Ashland Independent Film Festival facts for kids
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The Varsity Theatre
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| Location | Ashland, Oregon |
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| Hosted by | Southern Oregon Film Society |
| Language | International |
| Website | http://www.ashlandfilm.org |
The Ashland Independent Film Festival is a cool event held every spring in Ashland, Oregon, United States. It's like a big party for movies! A group called the Southern Oregon Film Society has organized it since 2001.
The festival was started by D.W. and Steve Wood. It usually lasts for five days. Movies are shown at the Varsity Theatre in downtown Ashland and the Historic Ashland Armory. You can see all kinds of films there, from short movies to full-length features. These include drama, comedy, documentaries, and animation.
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About the Film Festival
Most of the independent films are shown at the art-deco Varsity Theatre. It's a cool old building in downtown Ashland with five screens. Bigger events and special movie showings happen at the Historic Ashland Armory. This place can hold up to 500 people!
Besides watching movies, the Ashland Independent Film Festival has lots of fun social events. There's an opening-night party to kick things off. Filmmakers often answer questions from the audience after their movies. There are also talks with filmmakers, art shows, and a special lounge that opens every night. In 2010, about 6,500 people came to the festival. They bought 16,800 tickets in total!
Supporting Local Filmmakers
The festival really wants to help local filmmakers. If you live nearby, you can submit your film for free! This encourages more people from the area to share their work. The festival also has two special "Locals Only" programs that are free for Ashland residents to attend.
There's also a program that is free for all students in Southern Oregon. It encourages them to make their own films and send them in. In 2010, a new "Made in Oregon" award was added. This was because a lot of the films shown that year, about 25%, were actually filmed in Oregon!
Awards Given at the Festival
The Ashland Independent Film Festival gives out several awards to the best films and filmmakers. Here are some of the awards:
- Best Feature Film
- Best Documentary: Full Length
- Best Documentary: Short Film
- Best Animated Short Film
- Best Short Film
- Best Acting Ensemble (for a group of actors)
- Family Choice Award
- Best Short Film: Drama or Documentary
- Rogue Creamery Audience Award: Best Documentary (chosen by the audience)
- John C. Schweiger Audience Award: Dramatic Feature (chosen by the audience)
- Best Cinematography, The Gerald Hirschfeld, ASC Award: Feature (for the best camera work)
- Rogue Award
Famous Guests Who Have Visited
Many well-known people from the film world have visited the festival over the years. Some of these special guests include:
- Les Blank
- Ty Burrell
- Bruce Campbell
- Chris Cooper
- Eleanor Coppola
- Alex Cox
- Barbara Hammer
- Ed Hardy
- Helen Hunt
- James Ivory
- Barbara Kopple
- Greg Louganis
- Albert Maysles
- Elvis Mitchell
- Bill Plympton
- Julia Reichert
- Harry Shearer
- Lynn Shelton
- Cheryl Strayed
- Julie Taymor
- Ondi Timoner
- Will Vinton
- Lucy Walker
How the Festival Helps the Local Economy
The film festival also helps the town of Ashland. In 2010, about 40% of the people who came to the festival were from outside Ashland. These visitors spent money in the community, which added up to about $2.8 million that year!
Surveys from over 1200 attendees showed that:
- 86% ate at local restaurants.
- 62% shopped at local stores.
- 25% visited local art galleries.
Why the Festival is Praised
The Ashland Independent Film Festival is becoming more and more famous across the country. People see it as a really good regional film festival.
- Ernest Hardy from LA Weekly said it's "well on its way to being one of my favorite American film festivals." He loved the mix of movies, audience, and location.
- Shawn Levy from The Oregonian said the festival "offers movie lovers that same sense of being in a magical place." He also said Southern Oregon doesn't have anything else like it.
- When Academy Award-winning actress Helen Hunt visited, she said, "Ashland is a paradise and the film festival is a rich, beautiful thing to be a part of."
- MovieMaker Magazine has often listed the Ashland Independent Film Festival as one of the "50 Festivals Worth The Entry Fee." This means it's a great festival for filmmakers to submit their movies to.
- The magazine also called it one of "THE 25 COOLEST FILM FESTIVALS IN THE WORLD" in 2016.
- In 2014, MovieMaker Magazine even named Ashland, Oregon, as the #2 "BEST PLACE TO LIVE AND WORK AS A MOVIEMAKER."
Festival Achievements
The festival has received important support over the years.
- On October 25, 2007, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave the AIFF a $20,000 grant. This money helped bring more filmmakers, actors, and people featured in documentaries to the festival.
- The festival received this grant again in 2010. This time, it was for $17,500, to help with the 2011 festival.
