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The award winning film, 'Heart of Alaska' is now available for purchase in a number of ways; you can stream or download the film through Vimeo or you can order a DVD through Ground Truth Trekking.
Through the new-year Ground Truth Trekking is offering a 20% off sale on all media, including Heart of Alaska.
Thank you for your support.
Heart of Alaska was entered into the Anchorage Film Festival and won best 'Made in Alaska' category. I am incredibly humbled and honored. So many talented people put a lot of energy, time, and expertise into this film. Thank you AIFF and everyone who has supported Heart of Alaska.
Film touring by bicycle, during winter months, in Alaska, is proving to be more practical than one might imagine. Before I left Homer, I spent very little time thinking about the ethics I would employ for this tour. My idea was and is, show the film at the scheduled screenings and try to get to the events by bike. If that is impossible - hitch-hike. So far, that basic idea is proving sound.
One of the big topical themes within my film, Heart of Alaska, is climate change and ocean acidification. Beyond the fact that I actually like riding my bike in winter, it also opens up an easy dialogue/train of thought about climate change. "Why are you riding your bike in winter", is a fantastic question and a great way to start a conversation.
After two wildly successful screenings in Homer, I packed up and hit the road for the next event in Soldotna. I'd given myself two days to make the trip, that in the summer would take only one. The forecast was as grim as it could possibly be for any winter road traveler, but especially bicyclists. I made it 20 miles out of town before the sleet began, and then it started to snow - for serious.
My thumb seems to have some charm left in it and before long I was comfortably seated in a pickup truck with the bike stowed away in back. While the windshield wipers and defrost were on full bore, the driver and I had plenty of time to discuss some of the big themes as we slowly drove through the storm. Even though this man was heading to the North Slope for a three week stint on the oil fields and I was out bike riding with a film, we had much in common based on our life-long residency in Alaska and shared love/concern for this place.
"Let's just pretend", I said to a man after the screening in Soldotna, "that since the Industrial Revolution there has not been an incredible increase in greenhouse gasses, with no "natural" perturbation outside of human activity to account for it. Instead, lets return to the idea, in the film, that asks, 'what do we think the future of Alaska will look like in 50 years?' No matter what, non-renewable resources will be either gone or radically depleted, so why not throw our entire weight behind renewable energy projects now and begin creating sustainable economies?" Then we changed the conversation to salmon and discussed our favorite subsistence fishing techniques.
For two short, mid-winter days, I rode my bicycle from Soldotna, through Cooper Landing and Moose Pass to Seward. I camped on the shore of Kenai Lake and woke to ice-fog and a flock of hearty swans. I passed lynx tracks, saw crosbills, ravens, eagles and siskins, and had a solid half an hour of direct sun on my face, from Lower Trail Lake to Primrose. As I rode, my mind would wander to the recent conversations, then back to the cold beauty of the Kenai. Hours sliped by without notice until finally my brother Lars passed me south of the three bridges in Seward.
A warm meal, family and friends are what I had been hoping to find in Seward, and find them I did.
Heart of Alaska will screen at the KM Rae Building, here in Seward, Tuesday the 24th at 6:30 PM. At present, I am planning my next leg to Whittier, then Cordova, by the weather. If it remains clear, I will leave here on Thursday, miss Thanksgiving, and ride to Whittier with enough time to make the ferry for the screening in Cordova on the 28th. If it storms again, I will spend Thanksgiving with family and friends and hitch out early on the 27th. Either way...I win.
I hope to see some of you Seward folks at tomorrows screening.
I have found that filmmaking is much like a good journey – a journey with very distinct and bookended chapters. It’s been almost one year since Heart of Alaska was funded through a kickstarter campaign and we are now finally ready to take the film on tour. Each step, or chapter, over the last year has brought me this point and I am excited to be able to share what we’ve created with audiences around the state.
There are many issues, points to consider and, I hope, take-aways within the film, but one of the strongest that resonates within me is the idea of personal choices and accountability to future generations. With that in mind, I have decided to do this first film tour by bicycle.
We will premier the film here in the ‘cosmic hamlet’ of Homer on November 17-18. These will be the events we pull out all the stops for. Hig, Erin, Katmai and Lituya (subjects of the film) will be in attendance and Homer artist Sarah Frary, who drew and painted all the beautiful maps for the film, will not only be attending, she will also be displaying her original art. The film will screen at the Islands and Oceans Visitor Center theatre. Local nonprofits Cook Inletkeeper and Kachemak Bay Conservation Society have partnered with the film and graciously covered the theatre rental.
After the two screenings in Homer, I will straddle my bicycle and make my way to Soldotna to show the film at the Kenai Peninsula College on the 20th of November. Then I head onward to Seward for a screening at the KM Rae Building on the 24th. Both my brothers live in Seward so I will take a little layover for Thanksgiving to spend time with them before biking to Whittier and catch the ferry to Cordova. We’ve partnered with Prince William Science Center to show the film in the brand new Cordova Center on the 28th. Lastly, I will return to Whittier by ferry and then bike to Anchorage in time for the Anchorage International Film Festival, which the film has been selected to screen at.
Another thing I’ve come to realize about filmmaking is that it is impossible to make films without a community. This film would be nothing without the support of the 170 kickstarter backers. It would be nothing without all the eloquent and willing subjects, and it would be a hollow display without the fantastically talented contributors: Mark Teckenbrock, Skyler Kline, Sarah Frary, Daniel Zatz, Luc Mehl and the amazing Anchorage band Historian. Being able to bring the film to these communities has been the effort of many amazing people and organizations. I will be biking alone on my beautiful Salsa bicycle but I will be carrying a piece of so many people on this next stage of the films journey.
There are still many chapters to come for Heart of Alaska but sharing it with audiences within Alaska is, for me, a big one. I hope many of you reading this will be able to join us for one of these events.
Schedule of screenings:
Homer: November 17-18 6:30 PM @ Islands and Oceans Visitor Center
Soldotna: November 20 6:30 PM @ Kenai Peninsula College
Seward: November 24 6:30 PM @ KM Rae Building
Cordova: November 28 6:30 PM @ Cordova Center
Anchorage: December 13 11:00 AM @ Alaska Experience Theatre
Heart of Alaska - promotional poster
Heart of Alaska is a film I have been working on, with the nonprofit, 'Ground Truth Trekking', since since summer 2014. The film received financing in December 2014 through a kickstarter campaign.
Synopsis:
Hig, Erin and their two children walk out of their comfortable home on a cold March predawn morning and begin a four-month human powered expeditionaround Alaska's Cook Inlet. While carrying food, camping gear and other necessities for their survival, the family also carries a question – 'what do you think the future of Alaska will look like in 50 years?'
Beyond expansive mudflats, rivers, and streams and over headlands and miles of uninhabited beaches there exists a patchwork of communities. From small native villages to Alaska's largest city, Cook Inlet is the Heart of Alaska.
Through adventure, inquiry, chance encounters and in-depth conversations this film aims to pause long enough to ponder what the future of Alaska will look like for the two adventuring toddlers in this film and their peers.
Watch the trailer here:
News about Heart of Alaska:
For professional photo shoots, stock photography, videography or filmmaking, please email bjorn@groundtruthtrekking.org for prices and quotes.
