The inaugural Boise Film Festival will make its debut October 10-13 with a 20th Anniversary screening of Gavin O’Connor’s tale of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team’s Gold Medal journey, Miracle. The new film festival will present a highly curated list of 27 films (16 features, 11 shorts), along with master classes on producing and screenwriting as it brings filmmakers and film and television industry veterans (including prolific producer Mark Ciadi, and CSI’s Anthony Zuiker) to the city to celebrate independent film via a four-day event packed with programming and special events.
The film festival’s epicenter and all screenings will be held at Boise’s Egyptian Theater Screenings (700 West Main Street) and The Flicks (646 West Fulton Street).
Created to be a film festival focused on discovery, looking to find, highlight, and celebrate new cinematic voices and faces, to promote the next generation of film makers and artists. BFF will also include a special focus on films created and shot in the Pacific Northwest.
BFF Founders and Executive Directors, Christine, and Mark Holder, said, “We are thrilled with the inaugural line up of films and special events our team has lined up for this first edition of the Boise Film Festival. From the beginning, we have said we hope to be matchmakers here in our adopted city between film lovers and the type of films and filmmakers that we have championed in our careers as producers and filmmakers. Following what should be a fun night of hockey on film with our 20th anniversary presentation of Miracle, will be a carefully curated and diverse group of films spanning several genres, as well as highly anticipated film industry panels, Q&As, and master classes, bringing a lot of top talent right here to Boise.”
Programmed by veterans Ash Hoyle (Sundance Film Festival, Outfest LA, NewFest NY, Damn These Heels, Sun Valley Film Festival, Overlook Film Festival, and AFI Fest), and Caroline Bloom (Atlanta Film Festival, New Orleans Film Festival, and No Budget Film Festival), the depth of Boise Film Festival’s lineup has the look of a film festival several years into its run versus a year one debut.
Regarding the inaugural lineup for BFF, Ash, said, “We’re excited to bring these films to Boise and to give our audiences a chance to experience some of the most exciting work out there on the circuit this year. We’re proud to present films from Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca, Cannes, and from the local filmmaking community. We think we’re off to a strong start.” Bloom added, “The inaugural Boise Film Festival features an exciting mix of inspiring documentaries, quirky comedies, acclaimed dramas, spotlights on women in media, journeys of social change, and new takes on the thriller and sci fi genre. We’re equally thrilled about the short film program, which features a dynamic range of stories that celebrate the diversity and creativity of human connection. There truly is something for every type of moviegoer to enjoy.”
Opening the new film festival will be the 20th Anniversary screening of Gavin O’Connor’s crowd pleaser Miracle (2004) about the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey team’s seemingly impossible path to win the gold medal versus the juggernaut that was the Soviet Olympic team. On hand to talk about the film will be producer Mark Ciardi, as well as Mike Eruzione, the real-life captain of that legendary team, and Patrick O’Brien Demsey, who played Eruzione in the film. Preceding the screening will be a presentation of GameAbove Entertainment’s ECHL Unfiltered: Idaho Steelheads – For the Love of the Game, which will be the first episode of the docuseries on the NHL Network. Several members of the Idaho Steelheads hockey team will be in attendance, along with director and executive producer Tyler Nimmons.
Three films showcased as part of the Boise Film Festival’s special focus on films created and shot in the Pacific Northwest are Eric Esau’s sci-fi feature Saturn, Jacob Ronnow’s dramatic short Mankind, and the world premiere of Kyle LaMontagne’s short Mother of Portland. In Esau’s Saturn, a family in a picturesque seaside town find their lives upended when a strange planet appears in the sky on a collision course for Earth. The planet’s appearance forces the father to decide between running from his destiny or sacrificing everything he loves since he just might be humanity’s only hope. Ronnow’s drama Mankind is sparked by a confrontational run in between a homeless man “seeking change” outside of a prestigious law firm, and a young lawyer, who decides to offer the man a chance at redemption. LaMontagne’s documentary short Mother of Portland focuses on the life and work of chef and restauranteur Lisa Schroeder.
