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Fffcover07

Cover of the 2007 Fargo Film Festival program

The 2007 Fargo Film Festival was held March 7 through 10 at the Fargo Theatre. The festival's second venue was the Roberts Street Theatre, located on the main floor of the historic Ivers building. Cover created by Dan Francis

Awards and Award Winners[]

Festival Introduction[]

The following introduction was written by Fargo Theatre Executive Director Margie Bailly, and appeared in the program:

Dear Festival Audiences,
As we finalize the program for this year's festival, the words from an old Brownie Scout song float into my somewhat scattered consciousness... "make new friends and keep the old, one is silver and the other is gold," a childhood verse that reflects the character of our seventh annual film festival. In 2007, we welcome back old friends, Rob Nilsson, John Hanson, Gayle Schickele, Erika Tasini, Nina Seavey and Melody Gilbert. Our old friends' work is programmed with that of filmmakers new to our festival, creating a unique patter that will hopefully please long-time festival audiences and engage new audiences.
So come in out of Fargo's brisk March breezes and wrap yourself in the warm fabric of this year's festival. A festival that weaves cinematic threads of compelling stories from talented friends, old and new.
We'll even give you a badge. That's a "Brownie promise."

Festival Programming[]

Wednesday, March 7[]

Afternoon Session at the Fargo Theatre[]

Animation, 5 minutes, New York, New York. Winner Best Animation
A motion graphic film of a man seeing himself as graffiti on the wall.
Narrative Short, 7 minutes, Los Angeles, California. Winner Best Narrative Short
The endless contentions of competitive parents seen through the curious eyes of a perceptive and enterprising little girl.
Student, 16 minutes, Kastrup, Denmark. Winner Student Best Drama.
Close friends can care about and understand each other - but they can't always save each other.
Student, 5 minutes, West Fargo, North Dakota.
Following a bad break up with his girlfriend, a man realizes that his life is not complete without her. As a result, he writes an emotionally charged message asking for her forgiveness.
Narrative Short, 15 minutes, Topanga, California. Honorable Mention
A modern tale of the mid-life male.
Narrative Feature, 49 minutes, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Winner Best Narrative Feature
A young woman named Margit is engaged to Rezvan, a Romanian refugee, but she suspects there is more to his family situation back home than he lets on. The answer may lie in her own childhood, her parents' divorce, and with an unconventional psychiatrist

Afternoon Session at the Roberts Street Theatre[]

Pre-Party[]

  • at Monte's

Evening Session at the Fargo Theatre[]

Extraordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things
Documentary Feature, 85 minutes, St. Paul, Minnesota. Honorable Mention
This film delves into the world of urban exploration, a growing international subculture of adventure seekers who explore places that most people would never dream of going.
Student Documentary Short, 9 minutes. Winner Prairie Spirit Award
Habitat for Humanity Documentary.
Documentary Feature, 82 minutes, Vallejo, California. Winner of the Bill Snyder Award for Best Documentary Feature
An Indiana Jones meets Mother Teresa adventure. Three middle-aged men, former soldiers and modern-day knights, travel the world delivering life-saving humanitarian aid directly into the hands of civilians and doctors in some of the most dangerous, yet beautiful places on earth, the front lines of war.

Evening Session at the Roberts Street Theatre[]

Thursday, March 8[]

Morning Session at the Fargo Theatre[]

Documentary Short, 30 minutes, Evansville, Indiana.
A journey through pink flamingos, weed whackers, riding mowers and gazing garden balls - examining the American front lawn.
Documentary Feature, 100 minutes, New York, New York.
This movie follows the lives of three groups who become big money winners, telling a poignant story of luck, loss and redemption. A life-altering experience affecting the lives of ordinary people.
Animation, 13 minutes, San Antonio, Texas.
A woman needs her bicycle and to find it she must transcend this earthly plane, its hardship and confusion. Along the way she gains a greater understanding of the cosmos and the true meaning of a bicycle.
Documentary Short, 19 minutes, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
A short documentary that explores the sometimes troubled relationship between Sara and her mother, a woman who suffers from alcoholism.

Morning Session at the Roberts Street Theatre[]

Narrative Feature Native American Voices, 93 minutes, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
A soldier carrying the weight of the war on his shoulders return home to fulfill the vision of this father chief of the people. A journey of self-discovery, loss and hope for keeping tradition alive.
Documentary Short Native American Voices, 27 minutes, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
A cowboy poet tells the story of a paraplegic man who is bringing back the spirit of his people through horse training and mentorship.

