The plane downing occurred in Toronto. Lower right corner of map.
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Sunday, July 31, 2005
The Economy of "The Truth" - Promises Kept
Just two months ago the State Theatre
was a black hole along an otherwise
bustling Front Street...
Debut Lived Up To It's Promise, ...
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.
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.
Film festival boosts downtown business
Film festival boosts downtown business
Restaurants booked with reservations
TRAVERSE CITY - Lilli and Jim Shea exemplify the boon that business owners hoped would come with the Traverse City Film Festival. The couple from Marinette, Wis., read about the film lineup in their local newspaper, quickly booked a trip on the SS Badger car ferry and reserved a room at a Traverse City bed and breakfast.
"I read about this and said 'We have to do it,'" Lilli said. "Our goal is to go back and encourage other people to do it."
The Sheas purchased fistfuls of movie tickets Friday morning and rested on a bench outside the State Theatre while pondering which eateries and shops they might frequent between shows.
Local businesses, especially those downtown, said film festival traffic provided a boost in an already-busy time of year.
"Our reservation books are jam-packed every single night," Jessica Novorolsky said Friday afternoon while greeting diners at Amical, next door to the State Theatre. "We're usually busy, but yesterday we got busy at 11:30 and didn't calm down until 3:30."
The scene at Poppycock's has been much the same, said staffer Lindsey Muller.
"Thursday, we had a wait list all night," she said. "It was like a Friday or Saturday night."
Merchants say the festival is bringing in the kind of crowds they like - the kind that spends cash while they're here.
"There's a ton of people in town, and they've got money," said Mike Nolan, owner of a tobacco shop downtown. "It's not like the Cherry Festival."
Downtown nightspots are teeming with activity before and after the shows, workers said. Dave Brownlee is a manager at the U&I Lounge on Front Street across from the State Theatre and says he's "definitely" seen an influx of business from the film festival.
"We're getting people before they go to the movies and after ... (when) the movies let out, business picks right up," he said.
The event also creates a buzz among the clientele, he said.
"The other fun thing is the rumor mill - who's in town and who people saw," Brownlee said.
North Peak Brewing Company manager Ryder Anderson said the restaurant, which typically sees a lot of tourists, has seated more locals during the festival.
Wally Green of the Green House Cafe said people waiting for a seat at Thursday's panel discussion at the City Opera House popped in and out of the long line to grab a bite.
"It's working," Green said about festival organizers' hopes that the event's success would trickle downtown.
City officials said the 500-plus space downtown parking deck was nearly full on Friday - almost 200 vehicles above normal - and the downtown's streets and sidewalks seem just as packed.
"It's just been amazing - the number of people that are down here for it," said Rob Bacigalupi, deputy director of the city's Downtown Development Authority.
Erika Korndorfer, a server at Amical, said dinner tables are abuzz with patrons eager to talk about the films they've seen.
"That's all they talk about," she said. "They were just so pumped. It's really exciting."
Restaurants booked with reservations
TRAVERSE CITY - Lilli and Jim Shea exemplify the boon that business owners hoped would come with the Traverse City Film Festival. The couple from Marinette, Wis., read about the film lineup in their local newspaper, quickly booked a trip on the SS Badger car ferry and reserved a room at a Traverse City bed and breakfast.
"I read about this and said 'We have to do it,'" Lilli said. "Our goal is to go back and encourage other people to do it."
The Sheas purchased fistfuls of movie tickets Friday morning and rested on a bench outside the State Theatre while pondering which eateries and shops they might frequent between shows.
Local businesses, especially those downtown, said film festival traffic provided a boost in an already-busy time of year.
"Our reservation books are jam-packed every single night," Jessica Novorolsky said Friday afternoon while greeting diners at Amical, next door to the State Theatre. "We're usually busy, but yesterday we got busy at 11:30 and didn't calm down until 3:30."
The scene at Poppycock's has been much the same, said staffer Lindsey Muller.
"Thursday, we had a wait list all night," she said. "It was like a Friday or Saturday night."
Merchants say the festival is bringing in the kind of crowds they like - the kind that spends cash while they're here.
"There's a ton of people in town, and they've got money," said Mike Nolan, owner of a tobacco shop downtown. "It's not like the Cherry Festival."
Downtown nightspots are teeming with activity before and after the shows, workers said. Dave Brownlee is a manager at the U&I Lounge on Front Street across from the State Theatre and says he's "definitely" seen an influx of business from the film festival.
