About three years ago, Steve Shapero was working on the first Bigfork Retro Film Festival when some local filmmakers approached him about showing their own movies at the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts.
Shapero, a lifelong movie lover who grew up in San Francisco and moved to Bigfork about a decade ago, told them the retro festival was focusing on the classics. But he decided to help them out. A few months later, he set up a one-night festival for local filmmakers, and the Bigfork Independent Film Festival was born.
“It was much more successful than I ever thought it would be,” Shapero said. “We’ve been growing ever since.”
What started as a one-night affair three years ago has grown into a three-day festival that promises “Movies by Montanans, for Montanans.” The 2019 festival runs April 5-7 and will feature 28 different films and three workshops for filmmakers.
Festivities kick off on April 5, with a workshop hosted by Ridge Mallery and Mitch Underhill titled “Make Your Feature Film.” Mallery has made two features, “The Beast” and “Monsters Gold,” the later of which will be shown April 6 at the festival. Mallery was one of the filmmakers who initially approached Shapero about producing a local film festival.
Mallery is a native Montanan who has had a passion for filmmaking dating back to when he was a kid shooting videos of his action figures. Mallery said filmmaking in Montana is hard and that opportunities to make a living doing it here are limited. However, events like the Bigfork Independent Film Festival help the scene grow.
“You have to do the day job until that night job finally pays off,” Mallery said of his on-the-side-film career. “(But events like the Bigfork Independent Film Festival) are a great opportunity for networking and to let people to know who you are. Networking is the key to success.”
Mallery’s film “Monster Gold” is about a man who finds a cursed piece of gold and the hijinks that follow. He said the film is “family friendly and hilarious.” It was filmed in the Flathead Valley last fall.
Shapero said the festival is separated into movie blocks that last 2 to 3 hours. Every block includes a student film, a documentary, some shorts and a feature, followed by a question and answer period with the filmmakers. Moviegoers can buy tickets to specific blocks of films.
“We have a huge variety of films,” Shapero said. “There really is something for everybody.”
Shapero said the daily workshops would also appeal to people who are just getting into filmmaking. On April 6, there will be a course on drones, and on April 7, there will be a workshop on working with composers to enhance movie projects.
Ticket information and a schedule of movies can be found at bigforkfilmfestival.com.