Luncheon and Panel at the Roberts Street Theatre[]

  • "Illuminating Women"
Panelists include Kyja Kristjansson-Nelson, Melody Gilbert, Judy Irola, Nina Seavey and Mary Trunk.

Afternoon Session at the Fargo Theatre[]

Documentary Feature, 60 minutes, Oakland, California.
A documentary that examines the lives of residents in Hezbollah, Lebanon during the Israeli conflict of 2006. A country divided by a religious conflict tells its story in the words of its people.
Documentary Feature, 59 minutes, St. Louis, Missouri.
Gambling has become as common in American society as going to the movies. But at what cost? Who are the real winners and losers? Riverboat Dreams examines the personal struggles, losses and successses of people and communities where riverboat casinos have become the ultimate wager.
Documentary Feature, 82 minutes, Los Angeles, California. Honorable Mention
Follow six unique subway performers as they struggle to earn a living and defend their right to perform in New York City's underground.
Student, 6 minutes, Middlebury, Vermont.
One young woman's story of growing up with the white standard of beauty and her journey of redefining beauty for herself.

Afternoon Session at the Roberts Street Theatre[]

Documentary Short, 7 minutes, St. Paul, Minnesota.
A portrait of an artist who speaks about the patterns of nature, scavenging materials and the mystery of art.
Documentary Short, 18 minutes, Fargo, North Dakota.
In the late 1800s, Moorhead was a very rough town. A few people envisioned a place where the public could read for free - a public library.
Narrative Feature, 86 minutes, Duluth, Minnesota.
Newton's disease may or may not exist - his own existence is a quagmire of disappointment. Work is a vacuum, his shring is a pusher and his marriage is a joke.
Student, 9 minutes, Bozeman, Montana.
Heather Fleiss is living the American Dream... selling stock in herself on the H.S.I. (Human Stock Index). Her stock is up and she has a great outlook, thanks to her boyfriend, Stone, and Quinn Manslaughter, her Strategic Outlook Manager, at her side. A change in the market changes all of that.

Pre-Party[]

at Green Market

Evening Session at the Fargo Theatre[]

Experimental, 6 minutes, Shorewood, Wisconsin. Honorable Mention
An ordinary game of "let's pretend" turns uncanny as alone in the woods, a girl projects life, voice and ultimately her own identity onto an unexpected surrogate in a doll's dress.
Experimental, 10 minutes, Iowa City, Iowa.
A portrait of Ava Su Ganwei, a Chinese-American artist with invisible disabilities and conspicuous gifts.
  • A Short History of Sweet Potato Pie and How It Became a Flying Saucer (2006) directed by Nina Gilden Seavey
Documentary Short, 18 minutes, Washington, DC. Winner Best Documentary Short
With its rich perfume, earthy taste, and silken lustre, Pearl Mallory's sweet potato pie inspires the most extaordinary and unexpected impact on the normally sober and otherwise staid resident of St. Mary's Home. Sweet Potato Pie is all the evidence you need to know that "You are what you eat."
Documentary Short, 25 minutes, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Honorable Mention
Who is Betty Crocker? And why is the nation buying what she's selling? Answers lie in her rich history, clever marketing, cake mixes and secret identity, profound symbolism and all - American kitchen kitsch.
Documentary Short, 13 minutes, Washington, D.C. Honorable Mention
Bosnia. Transcending ethnic and religious conflict in a country fractured by war, women join together to produce new law, protecting women and families.
Documentary Feature, 75 minutes, Los Angeles, California. Winner Ruth Landfield Award
A remarkable film on a Marxist film collective in San Francisco in the 1970s. Interviews with Gene Corr, Peter Gessner, John Hanson, Judy Irola, Stephen Lighthill, Rob Nilsson, and Steve Wax.

Friday, March 9[]

Morning Session at the Fargo Theatre[]

Experimental, 6 minutes, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Vietnam war era footage - the material is sadly timelss, providing on with the opportunity to ruminate on war and hopefully peace.
Narrative Feature, 88 minutes, London, England.
A psychological thriller. Jared and his girlfriend travel to their seaside cottage, where Jared is haunted with dreams of an exotic land.
Narrative Short, 10 minutes, Chicago, Illinois.
A young man attempts to understand the strange and mercurial emotions that possess his girlfriend.
  • Alone directed by John-Kristian Dalseth
Student, 16 minutes, Kastrup, Denmark. Winner Student Best Drama.
Close friends can care and understand each other - but they can't always save each other.
Student, 5 minutes, West Fargo, North Dakota.
Following a bad break up with his girlfriend, a man realizes that his life is not complete without her. As a result, he writes an emotionally charged message asking for her forgiveness.

