In celebration of its 10th anniversary, next week’s Ashfield Film Fest will be a three-day event, with two days of independent, double-feature films culminating into a third day of five-minute, Ashfield-related short films competing for this year’s Baby Cecil B. DeMille trophy.
All films will be shown in the Ashfield Town Hall on Main Street, with discussions with the filmmakers to take place in Elmer’s on Thursday and Friday nights and Saturday afternoon.
The film series begins Thursday, Sept. 15, with a double feature of “unsung heroes.” The Kim Loo Sisters were an American vocal quartet in the 1930s and 1940s who were described as “the Chinese Andrew Sisters.”
Ashfield’s Harry Keramidas, a film festival co-founder, edited “The Kim Loo Sisters,” which was directed by Leslie Li. It will be shown in the Town Hall at about 6 p.m. Kerimidas is probably best known as the editor of the film “Back to the Future.”
The Loo sisters’ documentary reveals a bit of American history, culture and family as the story of these women unfolds over 90 years. There will be a question-and-answer session with Kerimidas and Li at Elmer’s after the film.
At 8:30 p.m., the festival continues with “Nothing Without Us: The Women Who Will End AIDS.”
This was directed by Harriet Hirshorn, edited by Ashfield’s Mary Patierno, with Tamara Sloan of Ashfield as associate producer. It tells the story of inspiring women in the global AIDS movement. This film reveals how women have played essential roles in HIV prevention and the treatment access movement throughout sub-Saharan Africa. There will be a question-and-answer session with Hirshorn, Patierno and Sloan at Elmer’s after the film.
On Friday, the double-feature theme is about local superheroes. “Forgotten Farms,” at 6:30 p.m., is about class divisions and cultural divides in New England’s farm and food communities, as traditional dairy farmers struggle for survival. It profiles traditional New England dairy farmers, including Ashfield farmer, Ed Carter. Panel discussion will be held in Elmer’s, which is near Town Hall, with the director, producer, local farmers and the Franklin Land Trust.
The second film, at 9 p.m., is a local “sneak preview” of “Armstrong,” by Ashfield native Nick Lund-Ulrich and his wife Kerry Carlock. Armstrong is a superhero in a feature-length film. It stars Vicky Jeudy from “Orange is the New Black,” as a new rookie EMT who picks up a wounded superhero on her first night on the job. She is pulled into his mission to save Los Angeles from a sinister organization.
On Saturday afternoon, from 1 to 6:30 p.m., festival goers can watch films with local connections. The first, “Dry Brush Master,” at 1 p.m., is a 30-minute film about the creation of the graphic novel, “The Lost Boy,” by local artist and New York Times best-selling author, Greg Ruth. It was filmed by Ashfield filmmaker Ben Tobin. Both Ruth and Tobin will be at Elmer’s after the film to talk about it.
“Far From Home,” by former Film Fest prize winner Galen Knowles, tells the story of Brolin, a snowboarder and aspiring 2018 Olympic athlete who immigrated from Uganda to Boston at age 12. This is his story to become a competitive snowboarder. He studies pre-medicine. Knowles will talk about the film at Elmer’s afterward.
“Short Films from Australia” will be shown from 5 to 6:15 p.m. It will be hosted by Cory Corbett, a former intern with Ashfield’s Double Edge Theatre, who is now assistant director of the “Made in Melbourne Film Festival” in Australia.
For the Grand Finale, it’s customary for regulars to come dressed in their Hollywood best for that Oscar buzz (or is it “Cecil buzz”?) as they watch this year’s five-minute fims and cast their votes for “Audience Choice” favorites.
After this year’s winners are chosen, there will be an after-party for the film festival at the Ashfield Lake House.
Admission to any of the films (except for the $3 “Dry Brush Master”) is $6, with a $1.20 service fee if online tickets are purchased through Brown Paper Tickets. One good reason for buying tickets online is that Town Hall can only seat up to 400. Saturday night’s competition and anniversary gala is likely to sell out. However, for those films that don’t sell out, $6 tickets may be available at the door.
For those in Ashfield who don’t have internet access, some paper tickets for Saturday night may be purchased at Ashfield Hardware and at Elmer’s. Also, online tickets may be purchased through the Belding Memorial Library desktop computer, which has ticket purchase directions nearby.
To see film trailers or to buy online Paper Brown Tickets, go to:
http://www.ashfieldfilmfest.org