Carson City film fest grows to 3 days

Carson City’s film fest is expanding this year be a multi-venue, free three-day event. The festival was started last year by five local women. This year’s event is Feb. 5-7.

The Carson City Community Center and Western Nevada College will be venues for viewing three foreign feature-length films, three independently produced films, and several Brewery Arts Center contest-winning short films. International screenings include “Boy” on Feb. 5, followed by “Himalaya” on Feb. 6, and “Obaba” Feb. 7. All three films will be shown at 7pm in the Bob Boldrick Theater at the Carson City Community Center, 851 E. William St.

With an eye toward encouraging local youth and independent filmmakers in Nevada, the Carson City partners will also offer work by three local filmmakers. The award-winning documentary, “Baking Alaska,” produced by Kari Barber, an assistant professor at the UNR’s Reynolds School of Journalism, follows the adventures of a woman who leaves the security of her office job in Oklahoma to open a bakery in Homer, Alaska, with the help of her mother and sister. This 30-minute film will show at 3pm Feb. 5 at WNC’s Cedar Building in Marlette Hall.

A short film on Native American culture by Gabriel Lopez Shaw, a Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe member and a past Sundance Film Festival contributor, is also scheduled for viewing on the opening day of the film weekend. “Nevada Stories: Great Basin Pipemakers” captures master artist Hillman Tobey, a Northern Paiute living at the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, teaching pipe-making skills to apprentice Norman Zuniga. Tobey, who recently celebrated his 100th birthday, talks about the materials and tools used to make pipes as well as the origins and uses of ceremonial pipes in prayer.

To cap two days of independent film presentations, “Rockin’ at the Red Dog — The Dawn of Psychedelic Rock,” directed by Mary Works, will be shown in Marlette Hall at 3pm Feb. 6. The film is 99 minutes. Works, who grew up in Silver City, Nev., examines the role that the Virginia City saloon played in the counterculture of the 1960s, and the psychedelic dancehalls that contributed to the popularity of rock n’ roll heavyweights such as the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and Quicksilver Messenger Service. Works’ father, Don, co-founded the unconventional saloon and through Works’ memories, interviews, music, art, and a 25-year reunion in 1991, shows the Red Dog’s impact on history. Works and Barber will be on hand to discuss their films.

Several winning mini-films from the Brewery Arts Center’s Citywide Short Film Competition will also be shown Feb. 5. Each film will be preceded by a brief introduction and followed by an optional, open forum discussion after viewing. Refreshments will be available in the lobby of the Carson City Community Center. All film events are free to the public.

For more information, phone 775.445.3222 or email internationalfilmweekend@gmail.com.