A fun, festive time was had by all at our first-ever Live & Outdoor Festival and 20th Anniversary Celebration.
Emerging from COVID restrictions and in spite of the heat wave, AIFF hosted one of our most engaging and successful events over the past weekend. The five-day music and film festival—one of the first live festivals since quarantines shut down venues and events in March 2020—was a big hit. Festival goers were elated to socialize, listen to live music, watch films, and gather in person again after a long hiatus.
Our festival was held in two venues on alternating nights—ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum in Ashland and Walkabout Brewing Company in Medford. Opening night featured Fanny: The Right to Rock, a new documentary about the groundbreaking all-woman 70s rock band, and the festival wrapped up Monday, June 28, celebrating both the 20th anniversary of AIFF and Hedwig and the Angry Inch with an open-air party featuring live music, film, and costumes. The featured films were paired with live musical guests, short films, food trucks, and other entertainment.
Our festival was held in two venues on alternating nights—ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum in Ashland and Walkabout Brewing Company in Medford. Opening night featured Fanny: The Right to Rock, a new documentary about the groundbreaking all-woman 70s rock band, and the festival wrapped up Monday, June 28, celebrating both the 20th anniversary of AIFF and Hedwig and the Angry Inch with an open-air party featuring live music, film, and costumes. The featured films were paired with live musical guests, short films, food trucks, and other entertainment.
Opening night kicked-off with a bang. The Rogue Valley Symphony premiered two new fanfares, one written especially for the festival’s twentieth anniversary, and one for celebrated local filmmaker Laney D’Aquino, AIFF2021 Lee Fuchsmann Award winner. Traveling Fanfares, D’Aquino’s new short film about the Symphony’s performances for first responders during the pandemic, followed.
Then filmmaker Bobbi Jo Hart, accompanied by Brie Howard-Darling, founding member of the band Fanny, introduced her documentary Fanny: The Right to Rock. The film recounts the incredible, untold story of three Filipina American teens who founded a garage band in the 1960s that became the ferocious California rock group Fanny.
The closing celebration featured a costume competition inspired by Hedwig and the Angry Inch, with an AIFF2022 Fan Pass awarded to the winner, and the costumes did not disappoint. In the spirit of Hedwig, incoming Executive Director Phil Busse was crowned with a blue wig by Erica Thompson, outgoing Executive Director.
Hosting the event in the role of Hedwig, Oregon Shakespeare Festival actor Eddie Lopez wowed the crowd with his beautiful renditions of Hedwig’s songs, his sexual double-entendres, and his filmed interview with John Cameron Mitchell, star-director-writer of the original film.
The closing celebration featured a costume competition inspired by Hedwig and the Angry Inch, with an AIFF2022 Fan Pass awarded to the winner, and the costumes did not disappoint. In the spirit of Hedwig, incoming Executive Director Phil Busse was crowned with a blue wig by Erica Thompson, outgoing Executive Director.
Hosting the event in the role of Hedwig, Oregon Shakespeare Festival actor Eddie Lopez wowed the crowd with his beautiful renditions of Hedwig’s songs, his sexual double-entendres, and his filmed interview with John Cameron Mitchell, star-director-writer of the original film.
The festival experienced a stroke of luck on Sunday night. As both Medford and Ashland experienced rolling blackouts, the show went on at Walkabout Brewing Company, and guests were able to enjoy both the live surf band The Reverberays as well as Havana Libre, the new movie about underground Cuban surf culture.
Our artist-in-residence, Jeremy Rourke, a San Francisco-based animator/musician installed his mobile animation studio In the AIFF Film Center window. While animating, Rourke engaged with passersby, and incorporated this film with earlier works in a live music and film performance in the AIFF Film Center's microcinema. You can watch the beautiful film he created during the live & outdoors festival here.
Our artist-in-residence, Jeremy Rourke, a San Francisco-based animator/musician installed his mobile animation studio In the AIFF Film Center window. While animating, Rourke engaged with passersby, and incorporated this film with earlier works in a live music and film performance in the AIFF Film Center's microcinema. You can watch the beautiful film he created during the live & outdoors festival here.
Hopefully we have forged a new tradition of hosting more live and outdoor events, as well as enhancing our programming to include music, entertainment, and additional arts events. Many thanks to Travel Oregon for the generous grant that funded our large screen at ScienceWorks.
Moving On.
Best wishes, a heap of gratitude, and a happy send off to Erica!
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rlier this year we announced that our Executive Director Erica Thompson was moving on to new opportunities. We are grateful to Erica for her passion, dedication, and hard work during her time at AIFF. Erica brought her filmmaking knowledge, keen business skills, and her sense of adventure to uplift the festival. During a difficult and unique year, Erica has shown amazing poise and maintained the organization. We are thankful to Erica for her work navigating AIFF through the challenges of a pandemic and the 2020 wildfires. We are grateful to her for what she accomplished, and her care for our members, donors, and staff. We will miss you!
