Docutah focuses film lens on connecting with an audience on the human level

ST. GEORGE — The Docutah International Documentary Film Festival seeks films that connect on the human level with the audience.

Women in the 1950s who may have been affected by the fallout from nuclear testing featured in the film “Bound by the Wind” at the UTAHDOC film festival, unspecified location and date | Photo courtesy of the Docutah film festival, St. George News

And documentary enthusiasts will have a chance to do just that at the 13th annual Docutah Film Festival Nov. 3-5 at the Larry H. Miller Pineview Plaza in St. George. 

Festival organizers will host an early event, a documentary film, Wednesday, Oct. 26, at 7 p.m. in the Browning Learning Resource Center at Utah Tech University. Admission is free.

“Sometimes, the topic of a film is accessible to the filmmaker. They capture and get close to their subject and really connect the audience,” Tisa Zito, Digital Film Producer, Filmmaker Relations, for Docutah, said. “But sometimes it’s just not there.” 

The film playing Wednesday is the award-winning feature-length documentary “Bound by the Wind”, which investigates the global human impact of nuclear weapons testing and the 75-year international campaign to achieve a complete nuclear test ban.

According to a press release, the documentary focuses on downwinders, those adversely affected by radiation from atomic weapons testing. Three of the downwinders in the film are St. George residents. The two who are still alive are Claudia Peterson and Janet Gordon, and the deceased is Elmer Pickett. 

Peterson will join three-time Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and director David L. Brown in a panel discussion with members of the Utah Tech faculty after the screening. Zito said the downwinder documentary was originally scheduled to screen in 2020 but had to be postponed due to COVID. Docutah is partnering with the College of Humanities and Social Sciences to engage in academic discussion.

A scene from the documentary film “Acting Like Nothing is Wrong” featuring actor Jim Hoffmaster, unspecified location and date | Photo courtesy of the film Acting Like Nothing is Wrong, St. George News

Zito said the Docutah film festival seeks films that are successful in connection on a human level. Zito said one might have an interesting subject, but the film needs to come together. For example, if the editing is not tight enough, the film festival looks for movies that are the “total package.” 

“The films are interesting, engaging and done well,” Zito said. “They’re edited well and they feel like a complete film.”

There will be many films from all over the world during Docutah. Zita said that documentaries usually let the audience learn something new. 

“With documentaries, in general, I love learning something I don’t know,” Zito said. “When you watch a movie, it’s like plain entertainment, which is fine. But when you watch a doc, you’re learning something about life, and I feel like it’s like a lesson you can take back into your real life.”

There are many films to choose from, but Zito is looking forward to a few.  “Acting Like Nothing is Wrong” by award-winning writer/director Jane Rosemont is about Hollywood character actor Jim Hoffmaster (“Better Call Saul” and “Mad Men”). The film’s website states it poses universal questions and illuminates mental health issues we experience daily. Do we ever completely overcome our traumas? What are our coping mechanisms? The site states the film has “glimmers of hope and healthy doses of comedy.”

Zito is pleased that Rosemont and Hoffmaster will give a Master Workshop for the students of Utah Tech. The film will be shown to the public on Thursday, Nov. 5. She said the film is about Hoffmaster’s journey breaking into Hollywood and his struggles with mental health. Zito said students might relate to the film.

Another film Zito is anticipating is called “The Quiet Epidemic,” which is about Lyme disease. A young girl from Brooklyn and a Duke University scientist are diagnosed with an illness said to not exist: Chronic Lyme disease. “The Quiet Epidemic” follows their search for answers.

This year, mixers will be held at 8 p.m. each night of the festival for filmmakers and people who paid for the all-festival badge. The award ceremony is on Saturday, Nov. 5, at 8 p.m.  

Awards for Docutah include the following categories: Audience Favorite Feature, Audience Favorite Short, Best Feature Film, Best Short Film, Best Foreign Film, Emerging Artist, Enlightenment, Humanitarian, Poetry in Film. A distinctive award, the Trailblazer, is also given to recognize an artist’s contribution to the industry. 

Click here for Docutah ticket information.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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