Film festival to debut at Luther

Over J-term, the first annual Oneota Film Festival will take place on campus, offering a selection of films relating to sustainability.

The films, ranging from feature-length films to short films, will be shown in three different venues on campus Jan. 22 and 23.

Sustainability Coordinator Dan Bellrichard talked about how the idea for the festival came about.

“It started because people in Decorah would go to the Frozen River Festival in Winona and wanted Decorah to do something similar,” he said.

Although it is taking place on campus, the event will be run by the Oneota Film Festival, a non-profit organization not connected
with the school.

This January there will be a strong focus on food in connection to sustainability. While film selection is still in progress, some movies being considered are “Food, Inc,” “The Garden,” “American Outrage,” “Botany of Desire,” “King Corn” and “Waterlife.” Students can submit film ideas in the suggestion box on the sustainability Web site at
http://sustainability.luther.edu.

In addition to the films, there could be a panel for discussing one of the more thought-provoking films, but Bellrichard says the festival will be kept fairly simple the first year.

“We’ll use this year’s festival as a stepping stone for future years. We’ll plan for bigger and better in the future, but for now we want to make sure it’s well-run and simple,” he said.

Students will be able to go to the event for free with their CAF card, and Bellrichard predicts that admissions prices will be low.

“Our goal is not to make money on ticket sales,” he said.

Bellrichard sees the festival’s theme of sustainability as a good fit for what Luther and the Decorah community currently focus on.

“[This will be] a fun event that students can get excited about during a cold, dreary time
of year.”