Sitka Tells Tales: First Times

We are proud and excited to announce an another of live storytelling in Sitka, Ak!

A night of live storytelling from 7 to 8:30 PM Wednesday, August 3rd at the Larkspur Café in Sitka. The theme is "First Times (not stories of sex), Stories of Stepping Out, Diving In, and Coming Up for Air." Suggested donation is $5. 

Five local storytellers will share 6-minute stories to the them and we will invite a couple audience members to put their names in a hat to be picked to tell a spontaneous 2 minute story. 

Ellen and Sarah kicking off the first Sitka Tells Tales: Floating in a Most Mysterious Way

Paul Norwood tells a story

Auriella floats in the most peculiar way

Artchange, Inc focuses on making films, mentoring artists, encouraging dialogue and stiring up stories.  Live local storytelling is part of that, because we believe stories connect us and remind us what we care about, what makes us curious and causes tears and laughter.  We've hosted and co-hosted a series of events in collaboration with  The Island Institute and KCAW Raven Radio and the Greater Sitka Arts Council. 

Stories air on local public radio too!

We we will also be posting and organizing some of the stories from the past year soon. 

And our new title for the series is: Sitka Tells Tales.

Meet our Summer Art-Changers!

Artchange is excited to welcome two new Art-Changers to Sitka for internships this summer! 

Anna Wane

Anna Wane is an Art major, in the Filmmaking concentration at Yale University. She is from Dakar, Senegal and the story of how she ended up in Sitka is not as exciting or interesting as the stories she has heard since coming here. Her story has to do with curiosity and a desire to see the world outside of her Dakar – New Haven route, but mostly of doing what she loves, which is to tell stories. When she saw the internship posting, Anna thought it was perfect: Documentary Filmmaking and Social Practice, two things she was interested in. She applied and found herself in Sitka a few months later. Anna is enjoying working with Ellen Frankenstein and watching her unusual ideas come to life. She is currently working on videos about the Community Ride, and is pleasantly surprised that making videos about buses can be so fun.

Anna is interested in the stories of marginalized communities and in giving voice to the voiceless. This is why she enjoys working in documentary filmmaking. In addition, she is interested in less traditional forms of visual storytelling, such as experimental film and video art, which she feels give her freedom to explore different narratives in unexpected ways.

You can see some of her work at vimeo.com/annaxkarima

Ellie Schmidt

Ellie is a visual artist from Denver, CO. She first came to Sitka last summer for the Island Institute’s Sitka Fellows residency program, during which she made a short film shot underwater around Sitka called I Follow Rivers. In the fall, Ellie picked up some work on a troller fishing boat after the residency and fell in love with the people and landscapes of Sitka. 

a still from Ellie's project "Northfield USA: a goldfish portrait" 2015 

A lionsmane jellyfish around sitka

Ellie is interested in the intersection of marine ecology, women’s stories, and the emotional side of living with climate change. Over the last winter she has followed projects to the factory farms of North Carolina, the mining capital of the world in British Colombia, and the Wolf Project of northern Yellowstone. She is ecstatic to be back in Sitka and excited to work with Ellen, who she admires as an amazing female filmmaker and friend. Ellie is working on several projects with ArtChange, including podcasts for Frankentweet and shooting underwater footage for the Uprivers documentary. 

Ellie swims in a traditional salmon sein in Ketchikan with the uprivers documentary

a screen grab from ellie's footage.

Ellie is also working on a zine about women and climate change. The Selkie Zine seeks to create space and community for thought about the relationship between womanhood and world stewardship. The Zine is rough, lo-fi, and process-focused. Ellie invites everyone to check out the Selkie Zine and to submit a piece of art or writing at cargocollective.com/selkiezine. 

Spotlight: Uprivers generates momentum

Spotlight: Uprivers generates momentum

We are learning so much as we push forward with the making of Uprivers, a documentary about two transboundary watersheds and the communities that depend on them in the face of large-scale mining in Canada. 