Additional highlights among the narrative features include Zoë Eisenberg’s Chaperone. The winner of two awards at Sundance, including the Grand Jury Prize, the film focuses on a young woman whose satisfaction in her unremarkable life is a stark disappointment to everyone around her until a new relationship with a teenager threatens to shake everything up. Executive produced by Common, Sam Friedman and Will Bermudez’s drama Grassland follows the conflict that happens when a single black mother’s illegal marijuana business becomes jeopardized due to her 9-year-old son’s new friendship with their new neighbors: a white boy and his police officer grandfather. Alonso Ruizpalacios’ La Cocina, a winner at the Deauville Film Festival, stars Rooney Mara and Oded Fehr in a high stakes’ drama set in a bustling Times Square kitchen as the back-of-house staff each chase the elusive American dream within that pressure-cooker environment.
Highlights among the documentary features include Silje Evensmo Jacobsen’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner A New Kind of Wilderness. The film follows a family living a wild and free existence on a small farm in the Norwegian forest, until a tragedy upends their idyllic world and forces them to forge a new path into modern society. Don Hardy’s Linda Perry: Let It Die Here looks at the life and career of the 4 Non-Blondes icon and hit songwriter. Alison Tavel’s SXSW Audience Award winner Resynator is the filmmaker’s documentation of a personal project to rescue her father’s synthesizer prototype from her grandmother’s attic and start a curious resurrection project that turns into an insatiable, globe-trotting quest aided by a musical Who’s Who of estranged family, lost friends, fellow inventors, and celebrated musicians (Grace Potter, Peter Gabriel, Fred Armisen, Gotye & more).
As part of its focus on bringing Hollywood to Boise, BFF will feature two Inner Circle Master Classes focused on insider looks at film producing and screenwriting. Friday, October 11 Mark Ciardi (Secretariat, Million Dollar Arm, Chappaquiddick) will go through all the ins and outs of producing true stories for the big screen and television. From acquiring life rights, to development of the script, to production and delivery you will learn how to navigate the world of bringing real life heroes to the screen. On Saturday, October 12 Anthony Zuiker, creator of the landmark CSI franchise, will take attendees through all the ins and outs of writing successful television. The class will combine a nuts and bolts look at taking an idea to a finished script, as well as how best to navigate the business as a writer.
Previously announced, jury members for the inaugural edition of BFF include Academy Award-nominated producer David Permut, Academy Award-winning actor Octavia Spencer, Emmy Award-winning actor Paul Walter Hauser, Talent Agent David Boxerbaum, Manager/producer Andrew Wilson, and Boise State Film Professor Ryan Cannon.
The Closing Night Gala and Filmmaker Awards Ceremony on Sunday, October 13, will be hosted by former NFL Pro Bowler and America’s Got Talent finalist, Jon Dorenbros. All filmmaker award winners (both jury and audience) will receive cash prizes along with their BFF Award during a ceremony held on closing night.
To purchase passes and tickets, or for more information, please go to: https://www.theboisefilmfest.com/.
2024 BOISE FILM FESTIVAL (BFF) Official Selections
OPENING NIGHT GALA SELECTION
Miracle (2004)
Director: Gavin O’Connor
Country: USA; Running Time: 135 minutes
The true story of Herb Brooks, the player-turned-coach who led the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team to victory over the seemingly invincible Soviet squad.
Preceded by
ECHL Unfiltered Episode 1: Idaho Steelheads – For the Love of the Game
Director: Tyler Nimmons
Country: USA; Running Time: 30 minutes
The first episode of the series looks at the Idaho Steelheads hockey team and the challenges they face in the new season and their quest for Kelly Cup glory.
