Museum festival showcases best of cultural films

Submitted by Kerynn Fisher
Phone: (907) 474-6941
02/06/07

FAIRBANKS, ALASKA - The University of Alaska Museum of the North will host "Culture on Film: The Best of the 2006 Society for Visual Anthropology Film Festival" at the museum Feb. 9, 10 and 11. The films, which range from a nine-minute short to a feature-length film, represent the best in world cultural filmmaking.

"These films transcend the barriers of language and culture, and take the viewers deeply into the lives of people in other parts of the world," says Leonard Kamerling, film curator at the museum. Kamerling served as one of the jurors for the Society of Visual Anthropology film festival in June 2006.

"I was moved by these films, and thought it was important to share them with a wider audience," he said.

The film festival will run in four time blocks:
Friday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. with "Buffet - All You Can Eat Las Vegas" (27 minutes) and "Compadre" (80 minutes, Peru)
Saturday, Feb. 11 at 1 p.m. with "Koriam’s Law and the dead who govern" (110 minutes, Papua New Guinea) and "Sita, A Girl From Jambu" (49 minutes, Nepal)
Saturday, Feb. 11 at 6:45 p.m. with "Sister Rise" (nine minutes, San Francisco), "Between Joyce and Remembrance" (57 minutes, South Africa) and "La Sierra" (84 minutes, Columbia)
Sunday, Feb. 12 at 2 p.m. with "Kabul Transit " (90 minutes, Afghanistan)

UAF faculty members will introduce each of the films and lead a short discussion at the end of each film. The films are free with museum admission; this weekend only, a reduced museum admission of $5 includes the museum’s special exhibit gallery and that day’s films. Admission is free for UAF students (with valid ID) and museum members.

A full schedule, including a short synopsis of each film, is available online at http://www.uaf.edu/museum. For more information, visitors can call the museum’s main desk at 907-474-7505.

CONTACT:

Kerynn Fisher, communications coordinator, University of Alaska Museum of the North, at (907) 474-6941 or k.fisher@uaf.edu. Leonard Kamerling, film curator, University of Alaska Museum of the North, at (907) 474-7437 or l.kamerling@uaf.edu.

Note to editors: Still images from the films are available on request.