Morning Session at the Roberts Street Theatre[]

  • Fargo Filmmaking Wiki Presentation with Greg Carlson
Documentary Feature Native American Voices, 57 minutes, Seattle, Washington.
Documentary Feature Native American Voices, 27 minutes, Los Angeles, California.

Luncheon and Panel at the Roberts Street Theatre[]

  • "It's Academic My Dear Watson" - Contemporary Film School Curriculum
Panelists include Tom Brandau, Greg Carlson, Rusty Casselton, Judy Irola and Susan Revland.

Afternoon Session at the Fargo Theatre[]

  • Eaten directed by Anne Haydock
Student, 8 minutes, Iowa City, Iowa.
A game of dress up; windows and wallpaper, hawks and moths, olive loaf and tinfoil. The sounds and gestures of the everyday gather to become a pre-articulated vocabulary of desire, anxiety and basic human needs.
Student, 2 minutes, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Untitled drifts through malleable experience, states of unrest and the spaces between projection and regression.
Student, 1 minute, Los Angeles, California.
A stop motion animation - an attempt to create a humorous narrative.
Narrative Short, 2 minutes, Brooklyn, New York.
A priest tells his psychiatrist about his private life. The priest is depressed that wine doesn't work anymore - the psychiatrist gives him something extraordinary.
Narrative Short, 9 minutes, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
A dark comedy. A young man meets a girl before her wedding.
Student, 25 minutes. Honorable Mention.
Terry, a detention supervisor, is having marital problems. He and his wife don't communicate anymore. Feeling like he's been conditioned not to love by his disciplinarian job, Terry decides he's going to do things differently.
Narrative Feature, 97 minutes, Los Angeles, California.
An artist struggles to pick up the pieces of his tattered life. A reclusive alcoholic, he creates a new art genre called Destructionism and his work catapults him into the limelight.
  • Pan directed by Rob Nillson
Narrative Feature, 98 minutes. Invited Film
A small band of dysfunctional renegade homeless people, led by charismatic "Pan" befriends a lonely youngster, a fatherless "Bobby" who stumbles upon their homeless encampment nestled by the railroad tracks.

Afternoon Session at the Roberts Street Theatre[]

Narrative Short, 9 minutes, Los Angeles, California.
Narrative Short, 11 minutes, New York, New York.
Narrative Short, 8 minutes.

Pre-Party[]

  • Isabella's

Evening Session at the Fargo Theatre[]

Animation, 13 minutes. Honorable Mention.
Experimental, 32 minutes. Winner Best Experimental.
Student, 17 minutes. Winner Best Student Comedy.
Narrative Short, 14 minutes. Honorable Mention.
Narrative Feature, 88 minutes. Winner Narrative Feature Best Comedy.

Evening Session at the Roberts Street Theatre[]

Narrative Feature, 97 minutes.

Saturday, March 10[]

Morning Session at the Fargo Theatre[]

Narrative Feature, 110 minutes, Kayenta, Arizona. Winner Best Narrative Feature Native American Voices.
Cloyd tries to turn his life around by attempting to quit dirnking. He realizes that this is easier said than done.
Experimental, 10 minutes, Iowa City, Iowa.
A portrait of Ava Su Ganwei, a Chinese-American artist with invisible disabilities and conspicuous gifts.
  • Pledge directed by Ann Steuernagel
Experimental, 6 minutes, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Vietnam war era footage - the material is sadly timeless, providing one with the opportunity to ruminate on war and hopefully peace.
Experimental, 13 minutes, San Antonio, Texas.
A woman needs her bicycle and to find it she must transcend this earthly plane, its hardship and confusion. Along the way she gains a greater understaning of the cosmos and the true meaning of a bicycle.
Experimental, 5 minutes, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Honorable Mention
An ordinary game of "let's pretend" turns uncanny as alone in the woods, a girl projects life, voice and ultimately her own identity onto an unexpected surrogate in a doll's dress.
Experimental, 15 minutes, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Hidden gestures reveal an expression of memory and the loss of memory navigated through a family history filled with violence and fear.
Experimental, 32 minutes. Winner Best Experimental.
According to this archive of strange documentation, the top of the industrial/corporate food chain saps blood from the Earth to feed its network of machines. An unsustainable web of life is created - feeding off of the exploitation of humanity.
Animation, 13 minutes, Greensboro, North Carolina. Honorable Mention.
Awesome. The interior space of a puppet becomes increasingly relfective - revealing the artifice of his own creation.
Animation, 5 minutes, New York, New York. Winner Best Animation.
A motion graphic film of a man seeing himself as graffiti on the wall.

