ashland | The Confluence

Ashland Independent Film Festival To Announce Full Line-Up At Festival Preview Night & Offers A Sneak Peek At 10 Highlights

March 11, 2019March 11, 2019 Emily McPeck #OregonMade, Film Festivals, Independent Films, Oregon Film Ashland Independent Film Festival, film festival, filming in Oregon, Oregon FilmLeave a Comment

The Ashland Independent Film Festival has unveiled ten film selections from its 18^th annual edition. The full line-up will be released at Festival Preview Night, to be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 20 at the SOU Music Recital Hall in Ashland. Heading the list of early highlights is the world premiere of Ashland filmmakers Gary and Annie Lundgren’s Phoenix, Oregon, starring James Le Gros and Jesse Borrego as two friends who, defying midlife haze, seize an unlikely opportunity to reinvent their lives, quitting their jobs to restore an old bowling alley and serve the “world’s greatest pizza.” Continue reading... “Ashland Independent Film Festival To Announce Full Line-Up At Festival Preview Night & Offers A Sneak Peek At 10 Highlights”

Ashland #6 In MovieMaker Magazine’s Best Places To Live & Work As A Moviemaker: Small Towns & Cities

January 17, 2019January 17, 2019 Oregon Film Awards, Featured Locations, Independent Films, Locations Ashland, MovieMaker Magazine Best Places To Live and Work as a Moviemaker 2019: Small Cities & Towns1 Comment

At a cabin on Hyatt Lake, 12 miles east of Ashland, the crew sets up a scene for the pilot episode of The Stem starring Abby Wathen, Marlyn Mason and Clive Rosengren. Photograph by Ray Nomoto Robison

For the 6th year in a row Ashland is in MovieMaker Magazine’s top group of small and cities and towns in which to be a filmmaker – congrats!

Coming in at #6. Ashland, Oregon

Here is what MM had to say about Ashland:

The smallest city on our list, with a population of 21,117, Ashland in Southern Oregon punches far above its weight. Continue reading... “Ashland #6 In MovieMaker Magazine’s Best Places To Live & Work As A Moviemaker: Small Towns & Cities”

Ashland Independent Film Festival Launches Year-Round “Best of the Fests” Film Series with the Oregon Premiere of YOUNG MEN AND FIRE, on Oregon Wildland Firefighters

September 5, 2018 Emily McPeck Events, Film Festivals, Independent Films Alex Jablonski, Ashland, Ashland Independent Film Festival, Best Of The AIFF2018 Shorts, Best of the Fests, Collaborative Theatre Project, Eugene, Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf, Grayback Forestry Firefighters, JORDAN SCHNITZER MUSEUM, Ken Ward, Medford, Michael Zahs, Mr. Fish: Cartooning from the Deep End, Saving Brinton, Symphony for Natures, The Reluctant Radical, Varsity Theatre, Wildland Firefighter Foundation, Young Men and FireLeave a Comment

Young Men and Fire Film Still — Young Men and Fire

The Ashland Independent Film Festival is expanding its year-round programming with a new series, Best of the Fests, which will offer audiences a second chance to see some of the best and most requested films from the most recent AIFF, along with other films generating excitement on the film festival circuit. The series will launch with a “Best of the Fests Weekend” September 21-23 at the Varsity Theatre in Ashland and the Collaborative Theatre Project in Medford and continue with screenings at Eugene’s Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art in October and November. Continue reading... “Ashland Independent Film Festival Launches Year-Round “Best of the Fests” Film Series with the Oregon Premiere of YOUNG MEN AND FIRE, on Oregon Wildland Firefighters”

Ashland, Bend + Portland Film Fests Again Make MovieMaker’s “Best 50 Film Fests Worth The Entry Fee”

April 18, 2018April 18, 2018 Oregon Film #OregonMade, Film Festivals 50 Best Film Festivals Worth The Entry Fee, AIFF, BendFilm Festival, MovieMaker, Portland Film FestivalLeave a Comment

Ashland International Film Festival, BendFilm, and Portland Film Festival all made the cut for the MovieMaker 2018 “50 Best Film Festivals Worth The Entry Fee.”

Here is what MM had to say about each:

AIFF: “Submitting to screen at this five-day Southern Oregon fest comes with the promise that your film will be viewed and evaluated by more than one screener. Ashland Independent Film Festival’s crowd of over 7,000 fills out the art-deco Varsity Theatre, historic Ashland Armory, and other venues to take in over 90 doc, feature, and short selections. Continue reading... “Ashland, Bend + Portland Film Fests Again Make MovieMaker’s “Best 50 Film Fests Worth The Entry Fee””

Ashland Independent Film Festival Announces 2018 Program Details

March 26, 2018 Emily McPeck #OregonMade, Events, Film Festivals, Independent, Independent Films AIFF2018, Ashland, Ashland Independent Film Festival, film festival, independent film, indie filmLeave a Comment

AIFF Varsity Theatre — The 17th Annual Ashland Independent Film Festival runs April 12-16, 2018. photo by Al Case

The Ashland Independent Film Festival has announced its lineup for the five-day festival, April 12-16, 2018, screening in venues across Ashland and—for the first time—Medford. The year’s lineup includes over 120 films chosen from nearly a thousand films submitted to the festival, or specially selected by AIFF Artistic and Executive Director Richard Herskowitz. The entire program, including information about show times, live performances, art exhibits, filmmaker TalkBack panels, children’s programs, Community Conversations, and more is now online at ashlandfilm.org Continue reading... “Ashland Independent Film Festival Announces 2018 Program Details”

