Park City Film widens its lens on connections to the Beehive State.
The arthouse nonprofit will do that through its Made in Utah: Mid-Length Series, an evening that highlights films created by Utah-based filmmakers and producers, on Thursday at the Park City Library’s Jim Santy Auditorium, said Katy Wang, Park City Film executive director.
“All of the films are linked to a certain degree by culture and creating space for marginalized communities,” she said.
- “Fire Tender,” directed by Roni Jo Draper and Marissa Lila, 27 minutes.
A Yurok knowledge keeper seeks to return fire practices, and restore land and people. - “The Book of George,” directed by Danny Schmidt, 15 minutes. George McKenzie Jr. traded the hard streets and violence of New York City for a life photographing some of the most elusive animals in North America for National Geographic. His next mission? Empower kids of color to access their own dreams and to protect the natural world.
- “Comfort Food,” directed by Reena Dutt, 14:30 minutes.
A widowed, Indian-American activist chef from Oakland meets her mother-in-law, a redneck Japanese-American drunk from the deep South. Will their battle to survive unbearable loss cause more pain — or stir up a healing pot of comfort food?
“Fire Tender,” by Utah-based filmmakers Draper and Lila, and “The Book of George,” by Brooklyn, New York-transplant Danny Schmidt, are documentaries, while “Comfort Food,” which recruited filmmaker and Park City Film staff member Kristen Spalding as one of its producers, is a narrative feature, Wang said.
“‘Fire Tender’ is a fantastic film about Indigenous fire practices,” she said. “There is a woman who tries to introduce fire to the landscape. Historically, ‘since immemorial’ as they say in Indigenous communities, they have always used fire to navigate the landscape. It’s just in the last 100 years that the way land has been managed has changed much to our detriment.”
The increase of wildfires spreading across the West is the consequence, Wang said.
“A lot of that is because of how the land has been mismanaged by the U.S. Forest Services and Western ideas of how the land and fire interact with one another,” she said. “And this film is a story about how Indigenous fire practices are being reintroduced to the landscape and what that means culturally to the Yurok members.”
Danny Schmidt’s “Book of George,” which follows the life-changing trajectory acclaimed nature photographer George McKenzie Jr., is one of the films included in Park City Film’s Made in Utah: Mid-Length Series. Credit: Photo courtesy of Park City Film
“The Book of George” is about George McKenzie Jr., a National Geographic Explorer, award-winning filmmaker and conservation photographer, Wang said.
“He grew up in Brooklyn, my hometown, and it’s fun to see a fellow New Yorker come to the forefront of storytelling,” she said.
McKenzie’s story is one of perseverance, according to Wang.
“He was the product of his environment and grew up working the streets, where certainly there was a lot of violence,” she said. “At one point in his life, he had kind of a turning point. He was introduced to photography and it changed his life.”
Photography opened doors to opportunities for McKenzie, Wang said.
“He ends up becoming a well-accomplished and notable wildlife photographer, and goes to Florida to use his newfound skillset to save the natural environment,” she said. “And his life’s trajectory becomes (his way) to make sure others like him, young and people of color — he’s a Black man — will see their way into this (photography) community in the same way he was given the chance.”
McKenzie’s story, like the story in “Fire Tender,” is about claiming a different aspect of culture, Wang said.
“It’s about creating his place and making space for other people who come up behind him,” she said. “It’s such a beautiful story.”
Although “Comfort Food” is a narrative film, it also addresses culture and space, Wang said.
“It talks about that tension between people of color in difference to the United States and how they retain their cultures over time to pass onto their children,” she said.
The film follows a Japanese-American woman living in the Deep South who crosses paths with her daughter-in-law, who is South Asian, Wang said.
“It’s about how these two people intermix their cultures by using food,” she said. “Food is such a powerful vehicle for culture and connection, and these two people find they have similar experiences. They’re bicultural and can find that connecting point through food.”
Film screenings aren’t the only things on Thursday night’s schedule, Wang said.
“We will have a panel discussion afterwards with the directors of ‘Fire Tender’ and ‘Book of George,’ as well as producer Kirsten Spalding for ‘Comfort Food,’” she said. “They will talk about how film holds space for marginalized voices. It will be an interesting conversation about how they use their mediums in that way and how some are really focused on that in their work.”
The evening will also include a Filmmakers Lounge set up in the Park City Library’s Community Room, according to Wang.
“Everyone is invited to mix and mingle and get to know the people behind the scenes of the films,” she said. “We’ll have beer and wine available for purchase.”
The Made In Utah series is an outgrowth from the Filmmaker’s Showcase, an annual local-film festival founded in 2005 by award-winning filmmaker and Parkite Jill Orsche, Wang said.
“The intent was to create space and bring together filmmakers who were locally from Park City, and then it expanded regionally,” she said. “The showcase provided a place where filmmakers could share each other’s work and provide opportunities for people to connect and potentially collaborate.”
The showcase also spotlighted how much filmmaking talent can be found in Utah, Wang said.
“There are so many people that go into making a film that you see in the credits who play specific and important roles like director of photography and sound designer,” she said. “So to create opportunities to expand their network, which has been done by leaps and bounds since Jill created the showcase, means people who come to town to make films don’t need to bring a lot of crew to town. There are plenty of people here who are well versed and well qualified to fill those roles.”
The Utah Film Commission sponsored the showcase, and is now sponsoring the Made in Utah series, Wang said.
“(The organization) makes sure people are aware of this enormous talent we have in the state at all different levels of the film production process,” she said. “We are also thankful to the Summit County RAP Tax. These sponsors help us keep the Made in Utah series free and open to the public.”
The idea to showcase mid-length films this time stemmed from Made in Utah short films series installment in May, Wang said.
“We started with the shorts, which were largely successful, but people started coming back and saying their next film is more than 10 minutes long, which is kind of in that middle spot between shorts and feature-length films,” she said. “Just to focus on shorts felt like we’re missing opportunities to follow the trajectory of some of our alums and see new work from new filmmakers who are coming up. So, the mid-length showcase purpose is to create space for different length films. And we are always excited to showcase the talent in our state.”
Park City Film: Made In Utah: Mid-length Series
- When: 7 p.m. Thursday
- Where: Park City Library Jim Santy Auditorium, 1255 Park Ave.
- Cost: Free
- Web: parkcityfilm.org