With the close of submissions, the 2011 Fargo Film Festival committees have begun the challenging task of judging the entries to select the programming for the upcoming festival in March. Once again, moviemakers from near and far turned in their work, from one-minute shorts to two-hour features. The Fargo Film Festival attracts a cross-section of engaging visual works from all over the world, and this year entries arrived from Australia, France, Russia, Germany, Canada, Ireland, and many other places.

Submissions continue to arrive for the 2011 Fargo Film Festival.  If you are a moviemaker seeking an opportunity to have your work judged for competition in North Dakota’s premier film festival, complete an entry form and send us your movies.  The festival’s regular postmark deadline has come and gone, but you can still make our LATE POSTMARK DEADLINE of January 12, 2011.  Visit our SUBMISSIONS page for entry forms and detailed information about requirements.

Nina Paley, whose stunningly beautiful animated feature “Sita Sings the Blues” impressed crowds at the 2009 Fargo Film Festival, has won the 2010 Fargo Film Festival’s 2-Minute Movie Contest with her exquisite short history lesson “All Creative Work Is Derivative.”

Second place was awarded to Callum Thomson, Ant Richardson, and Patrick Shelton for their sharply photographed “The Innocence of War,” and third place went to Tucker Lucas for his rambunctious cat comedy “Little Bastard.”  Congratulations to all the winners.

The Fargo Film Festival would like to thank all the volunteers, audience members, panelists, visiting moviemakers, board members, projectionists, theatre staff, and everyone else who helped to make 2010 the most successful and rewarding experience to date.  Our tenth anniversary was an incredible program.

The quality and breadth of the movies showcased in the Fargo Film Festival continues to impress cinema devotees from the community, the region, and beyond. We will most certainly be back in 2011. If you are an audience member, we thank you for your support and look forward to seeing you next March.

If you are a moviemaker, we can’t wait to see your next project; submissions are open year-round, and an early bird discount on entry fees lasts from now until September 1, 2010.

Interview by Greg Carlson

The inventive “Mildred Richards” received honorable mention in the Narrative Short category at this year’s Fargo Film Festival. Director Marc Kess will be present at the 8:15pm screening of “Mildred Richards” on Saturday, March 6 at the Fargo Theatre.  Kess spoke with us about the creation of his movie.

“Mildred Richards” reminded me of Guy Maddin’s work as if it had been shifted from the silent era to sound melodrama.  What are some of the films and filmmakers that have inspired you?

I had the opportunity to speak with Guy Maddin about black and white filmmaking at a screening of “My Winnipeg.”  We talked about achieving an archival look with new footage.  I also spoke with Jim Jarmusch at a Director’s Guild screening of “Broken Flowers.”  He shared some stories of his experience projecting black and white film, which was very helpful.  Jarmusch influenced my decision to develop my film at DuArt Laboratories, which is the same lab where he has developed film.

It’s pretty clear that classic film noir influenced the look of “Mildred Richards.”  Cinematographer Tom Hurwitz and I screened the opening scene of Joseph H. Lewis’ “My Name Is Julia Ross” (1945) to convey my ideas about the rain sequence.

Some classic film noir pictures that I like include Nicholas Ray’s “In a Lonely Place” (1950), Carol Reed’s “Odd Man Out” (1947), Billy Wilder’s “Double Indemnity” (1944), Anthony Mann’s “Raw Deal” (1948), and Fritz Lang’s “Fury” (1936).

“Mildred Richards” takes the enterprising approach of marrying original motion picture imagery with a vintage radio drama.  Tell us a little bit about how you decided on that particular piece to make your first “radio film.”

Although people have told me “Mildred Richards” has an intriguing plot, is well acted and beautifully shot, it is truly unique because it is the first Radio Film Picture, a new form of filmmaking.  It is the result of what happens when you take a medium (radio dramas) that has largely been forgotten and combine it with a medium (film) that some, especially with the advent of HD, are trying to push into the dead media realm.

During development of Radio Film Pictures I quickly discovered I was working in uncharted territory.  Because “radio film” breaks with some traditional filmmaking techniques, the process necessitated its own terminology and film grammar.  For example, “Narrative Action,” “Shot-to-Fit,” and “Off Camera Synch Sound” are terms inherent only when shooting a Radio Film Picture and were used for the first time on the set of “Mildred Richards.”

Can you tell us about the actual shooting of a movie that already has a pre-determined soundtrack?

Even though “Mildred Richards” has a pre-determined soundtrack, most of the basic filmmaking elements are the same.  You still have to break down the script and budget, find the cast, secure locations, assemble wardrobe, and collect props.  Filming any period piece on a low budget is going to be a challenge.

One of the things I found ironic about our shoot is that we filmed in a mansion located in the middle of a nature preserve.  With regards to sound it was absolutely perfect, no noise whatsoever, a filmmaker’s dream, and yet it didn’t make a difference for us because we weren’t recording sound.  We did, however, use a reference track and a three-beep lead in to the lines for the actors.

The photography of “Mildred Richards” really contributes to its tone and mood.  How did you come to collaborate with ASC cinematographer Tom Hurwitz?

I mailed Tom a production packet that included a marked-up script, shot lists for every scene, storyboards, a shooting schedule, some of my notes on the visual design concepts, and a lot of other stuff that he probably didn’t need to see.  I wanted him to be confident that I was organized and would not be wasting time on set, working out anything that could have been done before principal photography.  Shortly after receiving the packet, he invited me to his house and we discussed the story, the look, thematic elements, and the concept of Radio Film Pictures in general.

It was both a creative opportunity and a challenge to work with Tom.  Even though I was a new director and he was a master DP, Tom brought enthusiasm and respect to the project.  We collaborated really well together.  He never tried to direct the actors and I never tried to light the set.

What was the best screening of “Mildred Richards” you have attended?

I have enjoyed all my screenings of “Mildred Richards” but I think our best will be here in Fargo!  It’s certainly an amazing experience to see “Mildred Richards” in a venue as beautiful and historic as the Fargo Theatre.

The first screening of “Mildred Richards” will be something I remember for the rest of my life.  New Filmmakers, NY organized a private screening at the SoHo House, NYC, with admission limited to SoHo House club members and invited guests.  The email I got stated that the evening was to “showcase the work of promising up-and-coming filmmakers.”

Kat Wisener, my beautiful leading lady, was sitting to my left and cinematographer Tom Hurwitz was sitting to my right.  Producer Jill Schissel, who worked tirelessly from minute one and who is unfaltering in her support, was sitting on the other side of Tom.  So there we were sitting in the back row, in these expensive black leather seats in a posh private club watching our film.  I remember the first minute of the film seemed like eternity and then the rest just flew by.

Later that night, Jill told me that she looked over at me three or four times during the screening and that I had a smile on my face from ear to ear.  I wish that every filmmaker could have the same first screening experience that I had.  It’s really a blessing.

You can learn more about Marc’s work by visiting www.radiofilmpictures.com.

Interview by Greg Carlson

Animator Angela Steffen is visiting Fargo for the 2010 film festival, where her animated short “Lebensader” won the award for Best Animation. “Lebensader” will be shown on Thursday, March 4 at 10:40 am and Saturday, March 6, at 8pm during the final evening showcase of the “Best in Festival” movies. Angela spoke with us about her background in animation and her work on “Lebensader.”

You spent some of your childhood in Saudi Arabia. How and why did you get into illustration and animation?

I grew up at the Persian Gulf, in Ras Tanura, a little camp in the middle of the desert.  I loved it there. It was like paradise for me. I went swimming in the ocean every day, and that was just the best thing to do. For many hours of the day it was just too hot to go outside, and we had a big table, lots of pencils, and paper at home.

I remember waking up extremely early in the morning with my sisters and little brother, not to miss the cartoons on the only TV channel we got. We just sat there waiting, and at one point, the screen finally showed the first picture: a handsome portrait of King Fahd. I knew that after seeing him, for half an hour, there would be cartoons. And every time, the television made an electric sizzling sound when I kissed him for that.

Until the Gulf War in 1990, I think I had the best childhood ever. When we left for Germany, I was defiant. I didn‘t speak the new language for a long time, but I did keep on drawing, and that still feels like the best way to communicate and express myself.

