The Treefort Film Fest is prepping to bring a diverse batch of movies to Boise March 25-29. As part of the annual Treefort Music Fest, the multi-day event will highlight indie short and feature films that don't get a lot of mainstream attention.
One of the movies organizers will screen is called "Tomorrow We Disappear," a documentary about an artistic community – a New Delhi slum known as the Kathputli Colony – that's facing destruction.
Its inhabitants are artists, puppeteers, acrobats and magicians, who claim to have longstanding roots in the community. The government recently sold their land and is demolishing it to build a luxury skyscraper.
The documentary shows the community struggling to maintain their way of life, displaying their world in colorful and sound-rich film.
Benjamin Morgan has taken the lead with Treefort Film Fest since it started last year. He says “Tomorrow We Disappear” is a perfect documentary for the Boise audience.
"That's what this movie is all about, is this tribe of artists who are all committed to their craft," says Morgan. "It doesn't matter that they're in India or anywhere else, the thing that drives someone to create and to perform is universal. And that's what's going to hit home with the Treefort audience."
Morgan says that in its second year, the film festival will continue to bring movies that complement the spirit of Treefort.
"Our vision for the film fest very much parallels the vision for the music fest, and that is that we want to support the local filmmaking community in the same way the music festival has," Morgan says. "And we see the Boise filmmaking community very much like the music community was 10-15 years ago; it's growing, it's developing, there's a lot of passion and interest and we hope that the film fest can help the local filmmaking community to continue to develop."
The film festival director admits he and his team had a tough time getting people to choose movies over music during Treefort last year. But this March, Morgan says they've made scheduling and venue changes so people won't have to choose one genre over the other as often.
People who buy a pass to Treefort Music Fest will automatically gain entry to the movies, or there are separate cinephile tickets available for $20.
Find Frankie Barnhill on Twitter @FABarnhill
Copyright 2015 Boise State Public Radio
