Free Range Film Festival

The 2014 Free Range Trailer is here!

The very talented John Akre is responsible for our phenomenal 2014 Free Range Trailer. Enjoy!

4 weeks ago 0 Comments Short URL

Open Season on Films!

The Free Range Film Season has officially opened and we want your creation! You can click on the Without a Box link or just send us your film directly: PO Box 56, Wrenshall, MN 55797.

2 months ago 0 Comments Short URL

Dates announced for 2014

Please put July 25 and 26 on your 2014 calendar because that is when the Free Range Film Festival is happening.

3 months ago 1 Comment Short URL

Portrait of a Drowned Man to play at Free Range!

We’re so excited to announce a special performance of Portrait of a Drowned Man at the Free Range Film Barn on Friday, July 26. Watch a movie scored by POADM then watch them play live over raw footage. I don’t know what else to tell you except that you should probably not miss this or you will live in sad regret for the rest of your life.

9 months ago 0 Comments Short URL

The 10th Free Range Film Festival Schedule

Welcome to our 10th year of movies in a barn! We’ve got movies and popcorn and live music by Portrait of a Drowned Man and William Gamble! Take a peek at our schedule. And please be aware that these times may change. Slightly.

FRIDAY, JULY 26

7:00 pm
Ski Boys
Directed by Benny Zenga. Throughout the weekend, we’ll be replaying some old favorites from past festivals. Like this old chestnut about farm boys doing dumb things with bicycles and mattresses. (9 minutes)

7:10 pm
Mooon
Directed by James Kwan. Some strange forces are at work in the universe. Like stop-motion animation. (6 minutes)

7:20 pm
Well-Fed
Directed by Anna Moot-Levin. A documentary (and not a comedy horror musical) about carnivorous plants and their caretakers. (6 minutes)

7:30 pm
Track by Track
Directed by Anna Moot-Levin. A young artist with autism sketches trains. Meanwhile, he is awesome. (15 minutes)

7:45 pm
Animation Hotline
Directed by Dustin Grella. Dustin takes animation requests via voicemail. Here are the results. (5 minutes)

7:50 pm
Missing
Directed by Ewan McNicol. Two cats missing. Two dramatically different approaches to recovering them. (20 minutes)

8:10 pm
Inside the Whale
Directed by Greg Carlson. Matt Kish thought it might be interesting to draw one image every day for every page of Moby-Dick. But the task nearly ate him alive. Featuring the music of Portrait of a Drowned Man. Join the creative team for a live Q & A after the film. (10 minutes)

8:30 pm
Portrait of a Drowned Man – LIVE MUSIC
To celebrate our 10th anniversary, we invite you to enjoy some darn fine music in the barn. Portrait of Drowned Man plays towering post-rock from their home base in Duluth, Minnesota. (And, if you were paying attention during the previous film, you know they’re scoring movies now, too.)

9:15 pm
Afloat
Directed by Erin Hudson. Another blast from the past. Because Free Range doesn’t feel right without a movie by Erin Hudson. (8 minutes)

9:25 pm
Amar
Directed by Andrew Hinton. All great achievements require time. You’re going to feel pretty lazy after watching this movie. Sorry. (10 minutes)

9:35 pm
Medora
Directed by Andrew Cohn & Davy Rothbart. The Medora Hornets are one of the worst high school basketball teams of all time. In this epic documentary, they’re down. But they’re not out. (70 minutes)

SATURDAY, JULY 27

2:00 pm
Tales of the Creepy Crooked: The Nyuggle
Directed by Lee Kern. A short but sweet documentary from the Free Range archives. (3 minutes)

2:05 pm
Unless you’ve tried it, you can’t imagine what it’s like to bury a horse
Directed by Luke Holden. This self-explanatory docu-cartoon is another golden oldie from our past. (2 minutes)

2:10 pm
The Harvest
Directed by Gabe DeLoach. The Make A Wish Foundation won’t let kids have their wish if it involves hunting an animal. So where do those kids turn? And how do we feel about all of this? Stay tuned for a fascinating Q & A with the director after the film. (83 minutes)

3:40 pm
Bending Steel
Directed by Dave Carroll & Ryan Scafuro. An oldetime strongman battles performance anxiety and giant chunks of metal on his way to one of the most inspiring endings you’ll ever see in a barn-based film festival. (92 minutes)

5:15 pm
BREAK

7:00 pm
Unicorn Kabob
Indescribable. Just… an indescribable gem from our first festival in 2004. (2 minutes)

7:05 pm
David Bowen
Directed by Steve Ash. Our favorite public TV storyteller offers us another intriguing profile of a local artist. Join the director for a Q & A after the screening. (5 minutes)

7:15 pm
Marcel, King of Tervuren
Directed by Tom Schroeder. Rooster on rooster violence is a growing problem in our cartoon barnyards. (6 minutes)

7:25 pm
Schale 3
Directed by Anne Labovitz and William Gamble. Pay attention to this experiment in color and sound. Because you’ll have a chance to grill the filmmakers during the Q & A after the film. (5 minutes)

7:35 pm
The Diver
Directed by Damon Mohl. U.S.A. PREMIERE! Life is unfair when you’re a plastic toy diver. (7 minutes)

7:50 pm
Grand Fugue on the Art of Gumbo
Directed by Isabel Machado and Gideon C. Kennedy. Sample the ingredients that make up the Gulf Coast and its signature dish. With narration by Eugene Walter. (10 minutes)

8:00 pm
Boneshaker
Directed by Frances Bodomo. Having trouble with your kids? Take them to a country church in Louisiana. That’s sure to fix ‘em. (13 minutes)

8:15 pm
Here Be Monsters
Directed by Nic Gorman & Paul Glubb. An unconventional monster movie. (15 minutes)

8:30 pm
William Gamble – LIVE MUSIC
Enjoy another special performance in the barn. William Gamble is not only a Free Range Filmmaker (see Schale 3), he’s also a darn good musician.

9:00 pm
Rise Up
Directed by Brian Barber. Duluth mayor Don Ness throws Enger Tower at some seagulls. This Free Range classic clearly inspired Pacific Rim. (2 minutes)

9:05 pm
Birth of a Prince
Directed by Whitney Saurer. FAIR WARNING: This short features a cartoon vagina. And if that information doesn’t convince you to stay and watch, you need to check your priorities. (2 minutes)

9:10 pm
Catnip: Egress to Oblivion?
Directed by Jason Willis. A very educational film about the dangers of catnip. (8 minutes)

9:20 pm
Hello Stranger
Directed by John Akre. A story about a man, some soup and a shadow. (4 minutes)

9:25 pm
Sheepdog Wanted
Directed by John Akre. This workplace cartoon is going to hit a little close to home for some of you. SURPRISE: The filmmaker will join us for a Q & A after his 2nd film plays. (4 minutes)

9:30 pm
The Last Shepherd
Directed by Marco Bonfanti. Renato Zucchelli is the last travelling shepherd left in Milan, Italy. But he’s going to conquer the big city with nothing but a dream and a bunch of sheep. (76 minutes)

10 months ago 0 Comments Short URL

2013 POSTERS!

You can buy one of these hot posters July 26 or July 27 at the Free Range Film Barn. OR you can send us your film for review. If we play it in the barn we’ll give you a poster for FREE! Both of these options involve getting an awesome poster.