Animation came as an accident, actually. At first I studied graphic design in Hamburg, but I dropped out of it. I wasn‘t sure what I was doing when I started drawing this little story at home. It turned out to be a straightforward animation. I was absolutely willing to go to school for this! I went to animation school in Hamburg and after that I specialized in 2D animation at the Filmakademie.

Are you inspired by pop culture?

The truth is, I have not had a TV for about 8 years now, but I do love documentaries, especially when they are about animals. I love going to the movies and I love old cartoons. I have read everything I could find about Chuck Jones and I admire Norman McLaren.

I like reading scientific literature more than comics, but my biggest inspiration comes from my family, my friends, from music, wild animals, and from being outside in nature.

What was the animation training like at the Filmakademie Baden-Wurttemberg?

It is a really great place to learn and work on 3D animation. The facilities are almost not comparable to other film schools worldwide. The problem for me was that I was way too interested in 2D. I had the plan to find out more and to explore this field.

There is so much still to be discovered, you know? Even though I felt the energy it‘d probably be good to swim along, just to be able to find work after graduation.

I am too idealistic and naive, and sometimes I wish I could be different, because going against the flow was kind of hard. I have to say I love this school. I had a studio, a drawing table, and best of all, the chance to make my own films in total freedom.

The films I made there taught me everything I know now. I also had advisers on my side, like Andreas Hykade and Ged Haney for example, who questioned my stories and from whom I learned some animation tricks. They have become very important to me over time and it‘s good to have someone to look up to. We are all different but we do, for example, love David Bowie, Bob Dylan and Neil Young!

The creatures in your movie bear a resemblance to Pacific Northwest Native American iconography and art. How did the idea for “Lebensader” evolve?

You won‘t believe how often I‘ve heard that. It’s good, that makes me happy, but “Lebensader” didn‘t come from researching the books and museums, although that‘s what I‘m into now because I‘ve heard it so often. It started like this: I had the chance to make another film that would be my diploma at the Filmakademie.

So I looked inside myself and I looked outside. I ended up in the woods and meadows around my home, in uncountable walks. Then one day I found a leaf that was different from the others. It struck me with all its colors and I picked it up as a souvenir.

What happened next was the reason I made “Lebensader.” I turned the leaf and saw it was sick. It was from a sick tree. In that moment I knew I had to cope with my father’s disease, which until then I was good at hiding. I knew I‘d be spending a whole long time with whatever subject I chose, and nothing else made more sense then this.

How much time did it take to complete “Lebensader” from conception to completion?

It took longer then I thought it would. I think I spent at least half a year getting the story straight, inventing the world for “Lebensader” in all its facets. There was so much more invented then what you see at the end, but it was really important to do.

The time of development is always the toughest for me. Finally I dove into the animation. That was great. Everything was planned out in storyboards, and I knew exactly what I wanted in my head. Only the transitions were much more difficult than I thought they would be. Fortunately, it was exciting to the end. In the whole it took about three years to complete.

How many drawings did you make? Do you save all your materials?

I have no idea! They‘re all in boxes and I don‘t know what to do with them yet!

How important are computers in your animation process?

They’re not. Only the story is important. My favorite way is still to animate with pencil on paper. Then I need the computer as the tool to test, build and color it. I‘ve been working on a Wacom Cintiq recently, experiencing digital drawing and doing some crazy stuff without thinking so much. The computer is fun and faster for some jobs, which is good, but I do miss the drawing table. And the passion that comes with old-fashioned ways.

Have you traveled much to promote “Lebensader”?

I‘m definitely excited to be in Fargo now. Thank you for having me! You know, I‘ve been hiding away for so long while making “Lebensader,” and I love the autonomy of it, but now it‘s taking me out suddenly and I‘m not used to it. I get really homesick when I am away.

I love to be with audiences and to meet with other filmmakers. I loved this about the Ottawa International Animation Festival. I visited the Star School, near Flagstaff in Arizona, after being in Canada, and I showed “Lebensader” to a group of Navajo children. That was amazing. I won‘t forget that.

What’s next?

