction.

I came to a festival to watch movies, and ended up with connections to real filmmakers, something I've not had until this point. AND, I really feel "Bible Camp" got a whole new lease on life. I emailed Tom and he gave me his address so I can send him the DVD, and now I'm back on the trail to setting up showings and selling as many DVDs as I possibly can. What had become an elephant on my back, largely a film people showed little interest in, has now become a revitalized passion for me to get out into the world. Man. It's just so amazing how God will orchestrate situations to give us exactly what we need right when we need it. Woo hoo.