KIFF 2023 FILM SELECTIONS & SCHEDULE
FRIDAY NIGHT: CELEBRATING WATER
5:30 PM: Doors Open / Small Plates served in lobby
6:00 PM: Introductions and Welcome
6:30 PM Films Begin
6:30 PM The Singing Sourceress
Director: Scott McGrath
A wooden sailboat, handmade by father and son, makes its annual pilgrimage into the Algonquin wilderness. At Source Lake, the boat portrays its history, future, and enduring of the passage of time.
Follow the Water
Director: Ivana Horvat
An exploration of our collective connection, disconnection and reconnection to our waters told through an indigenous lens including historical, sociological and scientific perspectives. We uncover the ripple effect of being physically and spiritually disconnected from our waters, and what we can learn from the original keepers of our waters.
Unrestricted Flow
Director: David Baker
The largest dam removal project in history is underway in Southern Oregon and Northern California. An engineering class recently made a final journey along a stretch that will be transformed forever.
Covenant of the Salmon People
Director: Shane Anderson
In his most recent feature film, Shane Anderson ascends to new heights in showcasing stories of salmon, people, and the interconnectedness of us all through water. Covenant of the Salmon People is a 60 minute documentary portrait of the Nez Perce Tribe’s ancient covenant with salmon and follows their efforts to uphold this ancient relationship as dams and climate impacts threaten the extinction of species and the cornerstones of their culture.
SATURDAY (FEATURE FILMS)
Introduction and Welcome to Saturday will begin at 9:00 AM
9:15 AM: The Boy Who Never Tangoed
Directors: Akira Talaba and Mike Brown
A coming-of-age story written and directed by two 17 year olds about an awkward loner high school boy who, in an attempt to win the heart of a girl, embarks on a comedic journey as he strives to become a stand-up comedian within a mere week, following the footsteps of his Idol, Wolfe. B Collins. With the talent show looming on Friday, he must prepare to deliver the performance of a lifetime.
11:45 AM: Sam Now
Director: Reed Harkness
What do two film-obsessed brothers do to solve a family mystery? Using every video format imaginable, they make a movie as they travel thousands of miles looking for their missing mom. Stitching together 25 years of home videos and filling the gaps in the archive with play, SAM NOW is a mosaic of love, longing and loss, as well as an attempt to overcome intergenerational trauma.
1:45 PM: Mother of Color
Director: Dawn Jones Redstone
In a tumultuous world, Noelia, a whip-smart community organizer and single mother of two constantly has to make hard choices between her kids and her career. When she’s offered the chance to interview for a position that could change everything, she begins receiving mysterious messages from her ancestors. Noelia senses that something bigger is at play as she works through a series of obstacles to get to the interview and follow her dreams. Mother of Color is the feature film debut of Mexican American filmmaker Dawn Jones Redstone.
3:45 PM: Space, Hope and Charity
Director: Sandy Cummings
The documentary film follows the journey of Charity Woodrum, who overcomes poverty and then tragedy while chasing her dream of becoming an astrophysicist. After losing her husband and young son tragically, Charity gets her life and her dream back on track with help from childhood friends, mentors, and complete strangers. The film is a story of love and loss, and of finding purpose, even joy, again after losing everything. Woven through the film are themes of women in STEM, barriers to education, the importance of mentorship, and the lifesaving power of human connection.
5:30 PM: A Midsummer Night's Dream In Prison
Director: Bushra Azzouz
"It's almost like for three hours we weren't in prison," says Zeb, one of the prison inmates in rural Eastern Oregon who arrives at the transformative possibility of re-imagining his life story while rehearing and performing Shakespeare's comedic tale, A Midsummer Night's Dream. As the journey unfolds, themes of gender identity and the challenges faced by BIPOC prisoners are deftly explored, and the power of the arts to challenge and heal, even under the most difficult circumstances, is affirmed and celebrated.
7:15 PM: Finding Groovopolis (Preview Cut)
Director: Wil Kristin
In Finding Groovopolis, Wil Kristin seeks fatherly advice through the lens of Groovopolis, a never-produced comedic screenplay written by his late dad. While coming to terms with his dad’s death, Kristin discovered the original script for Groovopolis, which follows a music programmer who falls overboard at a work party, encounters a group of wild, dancing island inhabitants, and inadvertently records their music before being rescued and spreading the sounds as an antidote to dull and monotonous consumer culture. Elements of Groovopolis eerily show up in and influence Kristin’s own life, and the unusual collaboration yields an excavation of family, legacy, and navigating adulthood.
