BY KAREN BOSSICK
Sun Valley Resort has had a love affair with Hollywood since its beginnings when its Founder Averell Harriman invited the Hollywood elite to come to Sun Valley on the house to make Americans sit up and take notice.
The Sun Valley Film Festival has picked up where the resort left off, inviting Hollywood’s big names and rising stars to come and be honored, while kicking back and enjoying the beauty of America’s Shangri-La.
The 8th annual Sun Valley Film Festival kicks off today—Wednesday March 13—with a 6 p.m. screening of “David Crosby: Remember My Name” at the Argyros Performing Arts Center, which has been remade into the Ford Main Street Theater during the duration of the festival in honor of the festival’s sponsor.
And it runs through Sunday evening, ending with “Running with Beto” following Beto o’Rourke’s U.S. Senate campaign in Texas. That film will be preceded by a short film on Paulette Jordan at the Ford Main St. Theater.
In between are more films, plenty of parties, coffee talks featuring such stars as Meg Ryan and a Rail Jam at Ketchum Town Square. There’s even a chance to weigh in on a work-in-progress film “Colewell,” which was selected by Jay Duplass as the 2019 winner of the Film Lab.
There are four different pass options getting people into films, parties and Nat Geo Wild Salon Talks, complete with lunch. Individual tickets to select films can be purchased as well. For more information, visit www.sunvalleyfilmfestival.org.
There are a multitude of FREEBIES, as well:
- THURSDAY, March 14
10 a.m. Coffee Talk featuring comedian Chelsea Handler, Ford Main St. Theater
12:30 p.m. “Like,” a 95-minute film following the impact of social media on our lives and our brain, followed by question and answer at Ford Main St. Theater.
1 Potato: “The Whole Truth” at Ford Main St. Theater followed by a question and answer.
6:30-10 p.m. Street Party featuring skiers and snowboarders’ Rail Jam, DJ Locomotive, Stellar Production ski shorts, Onesie Contest with such prizes as a cruiser bike and Yeti cooler, and complimentary cocoa provided by the City of Ketchum. Ketchum Town Square at 4th Street and East Avenue.
10 p.m. Sorry I Like to Party party with the Los Angeles rock and roll band The Jacks at Whiskey Jacques.
- FRIDAY, March 15
10 a.m. Coffee Talk featuring Aaron Paul, an Idaho native who starred in “Breaking Bad,” Ford Main St. Theater.
7:30 p.m. “Before the Flood,” Leonardo DiCaprio’s film examining climate change. Magic Lantern Cinemas.
- SATURDAY, March 16
10 a.m. Coffee Talk featuring “Golden Exits” Alex Ross Perry. Ford Main St. Theater
Noon. Future Filmmakers Forum showcasing shorts created by students from throughout the nation. Magic Lantern Cinemas.
1:30 p.m. Shop Talk: Post Production with The Farm, a post-production company based in Los Angeles, at Tito’s Handmade Vodka Loft upstairs at Whiskey Jacques, 251 N. Main St. This talk focuses on editing pitfalls, best practices and all it takes to get a project across the finish line. Complimentary Tito’s.
2:30 p.m. Hostile Planet Preceded Wild to Inspire, Ford Main St. Theater followed by question and answer.
5 p.m. Shop Talk: Post Production with The Farm, Ford Main St. Theater. The talk focuses on the pitch, including best hits and worst flops.
- SUNDAY, March 17
10 a.m. Coffee Talk featuring Meg Ryan, who has starred in a multitude of films, including “Sleepless in Seattle,” at the Ford Main St. Theater.
1 p.m. National Geographic’s Filipe DeAndrade, host of “Untamed,” offers a look at the most unique wildlife stories around the world. Andrade got his start by winning Nat Geo Wild to Inspire at the Sun Valley Film Festival. Ford Main St. Theater.