I tell you, it can be really cold and tough out here after school. I‘m working hard to make a living in freelance animation. I need to be digital and fast on one side, and on the other I‘m really longing to do something new again. I need that too.

There seems to be a new energy in Baden-Wurttemberg, where I have lived since graduating from the Filmakademie. They might start helping young filmmakers like me to keep them from leaving the country. I have tiny, tiny and really big upcoming projects in my head. It is just a matter of how to set the frame for them. We’ll see!

Interview by Greg Carlson

2010 Fargo Film Festival Best Actress Winner Makinna Ridgway shared some of her time to talk about acting and her work in “Taylor’s Way,” which is showing at the festival on Wednesday, March 3 at 2:20pm on the main screen and Friday, March 5 at 3:30pm on the Off Broadway screen.

First of all, congratulations on “Taylor’s Way.”  It is a haunting, thought-provoking movie and your performance is central to its success.  How did you get into acting?

Thank you.  The film was a lot of fun to make so I’m glad you enjoyed it.  So the big question… The first time I got into acting I was in the fourth grade, and it happened by accident.   Some family friends are location scouts in Portland and they scouted our house to use in a commercial.  The production ended up using not only the house, but us, our neighbors, and extended family who lived down the street.

I loved watching our house turned into a buzzing set, filled with people working like crazy and then seeing the magic that happened when action was called and everything: the people, the noise, the work, fell silent for a few brief moments while the action took place – and then cut, the bustle picked up right where it left off.  The energy was intoxicating and mystifying, even to a 9-year-old, and I was pretty much hooked.

Tell me about an actor who inspires you.

I had an acting teacher in high school insist I watch Kate Winslet in every film I could get my hands on and I’ve always been amazed.  She gained my respect when I saw her as Ophelia, and, I’ll say it, my teenage love in her performance in “Titanic,” but when I saw her as the orange-haired, quirky Clementine in “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” she could no longer do any wrong.

She is able to fully encompass each character she portrays, make me understand Shakespeare like I would my favorite childhood story, and all the while maintain this seamless ability to expose each emotion and thought she experiences to the audience.

Have you formally studied voice and movement?

I started studying theater and music in high school, and took private singing lessons.  In college I pursued a BA in acting at the University of Southern California, but I probably got my most formal and in-depth voice and movement training in London at the British American Drama Academy, where I spent a year in their conservatory program.

Since graduating I’ve worked with Madeleine Dahm, who is a fantastic movement teacher, and I’ve studied at several theater companies, acting and dance studios around LA.

How did “Taylor’s Way” come into your life?  What was the audition process like?

I saw the post for the role on an online casting site, and immediately submitted for it.  I could not pass up a chance to go to Vancouver for work.  I got called in for my first audition with the casting director, Danielle Aufiero.  When I walked into the office I realized I was in an office that casts some of TV’s major shows, and the girl auditioning before me had just beaten me out for another role a few weeks earlier, so I got incredibly nervous.

However, the second I walked in the room Danielle immediately put me at ease, we did the scene once and then she gave me a few specific adjustments that really made the scene click.  When I walked out of the room I felt like I had just been in a great acting class as opposed to a grueling audition.

When I went in for the callback, I was the only actor there and Rene, the director, ran the audition in the same style, doing the scene several times and each time trying something new.  That’s the way I like to work so I knew we’d get along.

I think Rene and Sarah, the producer, had made up their mind to cast me before the callback, and were just using it as an excuse to make sure I wasn’t crazy (since we were going to be spending two weeks in the woods together).  They offered me the role on the spot and I was in.

What kinds of physical challenges did you face shooting so much of the movie outdoors and on location?

Let’s see, we had a run-in with a mountain lion, an attack of killer mosquitoes (look closely at the swimming scene), a bear scare, and a several-mile hike into a mountain that ended with a barefoot walk through a freezing cold glacier stream.  In all seriousness, the experience wasn’t nearly as physically challenging as I had anticipated.

We hiked a bit to get to certain locations, but I love to hike, and getting to do that in Vancouver and Whistler, where everything is incredibly beautiful and lush, especially compared to LA’s desert trails, felt more like an adventurous vacation than anything else.