8:45 PM: Filmmaker After-Party at Basin Martini Bar
SUNDAY (SHORT FILMS)
9:00 AM: Introductions
9:15 AM: K-College Block
Klamath Film Youth Film Fellowship Films
Each summer, Klamath Film hosts a completely-free film camp for middle and high-schoolers. During the week, students learn all about the history of filmmaking and how to make their own film! Separate groups created their own films, and after camp is over, students are encouraged to create their own films to show at the Klamath Independent Film Festival
Lucky Encounter
Directors: Kian Doughty, Ben Cicilian
A down on his luck elderly man stumbles upon an easy way out. But the repercussions of his actions are more terrifying than he could ever imagine.
A Device to Save the World
Directors: Walter and Kevin Jones
An animated film about a device designed to rid the world of pollution, but ends up having an unfortunate side effect.
All the Little Impossibles
Director: Zan Lapp
"All The Little Impossibles" tells the story of Zoe, a teen girl suffering from hypervisual anxiety and vivid visions of death. Zoe has never told anyone about her anxieties, but when she becomes secluded on a camping trip with her friends and her visions worsen, she must find a way to tell her loved ones what she sees. Suggested ages 13+ for fear, depictions of death, and language. The film's director was 18 years old upon finishing the film, and all cast and crew are 18 or under.
Mugshots in the Digital Age
Director: Sarah Shively
What do a Native American, an ex-convict and a drag queen have in common? Their mugshots are still living online even though their booking incident happened years ago. “You’re kept in this digital prison that extends long beyond your release from confinement.” Mugshots in the Digital Age addresses this timely issue as it plays out in the lives of several individuals and in the Oregon State Legislature.
Checkout
Director: Jack Hannan
A Digital Media Center Employee starts to close the building and notices something strange. Jack Hannan created this as a senior at SOU as a major in Digital Cinema.
The Ride Home
Director: Weston Snider
On the last day of high school, Lee tries to buy a car from his best friend Aubrey before leaving town for an internship. However, conflict arises as both must face the challenges of letting go.
The Lost Years of Shakespeare
Director: Tabitha Wheeler
A young woman discovers a secret passageway within the Ashland Springs Hotel that leads to her entanglement in a convoluted mystery surrounding a dagger that once belonged to William Shakespeare and his family.
10:45 AM: Q&A Session with Student Category Filmmakers
11:15 AM: Awards for Film Camp Films
11:30 AM: Animation Block
Squirrelly Showdown
Director: Lori Nussbaum
A stop motion short film featuring squirrels in a Western comedy.
Gamer
Director: Katie Prentiss
Despite his parents' opinions, Sam proves that gaming is good for the gamer's mental health.
Stories We Could Have Told You
Director: Darcy Miller
A mother's bedtime stories take on a surprising and moving life, as she and her daughter process the loss of her husband.
Safety First
Director: John Robson
A satirical look at love, isolation, and self-acceptance in the time of a pandemic, brought to life via 3D scans of real people manipulated in an all-3D environment..
Record Highs
Director: Beryl Allee
Frogs compete to reach the ultimate vantage point, but they might not like what they see
An Evening with Father
Director: Zak Margolis
In the bathroom, magic can happen.
12:15 PM: Q&A with Animation Block Filmmakers
12:45 PM: Killing Lake Abert
Director: Kevin Clark
Lake Abert is a rare hypersaline lake that nourishes more than 100,000 birds along the Pacific Flyway with its brine shrimp and alkali flies. Water diversions have left this southeastern Oregon lake dry three out of the last eight years leading to an uncertain future for the lake and the birds that depend upon. Q&A to follow.
2:00 PM: Outdoors Block
Black People Don't Do That (Episodes 1 & 3)
Director: Kenny Hamlett
“Growing up, I had this phrase that anytime anyone introduced something to me that wasn't traditionally Black, I would say, ‘black people don't do that.’ It was like always this thing. And then when I got to college, I was introduced to camping. And then I was like…this is dope." Hamlett, a Black man, is sharing his love of the outdoors and the lessons he’s learned along the way through his latest film series “Black People Don’t Do That.” It’s a nod to the phrase he used as a kid, but now he using it to start a conversation.
