The Ashland Independent Film Festival is held in

Ashland, Oregon Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. It lies along Interstate 5 approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of the California border and near the south end of the Rogue Valley. The city's population was 21,360 at the 2020 cen ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It has been organized by the non-profit Southern

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

Film Society since 2001. Founded by D.W. and Steve Wood, the festival is held each spring over five days at the Varsity Theatre in downtown Ashland and the Historic Ashland

Armory Armory or armoury may mean: * An arsenal, a military or civilian location for the storage of arms and ammunition Places *National Guard Armory, in the United States and Canada, a training place for National Guard or other part-time or regular mili ...

in the

Railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

District. The festival presents international and domestic shorts and features in almost every genre, including

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

, documentary, and

animation Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

About

Most of the independent films show on the five screens at the art-deco Varsity Theatre located in the heart of downtown Ashland. Special events and large screenings (

Calvin Marshall ''Calvin Marshall'' is a 2009 coming of age-comedy film written and directed by Gary Lundgren and starring Alex Frost as the title character, a determined but talentless college baseball player, and Steve Zahn as his coach. After two years of rais ...

, The River Why, Tattoo the World) are held at the Historic Ashland Armory nearby, a venue that seats 500 people. In addition to the screenings, the Ashland Independent Film Festival hosts several social-gathering and artistic events. These include an Opening-Night Gala, filmmaker Q&A sessions after screenings,

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

panels, art exhibits and a nightly after-LOUNGE. The local pub is a good place where filmmakers and film goers have the opportunity to mingle and interact. In 2010, approximately 6,500 people attended the film festival, collectively purchasing 16,800 tickets.

Local programs

In addition to submissions from around the globe, the festival adopts a fee-free entrance policy for local filmmakers to urge them to submit their films and encourages Ashland residents to attend by running two free "Locals Only" programs during the festival. The festival has also won success with their Launch Program. it is a free program open to all students in Southern

. It encourages them to make their own films and submit them. Chances are they may be selected for a special showcase each year. In 2010, a special "Made in Oregon" presentation was added to the festival's awards ceremony in acknowledgment of the record set: 25% of the films presented at the festival were shot in Oregon.

Awards offered

* Best Feature * Best Documentary: Feature Length * Best Documentary: Short Subject * Best Animated Short * Best Short * Best Acting Ensemble * Family Choice * Best Short Film: Dramatic or Documentary * Rogue Creamery Audience Award: Best Documentary * John C. Schweiger Audience Award: Dramatic Feature * Best Cinematography, The Gerald Hirschfeld, ASC Award: Feature * Rogue Award

Past special guests

* Bruce Campbell *

Les Blank Les Blank (November 27, 1935 – April 7, 2013) was an American documentary filmmaker best known for his portraits of American traditional musicians. Life and career Leslie Harrod Blank Jr. was born November 27, 1935 in Tampa, Florida. He atten ...

Ed Hardy Don Ed Hardy (born 1945) is an American tattoo artist known for his tattoos, strong influence on the development of modern tattoo styles, and his eponymous apparel and accessories brand. Early life Hardy was born on January 5, 1945, in Des Moi ...

Helen Hunt Helen Elizabeth Hunt (born June 15, 1963) is an American actress and director. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. Hunt rose to fame portraying Jam ...

Albert Maysles Albert Maysles (November 26, 1926 – March 5, 2015) and his brother David Maysles (January 10, 1931 – January 3, 1987; ) were an American documentary filmmaking team known for their work in the Direct Cinema style. Their best-known films i ...

Elvis Mitchell Elvis Mitchell (born December 6, 1958) is an American film critic, host of the public radio show ''The Treatment'', and visiting lecturer at Harvard University. He has served as a film critic for the ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'', the ''LA Weekly ...

Will Vinton William Gale Vinton (November 17, 1947 – October 4, 2018) was an American animator and filmmaker. Vinton was best known for his Claymation work, alongside creating iconic characters such as The California Raisins. He won an Oscar for his wor ...

Economic impact

The 2010 festival attendees, 40% of whom came from outside of Ashland, created a $2.8 million economic impact in the community in the 2010 fiscal year. More than 1200 attendees completed surveys from which the following information was gathered: * 86% patronized local restaurants * 62% patronized local retail shops * 25% patronized local galleries

Praise

The festival continues to gain national attention as a high-quality regional film festival. *

Ernest Hardy Ernest George Hardy (15 January 1852 – 26 October 1925) was a classicist and Principal of Jesus College, Oxford, from 1921 to 1925. Biography Hardy was born in Hampstead, England and was educated at Highgate School. He then went to Exeter Col ...

of the LA Weekly said the festival is "well on its way to being one of my favorite American film festivals, period. It's the almost - perfect blend of programming, audience and location." *

Shawn Levy Shawn Adam Levy (born July 23, 1968) is a Canadian film director, film producer, actor, and founder of 21 Laps Entertainment. He has worked across genres and is perhaps best known as the director of the '' Night at the Museum'' film franchise an ...

, of The Oregonian newspaper, said the festival "offers movie lovers that same sense of being in a magical place...Southern Oregon doesn't have anything else like it -- nor, in fact, do most places on Earth." * Upon her visit to the festival, Academy Award winning Actress Helen Hunt that "Ashland is a paradise and the film festival is a rich, beautiful thing to be a part of." * ''MovieMaker Magazine'' placed the Ashland Independent Film Festival on their 2009 list of "25 Festivals Worth The Entry Fee"

Achievements

* On October 25, 2007 the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

presented the AIFF with a $20,000 grant to help bring more filmmakers, actors and subjects of documentaries to the festival. * The festival was again awarded this grant in the amount of $17,500 in 2010 for the 2011 festival

Current festival

The 18th Annual Ashland Independent Film Festival is scheduled for April 11–15, 2019.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website

Lathrios Film Festival Database
- the Lathrios listing for the Ashland Independent Film Festival including a film list and analysis for the event.
Photos from the AIFF
Ashland, Oregon Film festivals in Oregon Tourist attractions in Jackson County, Oregon 2001 establishments in Oregon Annual events in Oregon