The most challenging thing I faced was being in the car on the drive up to Brandywine, where we got some of the more scenic shots.  We had to off-road in 4×4 trucks to get to the location, and we were driving on what was essentially a glorified hiking trail with a jagged cliff on one side and a straight drop on the other side.

As someone who is afraid of heights and prone to being in car accidents, I spent most of the 30 minutes uphill with my eyes closed and my headphones blaring.

The press notes for “Taylor’s Way” openly include “spoilers” alluding to the film’s enigmatic ending.  Without giving anything specific away, did you talk about multiple interpretations with director Rene Brar?

There were several endings thrown around, one in particular that I was rooting for, but the one you see on screen is actually much more elusive then the one that was initially written and filmed.  I defer to Rene for details, since I wouldn’t want to give anything away I wasn’t supposed to.  Or maybe we can talk after the screening. . .

The Fargo Film Festival would like to thank all the volunteers, audience members, panelists, visiting moviemakers, board members, projectionists, theatre staff, and everyone else who helped to make 2009 another successful and rewarding experience.

The quality and breadth of the movies showcased in the Fargo Film Festival continues to impress cinema devotees from the community, the region, and beyond. We plan to make our tenth anniversary year our best ever. If you are an audience member, we thank you for your support and look forward to seeing you next March. If you are a moviemaker, we can’t wait to see your next project; submissions are open year-round, and an early bird discount on entry fees lasts from now until September 1, 2009.

Interview by Greg Carlson

Director Mark Wihak’s feature narrative “River” will be screened at the Fargo Film Festival’s closing evening session on March 7, 2009. In addition to winning Best Narrative Feature at the festival, Maya Batten-Young was named Best Actress and Adam Budd was named Best Actor.

Fargo Film Festival: You divide your time between teaching and making movies. How do you balance university commitments with filmmaking projects?

Mark Wihak: The window for filmmaking is tight. Essentially I have four months a year to concentrate full time on working on a film, but at least I know I have that window and opportunity. I find teaching really feeds my filmmaking too; part of the inspiration for making “River” the way we did it came from seeing students do some terrific work with very little in the way of resources. I thought, well if they can do it, I have no excuses.

MW: Prior to “River,” on the dramatic films I’d made, I had a very clear idea of what I wanted. I wrote a script, cast the actors, then designed the shoot around being as faithful as possible to that script. In the edit suite, the cut would work towards trying to realize that original idea. But with “River” we didn’t really have a script and so there wasn’t a tightly defined path we were on. We had the freedom to drop scenes if they didn’t seem to be working or no longer seemed interesting and we could add scenes at a moment’s notice if we had the inspiration.

Working from improvisation rather than a script, and with Adam and Maya not being trained actors, I couldn’t ask them to deliver really detailed things in a scene or to repeat a specific line or gesture. So I was giving up a lot of that traditional directorial control. And because we were improvising, it wasn’t possible to do too much pre-planning, I couldn’t even develop a shot list in advance because we didn’t know exactly what scene we’d be shooting until we were doing it. I found the whole thing kind of liberating and even when I work with scripted material again I will allow a lot more improvisation and flexibility with the material because there’s so much to gain from that.

MW: I tried to borrow from the English director Mike Leigh’s method as much as I could. At first I worked with Maya and Adam, one on one. We talked about the background of their characters and what their characters were interested in and about what they wanted in their lives. When I brought the two actors together, I wanted them to find out about each other by improvising in character – we didn’t stand outside the characters and talk about what they would do. I’d set up a situation; Stan sees Roz over the course of several nights at a late night coffee shop, he wants to talk to her, how does he approach her? Or, Stan is going to tell Roz about his relationship with his father, and I want to see how Roz would react.

We worked together for about two months prior to shooting and by then I could kind of throw anything at Adam and Maya and they had developed good instincts about how Stan and Roz would react to a situation. Mike Leigh writes a script based on his actors’ improvisations and when he shoots they stay faithful to the script, but with the tight timelines I had to work with there wasn’t time to write a script and with Maya and Adam not being trained actors, it didn’t seem like a good idea anyhow.

