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October 28, 2008
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LONG ROAD NORTH is 2008 Audience Favorite; Special screenings November 1 and 2 at the Rose
Long Road North co-directors Gwendal Castellan and Ian Hinkle,
Composer Peter Lack. Photo by Frank Ross
A 19-month bicycle ride from the bottom of the world to its top, depicted in the documentary Long Road North, rose among all the films in the 9th annual Port Townsend Film Festival to be declared the Audience’s Favorite Film.
The 93-minute documentary earned an average film-goer score of 3.96, just shy of a near-perfect 4.0. The film played to two full houses at the largest venues in the festival. Co-directors Gwendal Castellan, of Vanoucver B.C., and Ian Hinkle of Port Townsend, and Composer Peter Lack, also of Port Townsend, attended both screenings.
The special screenings of Long Road North at the Rose Theatre this weekend will be held at 1 pm on Saturday and Sunday, November 1 and 2. Doors open at 12:30 pm, and co-director Ian Hinkle will be on hand to introduce the movie and answer questions after.
In January of 2004, Vancouver resident Gwendal Castellan mounted his bike in Ushuaia, Argentina, and set off to raise awareness of the social and cultural connections linking people and places across the Americas. His destination: 23,000 km to Inuvik, in Canada's western arctic. Joined by friends Ryan Parton and Damien McCombs, and partner Tania Lo for parts of the Antipodes Expedition, Castellan forged through busy highways, salt flats and dirt paths for 19 months, finally arriving in the chilly arctic at the end of August 2005. His journey took him through 18 countries, including many developing nations.
Hinkle was not part of the physical journey, joining the expedition in the editing room where for more than one year he and Castellan, not a filmmaker, brought the trip to cinematic fruition.
Tickets for the November 1 and 2 screenings are available at the Rose Theatre box office.
Listed by category with 4.0 being the highest score available, other top audience ratings of 2008 films included (all films were made in the US unless otherwise noted):
First Feature-length narrative films: August Evening, 3.82 and Fix, 3.50
World Films, feature-length: Paula's Secret (Germany), 3.85; Sunshine Cleaning, 3.80
Documentaries, feature-length: Long Road North (USA/Canada), 3.96; Don't Know, We'll See, 3.95 Faubourg Treme, 3.88; and A Snow Mobile for George, 3.81
Documentaries, short feature (30-60 min): Six Seconds of Freedom, 4.91; Queens of Heart, 3.90; Petals (Canada), 3.80
Narratives, short (under 30 min): Property 3.83 (film by Piper Laurie), Zoologic 3.69; The Delivery 3.58
Documentaries, short (under 30 min): LeVerdad (New Zealand), 3.50; Mugs, 3.49; Shikashika, 3.40
The overall rating of all the films was 3.83.