The Fargo Film Festival is proud to announce a special screening of the award-winning documentary “Balkowitsch,” with very special guests Shane Balkowitsch, Gregory DeSaye, and Chelsy Ciavarella.

The film received honorable mention in the Fargo Film Festival’s Documentary Feature category, and is also the 2020 recipient of the festival’s Prairie Spirit Award.

About the film:
Everyone has a purpose, but most spend their lives searching. For one man, his mission came late in life and has been fueled with passion, spreading like wildfire across the prairies and now the world.

Shane Balkowitsch has a singular desire to reach deep into the past to imprint a moment in time, held firm for future generations. He is at once a preservationist, an archivist, and an artist through the lost art of wet plate photography. Balkowitsch is quickly becoming one of the world’s most prolific artists in the genre, with more than 3,000 plates captured to date.

Balkowitsch’s 2019 photo of climate activist Greta Thunberg went viral, captivating the world. It is now archived at the Library of Congress in Washington. Many of his Native American photos have been permanently curated by the North Dakota Historical Society and a plate of Evander Holyfield was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution.

He also operates a globally-renowned natural light wet plate studio in Bismarck, ND. With a single 10 second exposure pressed with silver on glass, Balkowitsch captures his enduring visions.

“Balkowitsch” will screen at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18 at the Fargo Theatre. The film’s subject Shane Balkowitsch and directors Chelsy Ciavarella and Gregory DeSaye will appear live on stage for a Q and A immediately following the film.

Tickets go on sale at 12:00 p.m. on February 24 at the Fargo Theatre.