Ashland Independent Film Festival returns for its 24th year

Lucie K. Scheuer for Ashland.news

To the delight of many Ashland cinephiles, the 24th Ashland Independent Film Festival opened Thursday, April 24 at the Varsity Theatre in Ashland.

Enthusiastic filmgoers lined up to see the opening runs of several short films and feature-length documentaries (21 at last count) that will be screened daily, starting at 10 a.m.. through Sunday, April 27, with final screenings starting at 7 p.m. Sunday.

“I Know Catherine The Log Lady”

One of the offerings is set close to home.

“I Know Catherine the Log Lady,” produced and directed by Richard Green, spotlights Catherine Coulson, the actress who performed for 22 seasons with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. She died in 2015 of cancer.

She is forever enshrined in the minds of “Twin Peaks” fans as the eccentric psychic (and just a little bit crazy) “log lady” in David Lynch’s TV classic. The film highlights Coulson’s dedication to her craft, which, according to attendee Lorrie Kaplan is a “remarkable experience and deeply moving.” It opened to much fanfare on Thursday evening. According to Kaplan, director Green and producer Jenny Sullivan participated in the post-Q&A session, with Green singing a tribute to Coulson while playing guitar.

Socially-conscious films

There are also films focusing on Middle East crises, including Skye Fitzgerald’s Humanitarian Trilogy: “50 Feet From Syria,” “Hunger Ward,” and “Lifeboat, films that tell the plight of North African migrants. All films are being screened in the Varsity’s five theaters.

On Thursday afternoon, the small theater to the rear of the Varsity was filled for the preview of “Sabbath Queen,” a feature documentary about gay, liberal-leaning Rabbi Amichai Lau-Levi and his conflicted journey and efforts to lead a somewhat conservative Jewish congregation into a modern era where traditions are relaxed and followers become tolerant and inclusive. Lau-Levi hails from a long line of Orthodox Rabbis (38 to be exact). He wants to preserve his heritage but be a catalyst for change. He struggles to maintain his identity as a gay, forward-thinking religious figure and a pacifist, while some of his followers are mired in the memories of the Holocaust and the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

According to its creator, Sandi Dubowski, the making of this film has truly been a labor of love and endurance. This 21-year sojourn has taken him from New York to Israel several times, in addition to his travels around the country and world promoting the film.

“I am a patient man,” he says.

That’s a good thing, as his plane landed late in Medford. He would make it just in time to answer questions post-screening.

Of the Rabbi Amichai’s dilemma, Dubowski says: “We’re in a paradigm shift. A lot of the old models are not serving people.”

Councilperson Gina DuQuenne, founder of the Ashland LGBTQ Pride Parade and Festival in 2010, squeezed into the first row just in time to catch the documentary. Afterwards she said, “I loved this film! So timely, so well done.”

Like many Ashlanders, DuQuenne feels the festival has become part of our culture.

“I’m glad AIFF is back, because we really don’t have anything going in April since the pandemic and I want to support the festival in every way I can,” she says. “I’m going to see at least three other films, including ‘Raising Aniya,’ a film by SOU professor Chris Lucas.”

Reinventing AIFF

The talented, diverse population of AIFF filmmakers (some noted Hollywood transplants) have found a haven in Ashland, a fertile atmosphere where they can stretch out and showcase films that matter. But like many nonprofits, it became endangered during the pandemic.

According to Richard Herskowitz, former AIFF executive and artistic director and current co-director of programming, bringing back the festival to its former glory has been a steep learning curve, but one the administration and board have been able to work to their advantage.

Herskowitz says since 2020, the success of the festival has been the result of reinvention and constant adaptation. In order to keep the festival going, they created a virtual film festival. It set a precedent.

“It was one of the first film festivals in the world to go virtual,” he says. “And it was immensely successful.”

Herskowitz adds that virtual festivals would not remain financially viable.

“The festival had to figure out how to come back. The next year, 2021 we pulled off a hybrid festival. We held part of it outdoors in front of ScienceWorks. The only problem was we hit the worst heat wave — 118 degrees — but still that was a success.”

Herskowitz says people eventually got tired of watching films at home: “We had to find a way to come back.”

“We had two years where we had to pivot, that were a little shaky,” says Aura Johnson, co-director of programming

Adjustments included moving the festival from October to April, making it smaller, and not bringing on a lot of staff. Festival officials also had a small but tight production team and curated films instead of having submissions. This all contributed to AIFF being able to bring the festival back to its former glory.

“It took a lot of milking of personal contacts and looking at films from other festivals,” Johnson says.

Having some “stellar filmmakers involved” and honoring various films with awards has also attracted filmmakers and motivated them to participate by being present.

“Wonderful stories”

Eagerly standing in line to buy a ticket Thursday afternoon, local resident Ellie Holty wanted to see “My Omaha,” described as filmmaker’s Nick Beaulieu’s “personal journey to document the activism in his hometown and reconcile with his terminally ill father Randy, a staunch pro-Trump supporter.”

It is set against the racial divide motivated by the Black Lives Matter movement in his hometown.

“I come every year and see as many of the films as I can,” says Holty. “I also plan to attend talkbacks, where you can hear some fantastic independent voices.”

Talkbacks are a popular feature at AIFF, featuring filmmakers and stars. Among those participating in Q&As this year are Kim Snyder (“The Librarians”), Chris Lucas (“Raising Aniya”), Sandi Dubowski (“Sabbath Queen”), Richard Green (“I Know Catherine”) and some surprise guests.

On Sunday night, Bruce Campbell and wife Ida Gearon, along with Gary and Annie Lundgren, will be previewing their soon-to-be-released feature films.

Holty is so pleased with the festival she pulls an artist’s notebook out of her handbag with breakdowns of the films she wants to see and the times.

“These are wonderful stories I don’t get to experience anywhere else” Holty says.

Many of the major arts organizations in southern Oregon such as the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and AIFF were adversely affected by the pandemic. Some have made a miraculous comebacks, and it looks as though AIFF is going to be one of them.

Reach Ashland-based writer Lucie K. Scheuer at [email protected].