I don’t know if their performances would have had the same quality if they were working from a fully written screenplay – they would have been thinking too much about interpreting lines of dialogue rather than being in the moment and listening closely to what the other character was saying to them. In the end, we had a 15 page outline, which had brief scene descriptions, and we used that as a rough guide rather than something we needed to stick closely to.

MW: Maya was a film student I taught at the U of R, and Adam was an alumnus of the U of R film program, as am I, who graduated before I started teaching there. I think both of them being filmmakers allowed them to be very comfortable with the whole process of filmmaking. The characters of Roz and Stan share some things with Maya and Adam, and sometimes it’s hard to know exactly where the dividing line was. At times, one of them would be telling a story and I wasn’t sure if it was the character’s story or the actor’s story. I also gave them a few biographical details of my own that they worked into their characters, so in the end, I think there are at least three biographies at work in Roz and Stan, as well as a great deal of fictitious material.

MW: We didn’t have a lot of time to develop Roz and Stan’s creative work. Maya is a filmmaker and so working with a camera is something she’s comfortable with. We talked about Roz’s photos growing out of the isolation she felt in the city; she’d photograph things that didn’t quite fit. At the beginning of the film at least, Roz couldn’t even begin to think of herself as an artist, she took photographs because she felt compelled to but she didn’t do this for anyone other than herself. Roz had a few artists she really loved, and those artists created a web of connections that she’d follow – PJ Harvey to Patti Smith to Rimbaud.

Adam has a range of interests, but in the end we decided Stan would be a writer. The poems that Stan posts on vacant building around town are poems Adam had written prior to becoming Stan, so writing is something he does. Adam developed a synopsis of the novel Stan was working on so he and Roz could talk about it; the novel dealt with things that came out of Stan’s background – growing up in a small town, an accident, guilt, dreaming of getting away. I can believe Stan would have a novel like that in him.

MW: The real benefits are the flexibility it gives you. We could change plans of what we wanted to shoot very quickly and try something else out. The entire cast and crew fit into two vehicles along with all our gear, so it was easy to move about. If an idea for a new scene came up over lunch, it was easy to swing into that. When we heard that the Shriners were having a parade we hustled over and put Roz amongst them. We also didn’t look like a film crew, so we could go into public situations like the Regina Folk Festival or an art gallery opening and people weren’t really distracted by us, we kind of blended in.

“River” was the least stressful film I’ve ever worked on because we didn’t have to worry about all the logistical problems a large cast and crew creates. The challenges were probably felt most by the actors who had to do a lot of the art department and take care of all of the hair, makeup and wardrobe on their own, and by the editor Vanda who had to work with the most rudimentary of production notes, no transcription of these hours of improvised dialogue and no script per se to cut to.

The main thing is if you want to make a film, you have to be persistent. You’re going to hear “no” a lot en route but if the film is important to you, you’ll find a way of getting it made. And you should really only make films that are important to you.

I’m hoping there will still be some festival plays out there, and we’re working towards a DVD release to coincide with it being broadcast in Saskatchewan on the Saskatchewan Communications Network, who were a very early sponsor of the film.

MW: “River’s” editor Vanda Schmockel and I are pulling together a collaborative group feature called “I Heart Regina,” which will enter production this spring. It involves 16 directors. And I want to make a long form film over the next 12 months; it’s seeming more likely it’ll be a kind of documentary rather than a dramatic feature, though I definitely want to work in that form again.

FFF: You can learn more about “River” at www.riverthemovie.com

The Fargo Film Festival’s popular 2-Minute Movie Contest returns tonight, March 6, 2009, beginning at 9:15pm at the Fargo Theatre. Admission is free.

More than forty very short movies will be screened and judged this year, and the winner will have the honor of being shown during the festival’s closing night session on Saturday, March 7, 2009.

From parodies to fantasies, the 2-Minute Movie Contest showcases a wide range of content in a program where anything can – and often does – show up on the screen. You might cringe, you may roll your eyes once or twice, and you’ll almost certainly laugh at some of the movie snapshots on parade. Remember our motto: if you don’t like the movie on the screen, just wait two minutes and there will be something else to see.

FAIR WARNING: The 2-Minute Movie Contest features adult material, including profanity and violent and sexual content, that would typically be rated R. Viewer discretion is advised.