One of the films selected for the Festival is by Kat Fulwider, who is also an announcer and occasional reporter on KUNR. Her film The Last Sheepherders is, in her words, 'about a family of Basque-descended sheep ranchers. Their grandfather came here as a Basque sheepherder in the early 1900s. Now this story kind of follows them as they try to keep this tradition, like this legacy tradition of theirs, alive in a world that is changing. And it's also about the people who are now tending the sheep, the new sheepherders who are also immigrants. Sheepherding has often been an immigrant job.'
Another of the Festival's films is The Muralist by Kari Barber, associate dean at the Reynolds School of Journalism and professor of electronic media at the University of Nevada, Reno. 'The Muralist,' Barber says, 'is a short documentary about Connor Fogal, who is a local artist here in Reno. He was born with cerebral palsy, pretty severe cerebral palsy … He's not really able to use his arms or legs. He uses a motorized wheelchair. But he has learned to paint starting in middle school with a head pointer attached to his head. But he's also an activist for disability rights.'
Fogal had long wanted to create a large-scale mural painting, and was finally given an opportunity to do one at the Lilley Museum of Art at UNR. 'So the film touches on his activism,' Barber continues, as well as 'how he's lived his life in a really passionate way.'
The Lake Tahoe Documentary Film Festival includes a number of films from Nevada and California. Barber says that 'this was my first time entering a film into this film festival in Tahoe.' Fulwider's The Last Sheepherders recently 'got into a film festival in Wyoming. And then this one, so I'm really excited.'
For more information on the Lake Tahoe Documentary Film Festival, happening April 17-19 in South Lake Tahoe, ltdff.org.
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Support for 'Arts on the Airwaves' comes from The Nevada Arts Council… a state agency that provides public funding and support to artists and organizations, that benefit Nevadans in cities and rural communities statewide. More at NVArtsCouncil.org.
