Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2018: Norway’s Ready To Assemble, Utah’s Dead Air, Vietnam’s Nín thở take top Fear No Film jury honors

Fifteen awards were announced today in the 16th annual Fear No Film portion of the Utah Arts Festival, including a Grand Jury Prize, Utah Short Film of The Year, Fear No Filmmaker Award, three honorable mentions and the best short film in each of the seven ‘band aids’ categories around which the film festival was … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2018: Fear No Film presents 48 films in 7 categories on Band Aids theme, 2 Kids’ screenings

For the 16th annual Fear No Film portion of the Utah Arts Festival, curator Topher Horman has crafted seven sequences of presentations in the most intriguing interpretations of the various ways in which societal band aids are removed and the underlying concerns and scars are exposed. Each program is described below. Screenings last about an … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2018: 16th Fear No Film slate builds on theme of ripping off societal band aids, treating and healing underlying wounds

In 2018, it seems insistently exasperating and dismaying thinking that some of the most urgent issues of our communities and societies always will be intractable. Managing outrage is tricky even when one realizes the moment calls for elucidation and an epiphany that leads to meaningful awareness, reconciliation and resolution. And, we are still learning how … Read more

The rededication of spirit: Top 10 moments of the Utah Enlightenment in 2017

It is not an artifice that the mind has added to human nature. The mind has added nothing to human nature. It is a violence from within that protects us from a violence without. It is the imagination pressing back against the pressure of reality. It seems, in the last analysis, to have something to … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2017: Memory as malleable construct in Fear No Film screenings

For the 15th annual Fear No Film portion of the Utah Arts Festival, curator Topher Horman has crafted seven sequences of presentations in the most intriguing interpretations of the various ways in which memories are constructed, sustained, reshaped and anticipated. Each program is described below. ROLLING MEMORIES (June 22, 2 p.m.; June 24, 6 p.m.) … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2017: Utah Short Film of The Year competition sets new bar in nominee quality

The Utah Short Film of the Year competition at the Utah Arts Festival has become more rigorous in recent years, as local filmmakers are making more adventurous films that especially show audiences outside of the state the high quality of independent film creativity. Four of this year’s seven entries already have established a national, if … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2017: 15th annual Fear No Film presents Memory theme as it cements its distinction as international cinematic festival

The first book in Homer’s The Iliad, written more than 2,800 years ago, opens with, ‘Sing, O goddess, the anger of Achilles, son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans.’ With that line, Homer created the Western literary tradition. The Iliad also was the first work signifying the value and instruction of memory … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2016: ‘Getting Fat in A Healthy Way,’ ‘Ties The Room Together,’ ‘Thumbscrews’ take top Fear No Film honors

Fifteen awards were announced today in the Fear No Film portion of the Utah Arts Festival, including a Grand Jury Prize, Utah Short Film of The Year, Fear No Filmmaker Award, three honorable mentions and the best short film in each of the seven ‘transitions’ categories around which the film festival was organized as well … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2016: 14th annual Fear No Film presents Transitions theme in record international slate

The conclusion of Autumn Testament, Pablo Neruda (as translated by Alastair Reid) from Extravagaria (1957-58): From having been born so often I have salty experience like creatures of the sea with a passion for stars and an earthly destination. And so I move without knowing to which world I’ll be returning or if I’ll go … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2015: ‘The Story of a Rain Night,’ ‘Wildlife,’ ’33 giri’ take top Fear No Film honors

Fifteen awards were announced today in the Fear No Film portion of the Utah Arts Festival, including a Grand Jury Prize, Utah Short Film of The Year, Fear No Filmmaker Award, three honorable mentions and the best short film in each of the seven ‘boundaries’ categories around which the film festival was organized as well … Read more