ADDITIONAL NARRATIVE FEATURES
Audrey
Director: Natalie Bailey
Country: Australia; Running Time: 97 minutes
Forgotten soap star and self-appointed Mother of the Year, Ronnie Lipsick is living the life she never asked for. An acting career derailed due to an untimely pregnancy 18 years earlier, dreams of stardom replaced with a suburban performing arts school. A husband, Cormack, whose lust, and love for life has gone as limp as his manhood. Youngest daughter, Norah, appears to have no use for her and finally, the ungrateful eldest, Audrey, who Ronnie has given the best part of her parenting time to mould into the success she always wanted to be. But when an accident lands Audrey in a coma, Ronnie gets her second chance at the life she actually wanted by taking on her daughter’s identity.
Birthrite
Director: Ross Partridge
Country: USA; Running Time: 100 minutes
When a pregnant woman is bequeathed a home from an estranged aunt, she and her girlfriend leave the city behind to begin new chapter. But when a karmic debt threatens the life of their unborn child, they soon discover their place in the cursed history of the town.
Chaperone
Director: Zoë Eisenberg
Country: USA; Running Time: 102 minutes
Misha Miyamoto, 29, lives alone in the house her grandmother left her, has held the same job since high school, and likes her life as is: simple. Unfortunately, her satisfaction disappoints everyone around her. Her boss can’t fathom why she won’t take a promotion, her lack of ambition dissuades potential love interests, and her parents push her to sell her estate since she has no interest in starting a family. These pressures leave Misha isolated and sick of justifying her choices. When an earnest 18-year-old mistakes Misha for a fellow student, she finds solace in his lack of expectation and begins a relationship with him. But as their relationship grows, so does Misha’s reckless behavior.
Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point
Director: Tyler Taormina
Country: USA; Running Time: 106 minutes
On Christmas Eve, a family gathers for what could be the last holiday in their ancestral home. As the night wears on and generational tensions arise, one of the teenagers sneaks out with her friends to claim the wintry suburb for her own.
Cold Wallet
Director: Cutter Hodierne
Country: USA; Running Time: 84 minutes
After losing everything in a cryptocurrency scam, a ragtag team of vigilante Redditors attempt to kidnap the kingpin who screwed them over. But when the home invasion takes a turn for the worst, they become victims in a sadistic game.
Grassland
Directors: Sam Friedman, Will Bermudez
Country: USA; Running Time: 88 minutes
Grassland explores the failures of the criminal justice system from a unique angle by following Sofia, a single mother whose illegal marijuana business becomes jeopardized when her 9-year-old son Leo befriends the new neighbors: a white boy and his police officer grandfather.
La Cocina
Director: Alonso Ruizpalacios
Country: Mexico, USA; Running Time: 139 minutes
In the heart of a bustling Times Square kitchen, dreams and desperation collide as the back-of-house staff each chase the elusive American dream. It’s a high-stakes drama that explores the intersection of the personal ambition and systemic exploitation of undocumented immigrant workers within the pressure-cooker environment of a Times Square restaurant.
Saturn
Director: Eric Esau
Country: USA; Running Time: 100 minutes
Saturn is a character-based science fiction film about a family in a picturesque seaside town whose lives are upended when a strange planet appears in the sky on a collision course for Earth. The planet’s appearance brings back a life that James thought he had left years ago when he settled down with his wife and young son. But, with the outside world in chaos and his perfect family slowly falling apart, James must decide between running from his destiny or sacrificing everything he loves. We slowly learn that James is more than meets the eye. He has a secret he’s never shared with anyone… a secret that is humanity’s only hope. Taking inspiration from classic and modern sci-fi, Saturnasks a simple question: how far would you go to save those you love?
Tapawingo
Director: Dylan K. Narang
Country: USA; Running Time: 109 min
An oddball becomes the bodyguard for a misfit teenager and finds himself in the crosshairs of the town’s family of bullies.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES
A New Kind of Wilderness
Director: Silje Evensmo Jacobsen
Country: Norway; Running Time: 84 minutes
On a small farm in the Norwegian forest, the Payne family seeks a wild and free existence. They practice home-schooling and strive for a closely-knit family dynamic in harmony with nature. However, when tragedy unexpectedly strikes the family, it upends their idyllic world and forces them to forge a new path into modern society.
