Des Moines-based storyteller Kristian Day has made a name for himself in the world of media production. His bonafides include creating The Last American Gay Bar, a 2024 docuseries for OUTtv covering The Blazing Saddle in Des Moines, and hosting the show Iowa Basement Tapes on KFMG radio, which aims to preserve local DIY music […]
Iowa Film
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Beth M. Howard’s ‘Pieowa’ is the taste-good, feel-good film of the year
It is the first weekend of the Iowa State Fair, and Beth M. Howard is still thinking about pie. “I’ve tried to get away from pie a couple of times,” she said, “and I just keep getting pulled back. I’ve surrendered.” Howard has made a career off the pastry, first by writing a memoir about […]
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David Lynch’s Iowa odyssey
David Lynch, who was called “America’s first surrealist filmmaker” by actor Dennis Hopper, died in Los Angeles at age 78 on Jan. 16, four days shy of his 79th birthday. Known for films such as Mulholland Drive (2001), he gained a new audience during the COVID pandemic as the internet’s favorite weatherman, streaming daily reports from “Here in sunny L.A.” on his YouTube channel.
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Lights, camera, inaction: Iowa needs to get back in the blockbuster business
Filmmaking and all of its related fields are perfect for boosting a creative economy. So much so that, 16 years ago, the state of Iowa attempted to brand itself the Hollywood of the Heartland, offering an enticing film tax program. It’s easy to see how this could have worked in the long run. The heralded […]
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World premiere of Iowa-made paranormal thriller ‘Red Sunset Drive’ on Oct. 12
Red Sunset Drive Flix Brewhouse, Des Moines — Saturday, Oct. 12 at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. The film Red Sunset Drive, a paranormal thriller based on the novel by Jan Walters of Indianola, will make its debut just in time for the Halloween season at Flix Brewhouse in Des Moines on Oct. 12. Walters […]
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‘Saving Brinton,’ ‘Amelia 2.0,’ ‘Morris’ bring top IMPA Awards home to Eastern Iowa
The Iowa Motion Picture Association (IMPA) held its 27th annual awards this weekend, and Eastern Iowa brought home the lion’s share of the state honors. Amelia 2.0, filmed in Cedar Rapids and based on Cedar Rapids playwright Rob Merritt’s The Summerland Project, garnered a directing Excellence award (the festival uses this terminology instead of the […]
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‘Saving Brinton’ selected for AFI Docs Film Festival
Saving Brinton, a Northland Films documentary that was awarded an Iowa Arts Council grant last year, has just received an honor of another sort: The film has been invited to make its world premiere at the prestigious AFI Docs Film Festival this June.
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New immigration and identity film festival launches in Des Moines
Define American Film Festival Des Moines Art Center — Thursday, Jan. 21–Saturday, Jan. 23 A new film festival kicks off in Iowa on Thursday, courtesy of the non-profit Define American, an organization dedicated to using stories and narrative to take the national conversation about immigration to the next level. Filmmaker and Define American founder Jose […]
