DATE: Oct. 30, 2017
WHAT: Fall Film Series begins
FOR RELEASE: immediately
CONTACT: Peter Hassrick, peterh@centerofthewest.org or 578-4017
The Northwest Wyoming Film Series, a community effort to bring exceptional movies to the Big Horn Basin, will resume this fall in a split season.

Dear NWFS Members,
We bring the Fall 2017 season to an official close with the showing on TUESDAY, OCT. 31 of “THE RED TURTLE,” an animated fantasy drama that is a Dutch/Japanese/French collaboration. It’s been described as a deceptively simple story of a man who becomes shipwrecked on a deserted island where he encounters a giant female red turtle. Reviewers are uniformly lavish in their praise of this unusual film that can appeal to audiences of all ages on many levels.

From rogerebert.com: “The Red Turtle” is one of those rare animated movies that transports you to a different setting without demanding that you focus on narrative or character development. Instead, viewers are encouraged to fall in love with an environment, specifically a small tropical island on which a nondescript, mute castaway inexplicably finds himself shipwrecked. This focus on setting over narrative is crucial since “The Red Turtle” follows the normalization of one man’s romance with nature.” (http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-red-turtle-2017)

From The Detroit News: ““The Red Turtle” exists in a realm outside of buzzing phones and text message alerts. It is a quiet, contemplative, poetic study of the patterns of life, told in a dreamlike style by director Michael Dudok de Wit. Some films are a speeding train. This one is a hammock on a Saturday afternoon.” (http://www.detroitnews.com/story/entertainment/movies/2017/02/23/movie-review-red-turtle/98336200/)

For a more nuanced review, see A.O. Scott in the NY Times: ““The Red Turtle” practices a minor, gentle magic. It wants you to smile and say, “Ahh,” rather than gasp and say, “Wow.” But somehow the understatement can feel a bit overdone, as if the film were hovering over you, awaiting an expression of admiration. And it is hard not to admire the earnest artistry on display, even though it may also be hard to be as moved or enraptured as you suspect you should.” (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/movies/the-red-turtle-review.html?referrer=google_kp)

Finally, from the Washington Post: “A study in silence, solitude and stark beauty, “The Red Turtle” is a return to first principles, offering respite from an all-too-cluttered and cacophonous world.” (https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/the-red-turtle-from-studio-ghibli-is-a-lyrical-escape-into-silence-and-solitude/2017/01/26/fdd4ff70-e193-11e6-a453-19ec4b3d09ba_story.html?tid=kp_google&utm_term=.fef15a58af2e)

This is a short film, only 80 minutes long, with no dialogue and, although it’s readily available now on several platforms, it’s best appreciated on a big screen. Here is the trailer of this PG rated film, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw7BggqBpTk.
Thank you for your patronage these past 6 weeks; we hope there were some selections that you found entertaining, as well as some that you will continue to reflect on and debate. We will keep you posted when there are opportunities in our area for exceptional viewing.
Warmly,
Harriet Bloom-Wilson
On behalf of the NWFS Board

Those on Facebook can “like” the NWFS page for more information.

NWFS formed in January 2012, organized its first season that winter/spring in collaboration with Tony Beaverson of Big Horn Cinemas and last year became an affiliate of the Park County Arts Council. The NWFS board members are Richard Wilson and Harriet Bloom-Wilson, Jan and Lee Hermann, Anne Young and Jim Nielson, and Peter and Buzzy Hassrick.