News Release

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April 19, 2006

'Napoleon Dynamite' Memoirs, Photos Find Home on Idaho Film Collection Web Site

The Idaho Film Collection, housed at Boise State University, has begun a collection of memoirs from high school students who were present for the making of the hit movie “Napoleon Dynamite.” The first batch of the memoirs, along with a related photo montage, can be viewed at http://www.boisestate.edu/hemingway/ifc/filmcat.html#Napoleon%20Dynamite.

In 2005, Idaho Film Collection Director and Boise State professor Tom Trusky decided to ask Preston High School students for their memories about the making of the movie. Trusky said that his approach is novel because “film memoirs are usually written by actors or directors decades after a film has been released and gone classic. I thought it would be terrific to have teenagers — although perhaps only extras or bystanders — tell their stories right now, while events were still fresh in their minds.”

Preston High English teacher Tina Stewart thought that the idea was “sweet” and asked her class to compose the memoirs as an extra-credit assignment. In the first group of memoirs, students talk about their reactions to the movie, what it was like to have a film shot in Preston (population less than 5,000), the town’s new-found fame, and the story behind the ill-fated cow in the movie. (The show cow, Powder Mountain R. Star Lacy, was not harmed during filming.) Trusky plans on adding more memoirs to the site as they come in.

Founded in 1985 and housed at Boise State, the Idaho Film Collection contains films, audio and videotape, photographs, scripts, documents, news stories, articles, correspondence and ephemera relating to silent and talkie feature films made in the Gem State.

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Contact: Tom Trusky, Idaho Film Collection, (208) 426-1999, ttrusky@boisestate.edu
Media Contact: Julie Hahn, University Communications, (208) 426-5540, jhahn@boisestate.edu

Boise State University is the largest institution of higher education in Idaho with about 18,600 students and 2,200 faculty and staff. More than 190 undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and technical degrees are offered within eight colleges. A metropolitan university located in the capital city, Boise State is committed to life-enhancing research, teaching excellence and public service.

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Last reviewed on Wednesday, January 03, 2007