By Tessa Solomon
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Frigid wind cuts through Ecuador’s Mount Chimborazo, but Baltazar Ushca has learned to live with the cold. He swings his pickaxe into the base of the glacier, shattering the ice like glass.
Once joined by teams of workers, he now collects and sells ice alone. His tale would have faded from history without Sandy Patch’s short film “The Last Ice Merchant,” a highlight of the Rural Route Film Festival.
Premièring 6 p.m. today at FilmScene, 118 E. College St., the film is part of The Very Best of Rural Route, a program featuring 10 outstanding short films from the festival’s past five years.
New York-based Rural Route is dedicated to screening films that feature unconventional and obscure people and ideas. From thousands of national and global submissions, the most creative and cutting-edge short films are selected every year since the group began in 2002.
“It’s about highlighting the seldom-seen parts of the world,” said Alan Webber, the festival’s director.
This year’s festival features films from all seven continents.
“People will see a nice variety of styles and themes; that’s what’s good about short films,” said Andy Brodie, FilmScene’s program director.
https://vimeo.com/141239432
Born in Elkader, Iowa, Webber was raised with an appreciation for rural culture. He moved to New York to pursue filmmaking, obtaining an M.A. in media studies from the New School. In the city, he found like-minds in fellow Iowa filmmakers.
“We got to talking, and it seemed like, in general, a lot of films are set in a city, and there’s just this generic film-festival format,” Webber said. “We had the idea that we could do something unique and utilize our background coming from rural areas.”
With a focus away from metropolitan areas, Webber and his team began searching for films. They searched Sundance, South by Southwest, and other prominent festivals for films in line with their vision. As news of Rural Route spread, they also began receiving submissions from around the country.
The chosen submissions’ content was eclectic: A Tennessean with a passion for Moon Pies, a camel’s trek across the West Texas desert, a struggling drug addict in Kentucky. The films ranged from 90 seconds to more than 20 minutes, from more conventional documentaries to avant-garde music videos. Each year, Rural Route gained new followers and praise from the art community.
Sifting through submissions, the Rural Route people began looking for uniting threads. Once they found one, they built their festival around a central theme. The theme for 2015’s festival was strong women, either behind or in front of the camera. It opened in Queens, New York, on July 24-26.
Those who attended swam with the Moken, an Asian seafaring tribe in Olivia Wyatt’s “Sailing a Sinking Ship.” They met the mischievous elderly of a Romanian village in Ágnes Sós’ “Stream of Love.” The first all-female Mariachi Band, Mariachi Flor de Toloache, also performed for the festival.
“In this day and age with Netflix and all that, I think independent film premières are something that really helps to have to have an extra dimension to it,” Webber said. “Whether it’s a Q&A, live music, or some sort of special form of projection.”
FilmScene’s Very Best of Rural Route will feature a thought-provoking Q&A with Webber after the screening.
“Just having the opportunity to have a dialogue with the filmmakers adds to the experience, opposed to just watching the movie and walking away,” Brodie said. “It’s building community around film, which, as a nonprofit, is one of our essential goals and missions.”
As the best of a vibrant last five years, the films lend much to conversation.
“The Hunter,” by filmmaker and animator Marieka Walsh, is one highlight. Animated entirely with sand, it immerses the viewer in the conflict surrounding a hunter, a lonely boy, and a local wolf pack.
Her meticulous and arresting animation style complements other films, such as Zachary Treitz’s documentary “We’re Leaving.”
“I had heard this story about a guy who had an alligator that would walk itself down the hallway and flip into the bathtub when it wanted to and thought that would be a great way to start a movie about their life together,” Treitz said.
The stars of Treitz’s film are Rusty, a Kentucky man, and Chopper, his 19-year-old alligator. Rusty is in a tough spot: His trailer park has been sold. Forced to leave his home of 26 years, he may have to say goodbye to Chopper, too.
“A short film like this can tell a story about people you would never otherwise meet, and once you meet them, you’re happy you did,” Treitz said.
Viewers will come as close as they can to meeting Rusty and others from around the world tonight.
“People who have come to know short films will show up for it, but if people want to see something different, they should definitely come out for this program,” Brodie said.
FILM
When: 6 p.m. today
Where: FilmScene, 118 E. College
Admission: $6.50-$9