Lunafest and Equinox bring quality films to the Valley

PALMER — The Mat-Su College hosted the third annual Lunafest film festival March 21 to 22.

The film festival moved this year — sponsored by Mat-Su College in partnership with the Alaska National Organization for Women — to the new Glenn Massay Theater’s state-of-the-art sound system and comfortable seating.

Organizers also expanded the vent this year to include the Lunafest on Friday and the Equinox Film Festival Saturday.

Lunafest was established in 2000 by Luna — a nutrition bar manufacturer — “to simultaneously promote women filmmakers, raise awareness for women’s issues, and support women’s nonprofit organizations throughout the U.S. and Canada,” according to the festival’s website.

Lunafest included eight short films, ranging from roughly 4 to 14 minutes in length. Some films were animated, some were live action, some were mixed media, some were scripted, and some were biographical or documentary. Unlikely heroines, surprise endings, and perhaps even a little shock factor graced the films.

For the first year, leaders of Alaska NOW decided to host Equinox in conjunction with Lunafest to showcase Alaskan women filmmakers. Initial advertisement brought in a single Alaskan submission from Mary Katzke of Anchorage-based Affinity Films.

After receiving a tepid response to its initial request for submissions, NOW advertised on Film Freeway and received 900 entries. A six-member committee reviewed 300 of those films and made “yea” or “nay” recommendations.

Ultimately, 31 films were shown in three sessions Saturday during the first-time Equinox Film Festival.

MY House catered the event and staged a silent auction to benefit the Wasilla non-profit, which serves homeless teens.

Katzke’s “Backing Out of Time” — a documentary filmed in Alaska on caring for elderly parents who experience Alzheimer’s — received rave reviews. She joined the group for a discussion after the film. Audience members said they were thankful for such a compassionate rendering of a difficult issue facing today’s families.

When she first applied for grants to produce films she used her initials instead of her name so they wouldn’t know she was female, Katze said.

More women are producing and directing award-winning films. Female protagonists appear more often in film. Female directors still procure smaller film budgets than men. And positive female roles although on the rise, still fall far below that for men, according to Katzke.

“Kayaking in the Aleutians” proved to be an audience favorite. The film, one of the longest of the festival at 50 minutes, documented the journey of two kayakers, both women, who tackled the Aleutians.

Women made up most of the audiences for the films. Most said they were delighted with the films, like Ellie Barnett from Colony High. She attended with her friend, Mikaela O’Hare from Eagle River.

Both young women particularly liked the short, “Limbs,” “because it ends differently,” and said they would return next year.

“’Prey,’ was very clever,” said Lynn Amu of Palmer.

Wasilla resident Pam Gjertson said the festival was high caliber, compared to other college film festivals she’s attended. She said she particularly liked “Backing Out of Time,” since she is going through similar experience with her own mother.

Maria Victoria Kalmbach, a substitute teacher for the Mat-Su district, said she favored the short “Universal Language.” Kalmbach arrived from Columbia 30 years ago and said she faced similar challenges trying to bridge the language barrier, attempting to understand and being misunderstood.

Some attendees said attendance was lagging.

“This was awesome!” said Michelle Heun, of Palmer. “Where is everyone?”