Coming to VOD today, Friday, April 16:
CLASSIC
Director:
Tim Kaminski
World Premiere:
Denver 2019
Select Festivals:
Anchorage, Virtual Crossroads, Chagrin Doc
About:
A portrait of a small town through its unique annual tradition: waiting for the ice to melt.
Nenana AK may be a small town with only approximately 400 residents, but its annual Ice Classic lottery has long attracted attention from across the US. Tim Kaminski’s affectionate portrait chronicles the 100th anniversary of the event, held in 2016, which includes a cash prize of over $300,000 to those entrants who correctly predict the exact date and time that the ice on the Tanana River will finally give way. Of course, the film isn’t really focused on watching ice melt, but instead uses this quirky, singular event as a way to capture small town life and profile some members of the community, including former winners and organizers of the Ice Classic, one of the only sources of work in the town. While one suspects that a short version of the film might be just as or perhaps more successful than a feature treatment, the doc remains a warm, pleasant look at a community.
what (not) to doc 