International film weekend takes root in Carson City; Independent films with local ties to screen free at WNC

What began last year with a desire by five local women to bring international films to Carson City will this year be a multi-venue, free three-day event, Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 5-7. Last year’s event was a rousing success, paving the way for this year’s larger festival.

The Carson City Community Center and Western Nevada College will be venues for viewing three foreign feature-length films, three independently produced films, and several Brewery Arts Center contest-winning short films.

To facilitate the transition from an experiment to an annual event, the women brought together the Carson City Library, the Carson City Community Center and Western Nevada College as collaborators.

Carson City Library has received two grants, one from Nevada Arts Council/National Endowment for the Arts, and a second from Nevada Humanities/National Endowment for the Humanities, to help support the event.

International screenings include “Boy” on Thursday, Feb. 5, followed by “Himalaya” on Friday, Feb. 6, and “Obaba” on Saturday, Feb. 7. All three films will be shown at 7 p.m. in the Bob Boldrick Theater at the Carson City Community Center, 851 E. William St.

“Boy” is about a youth coming of age in the Maori culture in New Zealand in 1984. “Himalaya” reveals a collision of modern and ancient values in the harsh but beautiful land of Nepal. “Obaba” is a Spanish-language film about the secret lives in a Basque village.

With an eye toward encouraging local youth and independent filmmakers in Nevada, the Carson City partners will also offer work by three local filmmakers. The award-winning documentary, “Baking Alaska,” produced by Kari Barber, an assistant professor at the University of Nevada, Reno’s Reynolds School of Journalism, follows the adventures of a woman who leaves the security of her office job in Oklahoma to open a bakery in Homer, Alaska, with the help of her mother and sister. This 30-minute film will show at 3 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 5 at WNC’s Cedar Building in Marlette Hall.

A short film on Native American culture by Gabriel Lopez Shaw, a Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe member and a past Sundance Film Festival contributor, is also scheduled for viewing on the opening day of the film weekend. “Nevada Stories: Great Basin Pipemakers” captures master artist Hillman Tobey, a Northern Paiute living at the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, teaching pipe-making skills to apprentice Norman Zuniga. Tobey, who recently celebrated his 100th birthday, talks about the materials and tools used to make pipes as well as the origins and uses of ceremonial pipes in prayer.

To cap two days of independent film presentations, “Rockin’ at the Red Dog — The Dawn of Psychedelic Rock,” directed by Mary Works, will be shown in Marlette Hall at 3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 6. The film is 99 minutes long.

Works, who grew up in Silver City, Nev., examines the role that the Virginia City saloon played in the counterculture of the 1960s, and the psychedelic dancehalls that contributed to the popularity of rock ‘n’ roll heavyweights such as the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and Quicksilver Messenger Service. Works’ father, Don, co-founded the unconventional saloon and through Works’ memories, interviews, music, art, and a 25-year reunion in 1991, shows the Red Dog’s impact on history.

Works and Barber will be on hand to discuss their films.

Several winning mini-films from the Brewery Arts Center’s Citywide Short Film Competition will also be shown on Thursday, Feb. 5.

Each film will be preceded by a brief introduction and followed by an optional, open forum discussion after viewing. Refreshments will be available in the lobby of the Carson City Community Center. All film events are free to the public.

For more information, phone 775-445-3222 or send an email to internationalfilmweekend@gmail.com.