Barn was bursting with people at film festival

Things were busy last Friday and Saturday night at the Free Range Film Festival in rural Wrenshall. The act of watching a series of short films inside a barn built more than 100 years ago continued to draw people from the region and from the Twin Cities area. Both nights saw a standing-room-only crowd. Aside from the whimsy, there is also real value. A $10 donation was a suggestion only, and drinks and movie snacks were only $2 and $1, like way, way, way back in the day. Sandy and Betsy Dugan are caretakers of the barn, parents of Annie Dugan, who co-founded the film festival with her partner Janaki Fisher-Merritt in 2004. The Dugans fixed up the basement of the barn, which served as a unique art gallery showcasing the mixed-media work of Evaline Britton, Mike Maguire and Susan Maguire. Kaylee Matuzak provided mood music for the festival on Friday night, before the films started and during intermission. Avery Sorenson served that role on Saturday.