||| FROM ELLEN ROBERTS for FRIDAY HARBOR FILM FESTIVAL |||
During May the FHFF Director Series will screen two audience favorite documentaries from 2013, the festival’s inaugural season. Each film runs for two weeks on the website, www.fhff.org. They start with a free scheduled showing on the opening Thursday evening from 6:30 to 9 pm. From Friday through the closing Wednesday the films are available on demand for $1.95.
May 5 – 18: Pandora’s Promise
A film about the history and future of nuclear power, Pandora’s Promise explores how and why mankind’s most feared and controversial technological discovery is now passionately embraced by many of those who once led the charge against it. Presenting as history, cultural meditation and contemporary exploration, the film aims to inspire a serious and realistic debate over what is without question the most important question of our time: how do we continue to power modern civilization without destroying it?
May 19 – June 1: Shining Night: A Portrait of Composer Morten Lauridsen
This film offers a glimpse into the life and music of the artist considered to be one of the greatest living choral composers and certainly one of the most frequently performed. Lauridsen is a recipient of the National Medal of Arts and was also named an “American Choral Master” by the National Endowment for the Arts.
The film features intimate interviews with him in California, Scotland, and Waldron Island (in the San Juans), interwoven with performances of his masterworks in America and Scotland and commentaries by music contemporaries. It gives the viewer a rare opportunity to spend a little time with this extraordinary man, who has derived his inspiration from the natural world. As Lauridsen has observed, “You can hear that its serenity, calmness and beauty have crept into my music.” “Life is a mystery. There is something bigger than us out there. And how do we tap into that? You go down deep.”
FHFF greatly appreciates the work of the filmmakers, the generosity of our sponsors, and the support of all lovers of great documentary films. Check out everything on our website: www.fhff.org.
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