It turns out that spawning salmon are a good metaphor for making a documentary film. Although salmon are consumed and distributed in their ocean-bright glory, just as films are spread to the world on the elegant silver screen, the real behind-the-scenes work is an uphill slog, a journey riddled with hungry bears, grant deadlines, toxic waste and PR meetings. By the end of this communal quest we may have felt like we were swimming in place for weeks on end, and we might be a little dark and alligator-y and worse for wear, but we will have birthed a film, ready to begin its own pilgrimage towards the metaphorical silver sea. 

photo by Ellie Schmidt

Currently, with half the filming done, and our friends and partners gathering in Alaska, it feels like we are circling in a pool of calm glacier water, gathering energy and momentum for the last few jumps upriver. The summer has much in store: 

We have launched a new fundraising campaign to finish out the film. Small donations have enabled the film to come this far: thank you! If you're wondering how you can help, this is it. Any amount helps. For more, visit our GoFundMe. 

This July we had planned to visit Ketchikan and Williams Lake to film traditional fishing techniques like beach seining and dipnetting with the native communities there. However, this summer the salmon are running early and so we are scrambling to get there in time. We have exciting plans to film inside a sein net and inside the Fraser River, but, again, we need your help! Pitch in for this important step here. 

Thanks to everyone who has supported us financially, emotionally and spiritually so far. We are excited to have our new trailer out and can feel the film becoming a reality. For first time directors Jackson and Zach this is a momentous time. For more on Uprivers, check out our website or like us on Facebook.

Update on the Kickstarter campaign for the documentary "Last Man Fishing"

‘LAST MAN FISHING’ DOCUMENTARY ASKS IF SMALL-SCALE FISHERIES CAN SURVIVE: 

A Kickstarter campaign reaching for the finish line for a powerful new project partnering with Artchange, Inc.  

INDIANAPOLIS (FEBRUARY 8, 2016) - Our world’s oceans are in trouble, and that’s a story worth telling. So much so that talented filmmaker and photographer duo JD and Kelley Jordan Schuyler committed two years of traveling coast to coast to uncover the story of our nation’s small-scale fisherman. Now, they’re starting a Kickstarter campaign to help fund remaining production of their documentary, Last Man Fishing.

With 80% of the world’s fish stocks overexploited, a collapse of our ocean’s fish stocks is becoming a serious concern. Large, industrial fisheries and unsustainable fishing practices are the current norm, leaving small-scale fisheries, who provide answers to collapsing fish stocks, fighting to survive. “When we started talking to these women and men, we realized that this is a pivotal time for our fisheries. The question of ‘who will have the right to fish in the future?’ is being decided now.” said director JD Schuyler. “Generations of fishermen in coastal America are disappearing as we speak and it’s time to ask why.”  

Centered on the personal stories of fishermen from Alaska to Maine, Last Man Fishing showcases the ways small-scale fishermen have adapted to, struggled in, and are now beginning to remake the seafood system. With gorgeous cinematography and compelling narratives, the film looks at the ways small-scale fishermen have taken on the challenge by working with consumers, chefs, policy makers, and community leaders to forge new systems that enhance the sustainability of the seafood supply chain. 

The filmmaking duo is now looking for supporters to join the movement to help secure the livelihoods for small-scale fishermen in the US. Last Man Fishing launches a 30-day Kickstarter campaign on February 8 with a goal of $35,000. With filming currently 50% complete, these funds will help to complete production as well as post-production of the project.

Help tell the Last Man Fishing story:

• Donate to Last Man Fishing Kickstarter!
• Watch the Last Man Fishing trailer
• Find Last Man Fishing on Facebook, Instagram @LastManFishing, and Twitter @LastManFishing to follow the progress and to help spread the word.

• CONTACT: KELLEY SCHUYLER  
  PHONE: 616-558-5096
  EMAIL: INFO@LASTMANFISHING.COM

•