Campus to host 'alaskaLand' premiere
December 5, 2012
907-474-7902
12/5/12
The University of Alaska Fairbanks will host the state's premiere of the independent feature film "alaskaLand" Friday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. in the Salisbury Theatre.
The film was shot in Fairbanks and directed by West Valley High School graduate and UAF alumna Chinonye Chukwu. UAF faculty member Maya Salganek served as producer and several local actors were extras in the film, which has appeared on screens at the Chicago International Film Festival, the Trenton International Film Festival, the Montreal Black Film Festival and more.
Following is a synopsis of the film from press materials:
"'AlaskaLand' tells the story of Chukwuma, an Alaska-raised Nigerian struggling to balance the expectations of his traditional Nigerian parents and the larger world around him. After a tragic car crash, Chukwuma is separated from his younger sister, Chidinma, who moves to Nigeria with their uncle until she becomes of legal age. Two years later, the siblings reconnect to find their estrangement has created new personal and cultural frictions in ways that bring them closer to each other and their roots, as well as help them define what it means to be a Nigerian in Alaska."
The film has been dedicated to Adrina Knutson, a UAF film major and the film's production designer, who was killed in an auto accident in Tanzania last summer. Tickets to the screening are available at the door and online at https://www.uaf.edu/film/featured-student-films/ for a suggested donation of $15. All proceeds from the film screening will benefit the Adrina Knutson Memorial Scholarship Fund.
For additional information, contact Maya Salganek at 907-388-1080 or maya@alaska.edu.