Morning Session at the Roberts Street Theatre[]

  • Mile Post 398
Narrative Feature Native American Voices, 110 minutes. Winner Best Narrative Feature Native American Voices
Documentary Short Native American Voices, 10 minutes. Winner Best Documentary Short Native American Voices.
Documentary Short Native American Voices, 47 minutes. Honorable Mention.

Afternoon Session at the Fargo Theatre[]

  • Native American Blessing
  • Waterbuster directed by J. Carlos Pienado
Documentary Feature Native American Voices, 79 minutes, Quelhee, Vermont. Winner Best
A documentary on the impact of the massive North Dakota Garrison Dam Project, constructed in the 1950's by the Army Corps of Engineers, which laid waste to a self-sufficient American Indian community, submerging fertile land and displacing the filmmaker's family and the people of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation
Documentary Short Native American Voices, 5 minutes, Callaway, Minnesota. Honorable Mention.
The White Earth Land Recovery Projects work to maintain the genetic integrity of Wild Rice for all Minnesotans.
Documentary Short Native American Voices, 8 minutes, Austin, Texas. Honorable Mention.
A Native woman on an urban street encounters stereotyped misunderstanding in this poignant drama and ironic parable.
Documentary Short Native American Voices, 10 minutes, Los Angeles, California. Winner Best Documentary Short Native American Voices.
A starkly beautiful first-person rumination on place, longing and identity. A graceful and highly personal interpretation of the poem "Gesture Down to Guatemala" by Blackfeet writer James Welch.
Documentary Feature Native American Voices, 63 minutes, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The story of a remarkable woman and storyteller who shared her life and songs with the world. This documentary chronicles her career as she rises to prominence in the 1960's Greenwich Village folk music scene and blazes a groundbreaking path as an Aboriginal activist, digital artist and popular songwriter.

Afternoon Session at the Roberts Street Theatre[]

Narrative Short, 4 minutes.
A hard worker with a dirty job whose wife gives him a son. Unforseen events take place and his priorities change. No weapon can prosper and life continues to bless him.
Student, 6 minutes.
Student, 9 minutes.
Ready to move on to the next step in life, a bored twelve-year-old falls in love with a cute high school girl. But when his cocky older brother starts dating her, he is determined to steal her away. A coming-of-age-comedy.
Narrative Short, 27 minutes.
Five older military veterans tire of injustices they see around them and decide to do something about it... unfortunately they bite off more than they can handle when a local mobster gets involved.
Narrative Feature, 85 minutes.
A cinematic chronicle of the great writer's final journey into madness and fear. The movie mixes recreations of Poe's life and last days with terrifying imagery from his stories.

Pre-Party[]

  • Hotel Donaldson

Evening Session at the Fargo Theatre[]

  • Fission (2006) directed by Kun-I Chang
Animation, 5 minutes, New York, New York. Winner Best Animation.
A motion graphic film of a man seeing himself as graffiti on the wall.
Narrative Short, 7 minutes, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Winner Best Narrative Short.
The endless contentions of competitive parents seen through the curious eyes of a perceptive and enterprising little girl.
Student, 16 minutes. Winner Best Student Drama.
Close friends can care and understand each other - but they can't always save each other.
Student, 5 minutes, West Fargo, North Dakota.
Following a bad break up with his girlfriend, a man realizes that his life is not complete without her. As a result, he writes an emotionally charged message asking for her forgiveness.
Narrative Short, 15 minutes.
A modern tale of the mid-life male.
Narrative Feature, 49 minutes, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Winner Best Narrative Feature.
A young woman named Margit is engaged to Rezvan, a Romanian refugee, but she suspects there is more to his family situation back home than he lets on. The answer may lie in her own childhood, her parents' divorce, and with an unconventional psychiatrist.

Evening Session at the Roberts Street Theatre[]

Related Media[]

External Links[]

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