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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us March 30, 2005 Ashland Independent Film Festival tickets selling fast By Robert Plain Ashland Daily Tidings Normally known for its Shakespeare productions, starting Thursday and running through Monday, Ashland will become the place to be in the Pacific Northwest for independent films, as well. The fourth aannual Ashland Independent Film Festival begins Thursday at noon in the Varsity Theatre. And over the ensuing five days will present 85 films - 16 features, 25 documentaries and 44 shorts - on the Varsity's five screens. The Ashland Independent Film Festival has much to boast about this year, such as being able to show the Academy Award winning documentary "Born Into Brothels" and featuring the innovator of modern claymation, Portland native Will Vinton. But AIFF Executive Director Tom Olbrich says the best part of any film festival is the ability to interact with the filmmakers themselves. Half of the films being shown at AIFF will be represented by their creators, either in the theater after the film is shown, in the several filmmaker forum panel discussions held throughout the weekend or nightly at the Hong Kong Bar, where film makers tend to congregate after hours during the festival. "That's the special thing about film festivals," Olbrich said. "That connection of having the filmmaker walk right up to the front of the theater right after you watched their film. One gets to talk with the filmmaker and, as a group, talk about the experience they just had watching their film." The featured film at this year's festival is "Born Into Brothels." This documentary, which features children of Calcutta filming the seedy underside of the city's red-light district, debuted last year at Robert Redford's Sundance Film Festival in Utah and was honored with the Academy Award for best documentary this year. "We just got lucky," Olbrich said. "We walked up to Zana Brisky (the director) at the film festival in Bend and told her that we loved her movie and, although we knew we probably couldn't, we would love to show it at our festival. She said she had flexibility with the distribution and would be happy to show it here in Ashland." Brisky, unfortunately, could not be here for the film festival - partly because she was featured on Good Morning America on Tuesday morning. On the other hand, Will Vinton, founder of the modern claymation movement, could attend. Vinton made claymation a household word with the California Raisins he invented in the 1980s. On Friday morning, Vinton will present a seminar on claymation and his role in the animation industry. His film "The Adventures of Mark Twain" is playing on Saturday and Sunday. Although some shows have sold out already, there are generally some available seats for every show released 15 minutes prior to the screening. However, tickets for this year's festival have been going quicker than in the past three years. Last year, the festival distributed 7,500 tickets in total. This year, before the festival even opens, they have already distributed 6,000 tickets. Tickets can be purchased before each show, assuming that particular performance is not sold out. Box Office at the Varsity theater is open 3 to 6 p.m today and opens at 11 a.m. Thursday and 9 a.m. Friday. Tickets are $8 each, $6 for seniors and $4 for students. A VIP pass, which is good for admittance to all shows, costs $150. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Free Musick Downloads Slippers Women's & Men's Slippers Ceramic Piggy Banks heloc Calenders 2005 Calender 2005 Accelerate Weightloss Products Memory Foam Mattress tcg student loan consolidation home equity loans teleconferencing W2 Forms Tatoos student loans African Safari Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems diamonds Currancy Exchange Online Casinos Community Student Loans Tatoo Poker Games Homeschooling Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams