Videos
This Town
This new documentary from WDSE-TV presents four small towns with big stories — Grand Portage, Ball Club, Kettle River and Sandstone. The one-hour feature is narrated by storyteller Kevin Kling, with music by Grammy winner Jon Vezner. This Town looks at the stories behind these towns and the people who are carrying those stories into the future.
Steve’s Overpopulated One-Man Band – “The Allergies Polka”
Iron Rangers Steve Solkela and Milliscent the Mannequin present this important message about allergies. The song is from Solkela’s 2019 album Flying Finns.
Duluth: Wherever I’ve Been and Gone
Modern footage of a trip to Duluth, shot through an old Super 8 camera by Carsten Johnson, featuring Nick Drake’s “Blues Run the Game” as a soundtrack.
Sky Harbor Airport open after runway relocation
Sky Harbor Airport in Duluth reopened on June 12 following a third phase of construction. The runway was relocated from its previous position in order to protect an old-growth forest of red and white pine trees, which were growing into the approach and departure surfaces.
Video by Short Elliott Hendrickson.
Carolyn Olson on the PBS News Hour
https://youtu.be/ibHPjUtvkRk?t=3059
Duluth artist Carolyn Olson (previously on PDD) was featured in a segment on the PBS News Hour covering artists responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The “Creative Moment” segment includes Olson discussing her series of pastel drawings of essential workers. The segment starts at the 47:20 mark of the video. Olson appears at the 51:05 mark.
Duluth Lynchings Legacy
The Minnesota Historical Society is commemorating the 100th anniversary of the 1920 Duluth lynchings with a week of remembrance and conversations about its legacy. A collection of resources is available at mnhs.org/duluthlynchings. Below are short video commentaries offering modern perspectives on the past and thoughts about the present and future.
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I Can’t Breathe: A CJM Memorial Documentary
This documentary by DanSan Creatives honors the victims of the 1920 Duluth lynchings with modern perspectives on police brutality and the murder of George Floyd. (more…)
The St. Louis River Estuary, Our Home
This short video from the St. Louis River Alliance tells the story of the river’s transformation and is an invitation to help protect, restore and enhance the waterway.
Duluth East 2020 Virtual Graduation
Celebrate Duluth East High School’s graduating seniors with some of the students’ and teachers’ favorite memories in this virtual graduation video, produced and edited by Mike Scholtz for WDSE-TV.
Denfeld 2020 Virtual Graduation
Though the COVID-19 pandemic kept Denfeld’s class of 2020 from gathering in the school’s auditorium for commencement, many of the school’s traditions were kept. WDSE-TV and producer/editor Mike Scholtz captured the highlights in this documentary.
The Schnapps-o-Flex
Duluth photographer Kip Praslowicz answers questions every photographer has about the loading and basic usage of the Schnapps-o-Flex.
PDD Video Lab: Old Highway 61 Footage
Take a cruise up Highway 61 in this edition of the PDD Video Lab, featuring old footage from Duluth’s Lester River, past the Loneyville Motel to the edge of Silver Creek Cliff before a tunnel was built there, and on to Gooseberry Falls State Park and Silver Bay.
For music, an excerpt of a cover version of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” by Sparklehorse & Thom Yorke from the soundtrack to the 2005 movie Lords of Dogtown.
Virtual Field Trip: Lester River Fish Hatchery
For this report we turn to our junior news team at Raleigh Edison Charter School.
Beyondbliss – “Minneapolis Burns”
Duluth rapper Beyondbliss cuts a rhyme-rant ala N.W.A. in his latest video.
Cities Never Sleep – “Trying to Make a Dollar Out of What Makes Sense” (Quarantine Sessions)
In this new quarantine video, members of the Duluth band Cities Never Sleep play with themselves … together.
King Garbage – “A Garbage Journey” (Official Video)
I directed this debut video for Duluth singer/songwriter King Garbage, aka Eric Lester. The song is “A Garbage Journey” from his EP Raccoon Heart.
Ruffed Grouse Drumming Encore
Back by popular demand, northeastern Minnesota’s favorite musical grouse.
Gary-New Duluth Memorial Day Program 2020
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional Memorial Day ceremony at the Gary-New Duluth Veterans Memorial was not held. A ceremony was instead videotaped in advance of Memorial Day. Above is a short clip from WDSE-TV, below is the full memorial service video. (more…)
The Drumming Log
Grand Portage-based photographer Travis Notvitsky captured this ruffed grouse performing a drum solo atop a log. Drumming is the male grouse’s way of saying: “Yo, this is my territory and I’m ready to mate if anyone is interested.”
Together
A short video by Justin Peck, starring Jody Kujawa, Jason Scorich and Peck.
Selective Focus: Allen Killian-Moore
Allen Killian-Moore is a filmmaker who recently released a new experimental project in collaboration with the music of Minneapolis-based Humbird for her new single, “On the Day We are Together Again.” His work takes advantage of the imperfections of film and video — the grain, dust and scratches, pixels, flickering, varied frame rates, and they become an important part of the images. This week in Selective Focus, Allen talks about his process and the experiences that have influenced his work.
“On the Day We Are Together Again” Music by Humbird, film by Allen Killian-Moore
AKM: I am a Neurodivergent moving image artist (film and video), writer, curator, still photographer, visual artist, and performer. For this interview, I’ll be focusing specifically on my moving image film and video art. (more…)
PDD Video Lab: 1963 Duluth Footage
For this edition of the PDD Video Lab we’ve once again taken a silent film from Dominic Chione’s archive — this one from 1963 — and paired it with music by Duluth/Superior’s own Jerree Small. The track is “60 Words for Water” from the 2004 album Mobius.
Watch for a nice cameo appearance at the 1:30 mark by the old Sky Room Restaurant at the Buena Vista.
Low Instagram Concerts
Low has been doing Instagram concerts on Fridays during the coronavirus, with tips benefiting charity, too. Because the shows are on Instagram, they seem to vanish within a day. But apparently, they give permission to fans to post to other media platforms. This is the only one I can find. Are they available in other places or through other YouTube users? Help appreciated.
Signed, — A Fan Whose Greatest Disappointment Was That Moving To Duluth In 2005 Did Not Mean Seeing Low Every Weekend