Andy Smetanka’s new documentary titled, “A Place (Sort Of)” had its debut showing Sept.r 14 at the Wilma Theater. The film consists of hours of found footage of Missoula compiled over eight years and split into two parts, narrated by local voices.
By one viewer, the film was described as “a home movie for the whole town of Missoula.” And that statement is accurate. Footage as far back as the 1920s all the way to the present was used as the film showed both historic and ongoing Missoula traditions.
Director Smetanka said that he was inspired by trying to find personal footage taken by him and his friends in the ‘90s, leading him to seek out more and more lost footage. “ I just loved shooting this film and collected a lot. Eventually a story took form,” said Smetanka.
“I think the hardest thing about making the film was finishing the narration,” he said. “I wanted it to be just right.” He said that it was difficult writing something that was meant to be said aloud rather than be read due to his personal writing style. “There’s nothing like hearing your words come out of someone else’s mouth to realize when they’re BS,” Smetanka said.
Smetanka has also remarked on his surprise at the impact the film has had already had. “A woman came up to me in the theater, found me, and thanked me for having a shot of her deceased husband while the scene was going on,” he said. “I think those kinds of accidents touch lives I didn’t even intend to. More than anything, I wanted it to be something that rewards multiple viewings.”
As for when the film will be available for wider release, the answer is still uncertain. Smetanka said, “There’s this part of me that sort of wants to lock the movie up and show it once a year at the Wilma because it was such a fantastic time that I kind of want to do it again. I’m not totally comfortable that you can just let any moment pass you by because you think you can catch up with it later.” However, it will be shown at the Roxy Oct 16-19.
Smetanka added that the film was both very personal, as well as a reflection on Missoula. “I sort of thought of it as a Noah’s arc,” he said. “Where I could just kind of put my favorite things about Missoula in it, where whatever happens to the town, the people who remember it will always look back on it some of the same way that I do.”
Smetanka had several sources for these hours of local footage that he collected, the Mansfield Library film archives being one, supplying him with a one-of-a-kind hundred-year-old materials. “I heard through the grapevine that some people were super active about super eight stuff back in the ‘70s and I went looking for them. In some cases, I found stuff that they had never shown anywhere before and a couple things that had been floating around on YouTube for a while.”
Because of this film’s very recent showing, it is hard to determine where it will go from here. Many Missoula locals at its initial showing had remarked on memories that they had made in Missoula throughout the centuries.