Every Little Thing
Director: Sally Aitken
Country: Australia; Running Time: 93 minutes
Author and wildlife rehabber Terry Masear wants to save every injured hummingbird in Los Angeles, but the path to survival is fraught with uncertainty and drama. This intimate and profound story reveals her diminutive patients both visually, through breathtaking, beautifully detailed photography, and emotionally: over the course of director Sally Aitken’s moving documentary, we become invested in Terry’s hummingbird patients – Cactus, Jimmy, Wasabi, Alexa, and Mikhail – celebrating their small victories and lamenting their tiny tragedies. Through the eyes of America’s busiest bird rehabilitator, each bird becomes memorable, mighty, and heroic. The compassion and empathy that Masear shows her birds serves as a lesson to us all — a reminder that in the smallest of acts, and in the tiniest of creatures, we might find grace.
Linda Perry: Let It Die Here
Director: Don Hardy
Country: USA; Running Time: 93 minutes
Linda Perry is one of the most outspoken and recognizable artists of the past 30 years. The hat, tattoos, and massive hit single “What’s Up” with her band 4 Non-Blondes made her an icon. But in the decades since that song topped the charts, Linda has reinvented herself as a songwriter and producer penning hit-after-hit for artists like Dolly Parton, Christina Aguilera, Celine Dion, Pink, and others. While the story of Linda’s career and craft is extraordinary, this film is about much more. Let It Die Here is an intimate look at a vulnerable and courageous woman as she navigates life-altering personal circumstances amidst gnawing career decisions. Linda‘s past and present collide as she struggles to answer the big questions she can no longer avoid: Who am I? Am I loved? What’s my purpose? What will I leave behind?
Maya and the Wave
Director: Stephanie Johnes
Country: USA; Running Time: 95 minutes
Pursuing her dreams against all odds, world champion Brazilian big-wave surfer Maya Gabeira challenges the status quo in a very patriarchal sport, as she is forced to battle chauvinism as well as the waves themselves to succeed beyond anyone’s expectations in the male-dominated world of surfing.
Porcelain War
Directors: Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev
Countries: Australia/USA/Ukraine; Running Time: 87 minutes
Porcelain War is a stunning tribute to the resilience of the human spirit, embodying the passion and fight that only artists can put back into the world when it’s crumbling around them. With extraordinary footage from a war-torn country, filmed by ordinary civilians, Porcelain War is a story much bigger than Ukraine, it’s a story about all of us.
Resynator
Director: Alison Tavel
Country: USA; Running Time: 96 minutes
Inventor Don Tavel died suddenly when his newborn daughter was just ten weeks old. Growing up surrounded by mythical stories of her “genius” father, Alison’s life is consequently absent from any true connection to him. Resynator is a narrative documentary that begins when Alison rescues Don’s synthesizer prototype from her grandmother’s attic and starts a curious resurrection project that turns into an insatiable, globe-trotting quest. Aided by estranged family, lost friends, fellow inventors, and celebrated musicians (Grace Potter, Peter Gabriel, Fred Armisen, Gotye & more), Alison unlocks unsettling secrets and complex truths, through which a father/daughter relationship is finally born.
Shari & Lamb Chop
Director: Lisa D’Apolito
Country: USA; Running Time; 92 minutes
Before Mister Rogers welcomed us to the neighborhood, Shari Lewis was captivating us with her iconic sock puppets Lamb Chop, Charlie Horse, and Hush Puppy. A multi-talented dancer, singer, magician, conductor, puppeteer, and ventriloquist, Lewis was the pioneer of children’s television, starring in a number of programs including “The Shari Lewis Show” and (where millennials fell in love with her) on PBS’s “Lamb Chop’s Play-Along.” With a career spanning five decades, Lewis’ tenacious work ethic, lovable charisma, and unwavering dedication to her craft led her into millions of living rooms to laugh, play, interact, and empower kids to love themselves exactly as they are.
