Kodiak Outdoor Film Festival to return outdoors Friday

COVID-19 has driven many indoor public gatherings to be cancelled, or in some cases moved outside. And maybe an outdoor event, in an ironic sense, is appropriate for the Kodiak Outdoor Film Festival, hosted by the Island Trails Network here on Kodiak.

Island Trails executive director Andy Schroeder said that they got a little help to bring the movie experience out of an indoor space.

“It’s the first year ever where we’re doing a drive-in movie format. And that’s with the help of Highmark Marine who’s donating the projector and screen and actually provide all the AV for the drive-in experience,” Schroeder said.

According to Schroeder, the festival was cancelled last year due to the pandemic, and now has plenty of new films to show. The festival has been a staple on the island for the last decade, and turnout to the festival at the convention center was regularly several hundred.

“We’re just kind of going simple. We’re showing the films, now (that) there’s been a two year backlog. And so there were more films submitted this year because we didn’t have a festival last year. We think people are really excited about this and want to see the film- the festival has developed a following over the past decade,” Schroeder said. “We have some… submitters, filmmakers who are pretty reliable in submitting their films and the audience- a lot of the audience is coming back year after year.”

The festival will be held outdoors at the Kodiak Fairgrounds this Friday at 7:30 p.m., like other Highmark Marine Drive-in events of the past few months. Popcorn will be available at the Orpheum Theatre starting at 6 p.m., and the Dinghy food truck will be at the film festival selling grilled cheese.

Entry is free for Island Trails Network members, and if you aren’t a member you can sign up for membership at the Island Trails Network website for $15 for students, $30 for individuals, and $50 for families. Membership funds go towards the network’s mission to develop and maintain trails and outdoor spaces all over Kodiak.