TC Film Festival debut lived up to its promise
Traverse City Record-Eagle
August 3, 2005
Just two months ago the State Theatre was a black hole along an otherwise bustling Front Street. Traverse City was bracing for another Cherry Festival and then a few more weeks of heat, humidity and visitors.
But straight out of a Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland song-and-dance grinner from the 1930s, filmmaker Michael Moore and some friends had an idea: Hey, gang, let's put on a film festival!
Boffo.
By the end of the day Sunday, thousands had flocked to the first-ever Traverse City Film Festival to watch a four-day bill featuring 31 films, including seven world premiers, in three venues.
As many as 6,000 people a night crowded the Open Space for four nights of free movies on a giant, inflatable screen under the stars.
The State had been scrubbed and polished and willed back to life. And the feeling around downtown was as electric as the old theater's refurbished marquee, ablaze in its former glory.
It was a remarkable achievement, and not the least for the absolutely palpable feeling of camaraderie among the hundreds of people (and dozens of local businesses) who volunteered their time, effort, material and money to make it happen.
It was a community event in the most basic sense; the community created it, and it created a community.
From early June, when the whole thing was first proposed, a group that would grow to about 30 people started bringing the State back to life. They scrubbed floors and toilets, washed windows and patched holes. Painters painted, and electricians brought the place back to life.
When the big weekend finally came, about 400 people volunteered to pop popcorn, take tickets, sweep the floors and generally do whatever it took to make the festival a success.
Moore and his steering committee stuck to their promise to keep politics out and focus on one thing - great movies.
The "alternative" Freedom FilmFest mounted by a Suttons Bay woman and supported by conservatives in Texas proved to be little more than a trailer, three minutes of sound and fury.
Then to learn that they had to turn off one of their highly touted films, "Michael Moore Hates America," about 10 minutes in because it was full of profanity including the F-word? Turns out there are two versions of this film, one with "filth," as front woman Genie Aldrich said, and one for families.
Had Aldrich seen the film? Either version?
The shrill attacks by Aldrich on Moore - and by proxy anyone who didn't think the TC festival was the work of Satan - actually helped bring the rest of the community together.
People from across all political and social boundaries rallied around the idea of movies for movies' sake and leaving politics at the door.
Traverse City probably surprised itself last weekend. Retirees, teen-agers, yuppies, hippies, baby boomers, gen-Xers, tree-huggers and business types found themselves shoulder to shoulder watching Jaws at the Open Space or "Mad Hot Ballroom" on opening night.
No sniping, no griping. They were there to see great movies, and that's what they got. And they were proud of what their community had pulled off.
As we start counting the days to next year's festival, there are things to think about.
What next for the State Theatre, now that is has been awoken, at least for a time, from the dead?
Is there a better time than the end of July, when every hotel and motel room in the region is already booked anyway?
Big-time kudos to Moore, Doug Stanton, John Robert Williams and their steering committee. They did what they promised, with a little help from some friends. Mickey and Judy would be proud.