Sugarcane
Directors: Emily Kassie, Julian Brave NoiseCat
Country: Canada; Running Time: 107 minutes
A stunning tribute to the resilience of Native people and their way of life, Sugarcane, the debut feature documentary from Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, is an epic cinematic portrait of a community during a moment of international reckoning. In 2021, evidence of unmarked graves was discovered on the grounds of an Indian residential school run by the Catholic Church in Canada. After years of silence, the forced separation, assimilation and abuse many children experienced at these segregated boarding schools was brought to light, sparking a national outcry against a system designed to destroy Indigenous communities.
SHORT FILMS
Bite
Director: Jorey Worb
Country: USA; Running Time: 14 minutes
After being sexually assaulted by her dentist, a formerly confident young woman endeavors to find the power within herself to stand up to her attacker. Based on the writer/director’s personal experience.
Bird Drone
Director: Radheya Jegatheva
Country: Australia; Running Time: 9 minutes
A lonely seagull looking for love struggles to accept that his newfound object of affection is a human-operated drone with a limited battery life.
Bogota Story
Director: Esteban Pedraza
Country: Colombia, USA; Running Time: 16 minutes
In 1992, as Colombia faces an era of drug violence, car bombs, and daily power outages, a young mother in Bogotá receives an internship opportunity in the US and eventually must decide between her dreams and her family.
Border Hopper
Director: Nico Casavecchia
Country: USA; Running Time: 14 minutes
Laura, a Latinx filmmaker, lands a life-changing career opportunity when she’s hired to direct a Super Bowl commercial for a video game. The catch? The shoot is in Europe, and she can’t travel due to her immigration status, a secret she’s kept from her employers. This creates friction with her husband Jorge, whose Green Card depends on hers. Laura decides to apply for a complicated emergency travel permit to take on the job. Her reality takes a surreal turn as she starts having hallucinations of a nightmarish video-game world. When immigration services deny her the travel permit, she finds support from Jorge to accept the job, even if it means risking their immigration status.
Chauncey
Directors: Reilly Anspaugh, Daniel Rashid
Country: USA; Running Time: 11 minutes
When Zoe brings her new boyfriend home for the first time, she decides to hide her childhood stuffed animal Chauncey in the sock drawer. But when she starts to hear Chauncey’s voice in her head, she has to choose whether to continue hiding him, or to reveal the truth and risk disaster.
Fanatic
Director: Taran Killam
Country: USA; Running Time: 16 minutes
Charlie and Gerald revive their failed 2000’s boyband, 2N1, for a competition with prize money that could remedy all their financial woes. What could go wrong?
ILY, Bye
Director: Taylor James
Country: USA; Running Time: 14 minutes
ILY, Bye follows Siobhan, a quirky, socially anxious mess who can’t seem to keep a job. Thanks to the help of her best friend Gary, she scores an interview with his boss, Mr. Litchfield. When her call to schedule the interview goes to voicemail, Siobhan panics and leaves a series of unhinged messages. Not wanting to lose the interview, she embarks on a chaotic mission to delete the voicemails herself.
Mankind
Director: Jacob Ronnow
Country: USA; Running Time: 26 minutes
After a confrontational interaction with a homeless man “seeking change” outside of a prestigious law firm, a young lawyer decides to offer this lost soul a chance at redemption. As fate would have it, an unlikely connection is formed between the two, leading both men to ultimately discover salvation.
Midnight Snack
Directors: Samuel Dhooge, Rani Nagels, Jarne Meersman
Country: Belgium; Running Time: 2 minutes
A vampire tries to escape from the house he’s in, when he finds out there’s a solar eclipse happening.
Mother Of Portland WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Kyle LaMontagne
Country: USA; Running Time: 7 minutes
When there’s chaos in her kitchen, she’s there to help. When there is chaos in her city, she’s there to help. A gritty greasy look at what it means to be a modern-day hero. The story of the life and work of Lisa Schroeder.
The Soul Trader
Director: Susan Dynner
Country: USA; Running Time: 12 minutes
An occult hitwoman has cornered the market for selling life-extending souls to the elite. But on her final hit before retirement, deadly competition emerges from the shadows.