Bridging the Gap
Director: Elif Koyuturk
This film highlights the work and mission of Think Wild, a non-profit wildlife hospital and conservation center based in Bend, Oregon. Filmmaker Elif Koyuturk, a recent Central Oregon transplant from Istanbul, Turkey, saw something special in Think Wild's mission and endeavored to make a film about the work it does. The film, titled "Bridging the Gap," is described by Koyuturk as a film aiming to "bridge the gap" between the human understanding and the natural world.
The Lone Wolverine of the Wallowas
Director: Alan Lacy
A husband and wife research team follow in the footsteps of a renowned wolverine expert in the Wallowa Mountains of Eastern Oregon in hopes of detecting the presence of a lone male wolverine named Stormy. They set up several remote monitoring stations deep in the Eagle Cap Wilderness during the dead of winter, and in some of the harshest conditions. Additionally they hope to document the presence of a female as well, but will they even find what they are looking for?
Ranger: The Canine Alpinist
Director: Ned Thanhouser
Climbing to the summit of Mt. Hood over 500 times, the Alsatian Shepherd Ranger was a favorite of local climbers in the 1920s and 1930s.
3:00 PM: Q&A with Outdoors Block Filmmakers
3:45 PM: Human Connection Block
Will & Tess
Director: Ray Robison
At 90 years of age, Tess must accept that it is time for roles to reverse. For decades she and her husband Will have been supportive and caring parents and now they need to allow their children to care for them. Will & Tess stars Marlyn Mason (Elvis Presley's leading lady in The Trouble with Girls) and Mark Schneider (Babylon 5, Son of the Pink Panther).
Metal
Director: Mischa Webley
A grieving grandfather takes up graffiti to overcome the loss of his grandson, a talented graffiti artist.
Visions
Director: Karina Ripper
Composed of intimate interviews, VISIONS is kaleidoscopic portrait of three artists. A first-generation Congolese-American illustrator, a Chicanx musician and a Vietnamese visual and textile artist. A hypnotic short documentary, that explores their journeys and focuses on the elation of these creatives making their art.
Darcelle
Director: Christena Dowsett
Darcelle, at the age of 91, is the Guinness World Record holder for the oldest working drag queen. On stage Darcelle is harolded as a prominent figure in the Portland, Oregon LGBTQ+ scene but at home Walter Cole is just like anyone else who loves, laughs, and cries. In this short film, friends and family reflect with Darcelle on a long and accomplished life as the end draws near.
Vagrant
Director: Ray Robison
Throughout Italy, dogs are abandoned casually. In rural Sicily, one man saves the dogs he can, especially those being poisoned.
5:20 PM: Q&A with Human Connection Block Filmmakers
6:00 PM: Scares, Laughs, and Mystery Block
The Haunted Baby Carriage from Hell
Director: JT Seaton
In this LGBTQ+ Comedy Horror Short Film, Spencer and Cameron move into a new house that just so happens to be haunted by an old baby carriage. As the carriage endeavors to scare the couple, the attempts ultimately fail because the couple just doesn't care... like... you know... at all. "The Haunted Baby Carriage From Hell" features a hilarious performance by cult actress Kelli Maroney ("Night Of The Comet", "Chopping Mall", "Fast Times At Ridgemont High") and a special appearance by MONEYPENNY as "Princess Peaches".
Zombie Chase
Director: Rollyn Stafford
Angela is running through the forrest! A zombie is running through the forest! But who is being chased?
Whispers
Director: Ray Robison
Four survivors wearing headphones try to outrun the whispers.
The Mall Man
Director: Dustin Morrow
“Death of a Salesman” goes to the mall in this darkly comic satire of American consumerism and the fading status of shopping malls in contemporary society. In “The Mall Man”, a shopping mall manager undertakes a marathon session of wheeling-and-dealing in a last-ditch effort to bring life back to his failing mall.
Duplicity
Director: Nick Alexander
It is a cold winter's day. A group of individuals gather at the home of renowned lawyer Jonathan Agnew. They have all been summoned by Agnew himself, yet none of them know why. When the individuals enter the house they are shocked to discover Jonathan Agnew dead on the floor. The cause of death is unclear. In Agnew's right hand is his phone, with the last call being 911. Who dunnit?