Ashland Independent Film Festival to Announce Full Line-up at Festival Preview Night and Offers a Sneak Peek at 10 Highlights

March 9, 2018 Emily McPeck #OregonMade, Documentary, Events, Film Festivals, Independent, Independent Films, Oregon Film Ashland, Ashland Film Festival, Ashland International Film Festival, Film Festival OregonLeave a Comment

Film Still - ON CHESIL BEACH — Adapted by Ian McEwan from his bestselling novel, ON CHESIL BEACH centers on a young couple of drastically different backgrounds in the summer of 1962. Photo courtesy of the Ashland Independent Film Festival.

The Ashland Independent Film Festival will announce its 2018 film and event lineup at their Festival Preview Night at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 20 at the SOU Music Recital Hall in Ashland. This is the first chance to see clips from festival films, pick up the Pocket Guide, and get insider information on special guests and new events for AIFF2018. Continue reading... “Ashland Independent Film Festival to Announce Full Line-up at Festival Preview Night and Offers a Sneak Peek at 10 Highlights”

Portland and Ashland Voted Best Places To Live + Work By MovieMaker

January 17, 2018 Oregon Film #OregonMade, Award, Featured Locations, Independent, Independent Films, News MovieMaker 2018Leave a Comment

MovieMaker Magazine has annouced their “Best Places to Live and Work as a moviemaker” with Portland coming in at #11 in the “Big Cities” category, and Ashland at #5 in the “Small Cities” category. Ashalnd was beaten out by New Orleans, Savannah, Santa Fe, and Pittsburg, and Portland by Atlanta, Vancouver (BC), Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Albuquerque, Boston, Toronto, Austin and Montreal.

Director Alessandro Circiello shoots Magic Carpet, the Search for Now in Ashland.

Ashland Independent Film Festival Expands the 28th Annual Varsity World Film Week

September 8, 2017September 11, 2017 Emily McPeck Film Festivals Ashland independent film fesitvalLeave a Comment

The Ashland Independent Film Festival has assembled an intriguing and illuminating array of international independent films for the 28^th annual Varsity World Film Week running October 6 through October 13 at the Varsity Theatre in downtown Ashland. The 13 films selected represent 23 countries, including Canada, Colombia, Lebanon, France, Thailand, Russia, Nepal, and the United States.

In addition to the week of screenings, this year will also feature opening and closing night festivities, including Q&A’s with film directors and after-screening parties. Continue reading... “Ashland Independent Film Festival Expands the 28th Annual Varsity World Film Week”

Ashland Independent Film Festival Announces Juried and Audience Award Winners

April 13, 2017 Emily McPeck Film Festivals, Independent Films Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, Alex Cox, Ashland Independent Film Festival, Black Canaries, City of Joy, Cortez, Gerald Hirschfeld, I Am Another You, James Ivory, Jenni Olson, Kish, Last Leatherman of the Vale of Cashmere, Les Blank, My First Kiss and the People Involved, Plea, Pushing Dead, Quest, Rachel Lambert, Southern Oregon, The Boatman, The Missing Sun, The Tables, Whose Streets?Leave a Comment

The Ashland Independent Film Festival (AIFF) announced the highly anticipated juried and audience award-winning films for work screened at the 16th annual festival, April 6-10, 2017. “I’m particularly pleased that the audience chose different films to award than the juries,” said festival director Richard Herskowitz. “Since many of our films this year deserved special recognition, I’m glad we were able to hand out local artisan Dennis DeBey’s beautiful statuette to so many deserving artists.”

James Ivory, legendary director and Klamath Falls native, received the AIFF Lifetime Achievement Award. Continue reading... “Ashland Independent Film Festival Announces Juried and Audience Award Winners”

Ashland Independent Film Festival Announces Program Details

March 21, 2017March 21, 2017 Emily McPeck Events, Film Festivals 500 Years, Activism and Film, Alex Cox, Ashland Independent Film Festival, Daniel Raim, Dolores Huerta, Drea Cooper, Faerie Godmother Award, Granito- How to Nail a Dictator, Happy Lucky Golden Tofu Good Time Fun Fun Show, Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story, James Ivory, Lost Landscapes of Los Angeles, Matias Piñeiro, Nancy Gerstman, Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press?, Paco de Onis, Pamela Yates, Peter Bratt, POWFest, Rachel Lambert, Richard Herskowitz, Rick Prelinger, Schneider Museum of Art, Skylight, Slanty Eyed Mama, Tara Jane O’Neil, Vanessa Renwic, What Lies Upstream, When the Mountain Trembles, Whose Streets?, Zeitgeist FilmsLeave a Comment

The Ashland Independent Film Festival has announced its lineup for the five-day, five-night festival April 6-10 in venues across Ashland. The 16th annual festival will give a nod to both the future and past with an exciting lineup that pays tribute to the roots of independent film, and new collaborations between film, art, and live performance.

The year’s lineup includes over 100 films that were narrowed down from more than 800 films submitted to the festival, or specially selected by AIFF Director Richard Herskowitz. Continue reading... “Ashland Independent Film Festival Announces Program Details”