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Ely’s Historic State Theater was abuzz for five consecutive days - thanks to the third rendition of the Ely Film Festival.
Buoyed by two packed houses to witness “Boundary Waters,” the feature film shot in Ely two years ago, the festival made its mark at the theater and throughout the community.
“I think we’ve got a great event on our hands,” said film festival director Jacob White. “The attendance and sale numbers exceeded our goals. On par and a little higher than last year. It was great to see we could sustain ourselves separately from the Winter Festival.”
Held in conjunction with the winter celebration in it first two years, the film festival moved to a stand-alone event in March this time around, and grew to encompass five days, beginning with a sold-out viewing of “Boundary Waters” on Wednesday, March 12.
Three nights later, “Boundary Waters” was back on the big screen again, with the 300-seat theater full and director Tessa Blake and cast members on hand for a question-and-answer- session.
But the film festival was much more than “Boundary Waters,” with 109 films shown over the course of the event, including several collections of short films, and a celebration of Indigenous film makers as part of the festivities on March 14.
Over 220 passes were sold for the event, and the number grew to 270 once free passes for sponsors and filmmakers were added to the list.
More than a dozen showings in the 50-seat Greenstone Cinema were sold out, but thanks to a “Rush Line” program that allowed late-comers a chance to scoop up seats set aside for pass holders who did not make it to each showing, “we never had to turn anyone away,” White said Wednesday night.
White and organizers are working on ways to tweak the ticketing system for 2026, and the dates for next year’s event are already set for March 11-15. This year’s festival also included “after-parties” at venues including Insula, the Frisky Otter and the Boathouse Brewpub, and the festival attracted a mix of local residents with those who came to town specifically to get their fix of movies.
“Boundary Waters,” a coming of age drama, featured prominently on the big screen and included scenes shot at Whiteside Park, Ely-Bloomenson Community Hospital, the Ely schools, Zaverl’s Bar, the Ely Post Office, City Hall and a home on East Harvey Street.
There are hopes that the film will return to Ely for more showings this summer.
“We know Ely wants to see it,” said White. “So we hope we can bring it back in June, July or August.”
On Sunday, during an event at the Grand Ely Lodge, winners in this year’s festival were announced.
They were: Best Picture: “Ultimate Citizens” Directed, Written & Produced by Francine Strickwerda; Best Documentary: “The Electric Indian” Directed by Leya Hale; Best Director: “Boundary Waters” Directed, Written & Produced by Tessa Blake; Produced by Erin Mae Miller; Independent Spirit Award: “Singing Back the Buffalo” Directed & Produced by Tasha Hubbard; Best MN Film: “A Sea Change for Superior” Directed by John Thain, Written/Produced by John Shepard, Produced by Tracy Fredin; Best Short Film: “Of Two Worlds” Directed, Written & Produced by Mikayla Swanson; Best Cinematography: “Where the Wind Takes You” Directed, Produced by and Cinematography by Ryan Rumpca.
The winners of the Audience Choice Feature & Short Film Awards were announced Friday:
The audience choice feature film winner was "Singing Back the Buffalo," directed by Tasha Hubbard.
The audience choice short film is "Where the Wind Takes You," directed by Ryan Rumpca and starring local explorer Peter Schurke.
The festival was the brainchild of White, who attended film school at New York University, and has been making films since age 15. A native of Tennessee, his ties to Ely sprung from working several summers at Northern Tier scout base.