6:50 PM: Q&A with Scares, Laughs, and Mystery Filmmakers
7:15 PM: Awards and Closing
Schedule Continued: On-Demand-Only
With an abundance of remarkable films submitted this year, we are thrilled to announce the addition of our on-demand-only films that are available to watch with the purchase of an online pass.
The Ascendant Spirit
Director: Nina Oberlin
With music by Todd Janeczek and artwork by Sean Aaberg, Nina Oberlin creates a visual journey through animation of images.
Bugtussle
Director: Derek Sitter
After a bank robbery gone bad, a broken criminal and his unhinged partner hide out in a shack in the orange groves of Bakersfield to await their getaway car. As they try to get out of this clusterfuck with some of their dreams intact, their personal demons may have other plans.
Endure
Director: Nick Alexander
A post-apocalyptic drama following two characters, Kim and Jesse, as they endure a mundane life in a zombie-ridden world.
Further In
Director: Eric Parnell
A young couple sets out on an off-grid camping trip in Vernonia, Oregon. Sarah, grieving the recent death of her mother, is awed by the beauty of the woods and is inspired by the idea of living off the land. Meanwhile, Aaron is not impressed by Sarah’s new interests; he grew up nearby and long ago grew out of any kind of interest in rustic living. But as they settle in, they soon discover that their camp is being sabotaged by someone who doesn’t want them there. As they try to figure out what’s happening, the cracks in their relationship begin to show, and Sarah finds her own voice growing stronger and stronger.
Kinsperson
Director: Rollyn Stafford
Two friends walk through Portland, Oregon. One tries to convince the other not to leave the city, while at the same time dodging any zombies that might cross their path.
The Lost Story of the UO Women's Pow Wow
Director: Jordon Herrington
Recently hired by Elderberry Wisdom Farms to mentor young UO Indigenous Students in filmmaking; their mentor, Elder K'iya Wilson asked them what film they would first like to try to make together, and the answer was, help us find and tell the Lost Story of our 55 year old Pow-wow's beginnings, UO's only awarded Oregon Cultural Event
Monsters Are Real
Director: Ron Huffstutter
After isolating himself in the wilderness a man reemerges to reunite with his family.
Genre: Thriller / Horror
Owls & Aliens - "Romanticize The Sorrow" (Official Music Video)
Director: Ron Huffstutter
Follow local band, "Owls & Aliens", as they film their music video throughout Klamath Falls.
Phil Takes Photos
Director: Nash Bennet
A photographer takes photos of people.
Nash Bennett is a 22 year old filmmaker, musician, and graphic designer from Oregon. He's currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Digital Cinema at Southern Oregon University, and works as a radio host/producer at Jefferson Public Radio. He grew up on a small farm, and has spent time dabbling in many art forms.
Ray Tauscher: America's Forgotten World Champion Motorcycle Racer
Director: Ned Thanhouser
In 1931, Portland, Oregon born Raymond Tauscher won four international motorcycle racing titles in a 12-month period. His achievements in the field of racing and contributions to the sport have been forgotten. This 17-minute film recounts his life story utilizing recently discovered scrapbooks, photo albums, and period film footage of his races.
Walla Walla
Director: Hayley Durelle
On a road trip that’s equal parts adventure and chore, two resourceful young adults drive 400 miles from their town in rural Idaho in pursuit of an abortion out of state. Low on cash and fueled by friendship, they make the long trek up I-84 in a beloved but unreliable 25-year-old car.
LODGING RECOMMENDATIONS
FAIRFIELD INN & SUITES (click to visit website)
The Fairfield Inn & Suites is located in downtown Klamath Falls, less than one mile from the Ross Ragland Theater where the festival begins and ends, alongside the banks of Lake Ewauna. It features an indoor pool, gym, business center, breakfast, and more.
Klamath Film is happy to announce reimbursements of 10% upon receipt for filmmakers.
RUNNING Y RANCH RESORT (click to view website)
Running Y Ranch Resort is a full resort community located off Highway 140 West about 15 minutes out of Klamath Falls. Running Y features restaurants, a spa, grocery store, the only Arnold Palmer designed golf course in the state, a covered outdoor ice rink in Winter, and more. Running Y is Klamath's upscale resort experience, but very reasonably priced.
KIFF2023 SPONSORS
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER SPONSORS
PRODUCER SPONSORS
LEAD ACTOR SPONSORS
SCREENWRITER SPONSORS
