MINT Proves its Mettle in 2019

MINT went the distance in its sophomore year to program films that have community interests at heart, including California’s Forgotten Children, where director Melody Miller and film’s subject T Ortiz participated in a panel discussion with FBI special agent Brendan Walter and Assistant U.S. Attorney Zeno Baucus, moderated by the Co-Founder/Co-Chair of the Yellowstone County Area Human Trafficking Task Force and MINT board member Penny Ronning. The audience was invited to learn about fighting human trafficking in Billings with tables of information from community partnerships.

“The documentary started when I was 21 years old,” said Miller. “I made a short with T, and we won an award. I then went to UCLA film school to learn more skills and six years later here I am.”

We hope the copyright attorneys have a sense of humor, but new this year to the festival was the JR MINTs Workshop, which is part of MINT’s educational programs in Yellowstone County for high school students, special needs students, and low-income students. Under the guidance of MINT Education Director Pete Tolton, the short film Howard the Coward was made in the JR MINTs Workshop where it was written, produced, directed and edited by high school students in Billings in July of 2019 and shown at the Festival, along with the feature Improtu directed by Shane Fairbanks in Billings. These films screened at the Art House Cinema and brought a new element of community and connection to MINT. “This is accessible to anyone who wants to put in the work,” said Tolton. “I am really proud of everyone.”

MINT also screened a block of Nature and Conservation Short Films sponsored by The Nature Conservancy as well as programmed the Wild and Scenic Film Festival for the weekend connecting to another audience of filmgoers strengthening the MINT’s ability to serve its community and also continue its mission to provide films of meaning and purpose.

A few other special guests at MINT included Nighthawks director Grant S. Johnson, actress, director, choreographer, playwright and MINT juror Jane Lind, who began her professional career at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico and producer/MINT juror Milan Chakraborty known for Plus One (2019), Assassination Nation (2018), The Lifeguard (2013), Where Hope Grows (2014), My Friend Dahmer (2017) and Batman Begins (2005).

The final awards ceremony was held at Bar MT shortly after the closing night screening of Robert the Bruce, which was a sold-out, red carpet affair with bagpipe players “piping-in” guests down the red carpet and into the theatre. Films in competition received a combined $5,000 in cash and in-kind prizes and awards included the second MINT Spirit Award, as well as seven juried awards including: Best Female Director, Best Narrative Feature, Best Narrative Short Film, The Indigenous Voices Award, Best Documentary Feature Film, Best Documentary Short Film and the Made In Montana.

Best Narrative Feature went to the screen adaptation of Bonnie Jo Campbell’s book Once Upon a River, directed by Haroula Rose and produced by Grace Hahn, who was in attendance. The film was also awarded a special jury prize in acting to Kenadi Delacerna.

“This year’s documentary feature winner captured several essential truths about the human condition, while pushing the audience to consider a new perspective of something controversial,” said Moviemaker Magazine West Coast Editor Greg Hamilton. “It’s a compelling film with a maverick sensibility that magnifies the values of creativity, inclusion and diversity through the complex viewfinder of our collective history.”

Christopher Rolinson’s narrative short film Superfund: Tailing History received the Made In Montana award and Khushnuda Shukurova was named Best Female Director for her film Detained. The short documentary film History of Memory, directed by Sarah Klein and Tom Mason, received the documentary short award, and Pastalight, directed by Christopher Martini, received best narrative short. The Indigenous Voices Jury Panel chose Blackfeet Flood, directed by Torsten Kjellstrand and Ben Shors, with a special jury prize awarded to Reclamation: The Rise of Standing Rock directed by Michele Noble.

MINT continued a two-day “MINI MINT” festival in Red Lodge, Montana at the Historic Roman Theater on Friday, Sept 27, and Saturday, Sept. 28, which opened with the acclaimed documentary film David Crosby: Remember Name with the film’s director A.J. Eaton in attendance sponsored by the Boise Film Foundation. This inspired collaboration between Eaton and producer Cameron Crowe coaxes Crosby, member of three major groups in music history—The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young—into unflinching candor as the singer-songwriter confronts mortality and assesses the damage of earlier days. At the same time, his redemptive journey back to music is universally inspiring and uplifting, bearing an emotional impact that transcends the rock documentary genre.

I’d Like to Be Alone Now made its Montana premiere, despite an epic winter blizzard conditions, on Saturday. Directed by Jon Dabach, it is an ensemble drama that takes place in one location—the house of a mourning widower and father.

Continuing social advocacy to end sex trafficking, MINT presented the Emmy award-winning documentary Shattered Dreams directed by Bill Wisneski, which will also have its Montana premier. The film, in the same vein of California’s Forgotten Children, examines the pervasive, dark underworld of sex trafficking on the larger playing field of America. A panel discussion followed the film with FBI Special Agent Brandon Walters and YCA Human Trafficking Task Force Penning Ronning.

MINT’s Red Lodge weekend, thanks to the Red Lodge Area Chamber of Commerce, had a packed theater at the Historic Roman Theater for all screenings, which also included a block of documentary short films and a block of narrative short films with Tito’s Vodka after parties at the Pollard Hotel and Per Prerogative Kitchen in Red Lodge.

Visit the official MINT website for festival information, passes and lodging to attend in 2020.