BZN is proud to be in partnership with the Bigfork Independent Film Festival and Montana Institute For the Arts. The block includes 5 films from BIFF 2019, including student films from last year’s MIA courses, as well as presentations by BIFF Director, Steve Shapero & MIA Co-Founder, Travis Bruyer
Beyond Bars (Student Film)
SYNOPSIS
A meditative film on how the Hobby Program at Montana State Prison has been a unique opportunity offered to inmates. The film focuses specifically on the inmate’s experience with horsehair hitching by which the prison has become famous for around the globe, and how this timeless craft has aided in prisoners recovery from addiction, supplemented mindfulness therapy and kept lifters out of trouble.
FILM INFO
Title: Beyond Bars
Genre: Documentary Short
Length: 8m
Country: USA
Creator/Director/Producer: Johnny Holder
FUGUE
SYNOPSIS
A seemingly innocent father-son trip to a ghost town takes a thrilling and unexpected turn for what any parent would consider their worst nightmare.
FILM INFO
Title: FUGUE
Genre: Narrative Short
Length: 17m
Country: USA
Creator/Director/Producer: Lily Evelyn Mitchell
Precious Metal
SYNOPSIS
Tommy struggles to overcome anxiety over plastic that has plagued her since childhood.
FILM INFO
Title: Precious Metal
Genre: Narrative Short
Length: 12m
Country: USA
Creator/Director/Producer: Tara Walker Lyons (MIA Student)
MPG Ranch: The Land and Its People
SYNOPSIS
MPG Ranch is a conservation property in Western Montana. This video follows the history of the Salish Indians in the Bitterroot Valley. It outlines the Maclay family history from the 1700s to the present day. The Maclays transformed this land into a working cattle ranch and passed it down for generations. In 2009 it became a conservation property. We now restore the land’s vegetation and support its wildlife through research and education.
FILM INFO
Title: MPG Ranch: The Land and Its People
Genre: Documentary Short
Length: 21m
Country: USA
Creator/Director/Producer: Cherin Spencer-Bower
Last Stand: The Vanishing Caribou Rainforest
SYNOPSIS
Hidden in the interior of the Pacific Northwest is the largest remaining inland temperate rainforest on earth. This magnificent landscape is home to numerous First Nations communities, thousand-year-old trees and critical habitat for endangered species like mountain caribou. However, industrial development has pushed this ecosystem to the tipping point. The forthcoming documentary Last Stand puts the Caribou Rainforest on the map before it’s too late.
FILM INFO
Title: Last Stand: The Vanishing Caribous Rainforest
Genre: Documentary Short
Length: 34m
Country: USA
Creator/Director/Producer: Colin Arisman
SCREENINGS
Screening Date: Fri. June 7, 2019
Time: 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Venue: Rialto Black Box
Filmmakers attending: Yes