"Films worth freezing for."
That's the famous tagline of the Anchorage International Film Festival.
Matanuska Glacier Park - Alaska on CineStill 800
One of the "50 Coolest Film Festivals" in the world according to MovieMaker Magazine - I believe AIFF lives up to its reputation simply on natural setting alone.
I had never been to Alaska before, and I never thought I would travel to Alaska in my lifetime until finding out our film was selected to screen at the Anchorage Film Festival. Early on in our festival planning process, Anchorage was one of the festivals frequently repeated and recommended to us over many others. We sent our film in without much consideration of the possibility that the trip might be a reality. I must say that this global festival roulette has been the most unexpected, yet fun part of the festival experience - traveling to far-off places you might not otherwise discover and truly getting to know local communities and films.
Traveling to Alaska in the middle of December means only a few hours of daylight; the sun rises around 11AM and sets near 3PM. Unfortunately, due to the drastic consequences of climate change Alaska has been severely impacted by its effects. The temperature was unseasonably mild for Alaskan terms, but normal winter cold for a New Yorker, around 20-30ºF, whereas normally it would be a mere -20ºF in Anchorage in December. This was good news for the majority of visiting filmmakers from Los Angeles, albeit very bad news for the future of Alaska.
The festival graciously hosted the filmmakers on a trip of a lifetime to visit the Matanuska Glacier, known to be the largest glacier accessible by car in the US. Photographs of the glacier could never do true justice for the experience. I tried out using CineStill 800 for the first time on this trip, and I was not particularly thrilled with the results. The rough-and-ready quality of the film gives the photos a lo-fi effect, yet other 800 ISO films I've used (and brought through several airport scans) have outperformed in low-light. The damage and grain is evident in the photos, however it doesn't put a dint on the overall experiment or memory of the trip.
There's been a new concept introduced as of recent called "last chance tourism" - the purpose of traveling to locations before the impacts of climate change take full effect.
Sadly, Alaska has been a popular destination for this new wave of grave tourism. I would hate to think of this adventure as a form of this notion, yet the reality of the situation is evident and many of us felt that visiting the glacier. Speaking with locals and watching films from the Alaskan community only highlighted how huge of an impact global warming is having on their land and ecosystem. It's devastating to see these consequences taking shape in this majestic and remote place.