"We're getting people before they go to the movies and after ... (when) the movies let out, business picks right up," he said.
The event also creates a buzz among the clientele, he said.
"The other fun thing is the rumor mill - who's in town and who people saw," Brownlee said.
North Peak Brewing Company manager Ryder Anderson said the restaurant, which typically sees a lot of tourists, has seated more locals during the festival.
Wally Green of the Green House Cafe said people waiting for a seat at Thursday's panel discussion at the City Opera House popped in and out of the long line to grab a bite.
"It's working," Green said about festival organizers' hopes that the event's success would trickle downtown.
City officials said the 500-plus space downtown parking deck was nearly full on Friday - almost 200 vehicles above normal - and the downtown's streets and sidewalks seem just as packed.
"It's just been amazing - the number of people that are down here for it," said Rob Bacigalupi, deputy director of the city's Downtown Development Authority.
Erika Korndorfer, a server at Amical, said dinner tables are abuzz with patrons eager to talk about the films they've seen.
"That's all they talk about," she said. "They were just so pumped. It's really exciting."
Saturday, July 30, 2005
Saturday Night Films
Gunner's Palace
Director Michael Tucker spent two months in Iraq living with the U.S. Army's 2/3 Field Artillery unit, a.k.a. “The Gunners.” Their barracks? Uday Hussein's pleasure palace -- complete with swimming pool and putting green. In between dangerous missions around Baghdad and dealing with a war that seems to have no end, these young troops try to maintain some semblance of their life back home. Strangers in a strange land, Gunner Palace takes you inside the war in a way you've never been.
Les Miserables
Finally, a film version of the Victor Hugo novel, and it's a masterpiece. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, director Claude Lelouch takes this classic story and transports it to Nazi-occupied France. A Jewish family on the run is picked up by an illiterate ex-boxer named Fortin (played by the great French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo). Fortin searches for the strength to be the hero he never thought he could be in this rich, powerful and ageless story.
Time Out
A prize-winning film from the Venice Film Festival, this is our second film from French director Laurent Cantet. It tells the story of Vincent, a man who gets up every morning and goes to work. The only problem is, Vincent was laid off months ago. Too embarrassed to tell his wife and friends he no longer has a job, Vincent creates a series of lies which dig him in only deeper – with growing consequences and dangerous results.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
A high school wise-guy is determined to have a day off from school, and no meddling High School Principal is going to stop him.
Director Michael Tucker spent two months in Iraq living with the U.S. Army's 2/3 Field Artillery unit, a.k.a. “The Gunners.” Their barracks? Uday Hussein's pleasure palace -- complete with swimming pool and putting green. In between dangerous missions around Baghdad and dealing with a war that seems to have no end, these young troops try to maintain some semblance of their life back home. Strangers in a strange land, Gunner Palace takes you inside the war in a way you've never been.
Les Miserables
Finally, a film version of the Victor Hugo novel, and it's a masterpiece. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, director Claude Lelouch takes this classic story and transports it to Nazi-occupied France. A Jewish family on the run is picked up by an illiterate ex-boxer named Fortin (played by the great French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo). Fortin searches for the strength to be the hero he never thought he could be in this rich, powerful and ageless story.
Time Out
A prize-winning film from the Venice Film Festival, this is our second film from French director Laurent Cantet. It tells the story of Vincent, a man who gets up every morning and goes to work. The only problem is, Vincent was laid off months ago. Too embarrassed to tell his wife and friends he no longer has a job, Vincent creates a series of lies which dig him in only deeper – with growing consequences and dangerous results.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
A high school wise-guy is determined to have a day off from school, and no meddling High School Principal is going to stop him.
It's Saturday Night at The Traverse City Film Festival and Fahrenheit 911 is on Showtime at 11:00 pm.
JOIN THE ONES WHO KNOW THE TRUTH !!
FAHRENHEIT 9/11
Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore ("Roger & Me," "Bowling for Columbine") crafted this incendiary piece of skillful agitprop, an exploration of the tragic chain of events before and after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center of September 11, 2001. Pointing his finger at a global conspiracy of war, greed, and media manipulation, Moore leaves no political figure unscathed in his most passionate, outraged condemnation of a president and policies he considers illegitimate and incompetent.
Traverse City Film Festival
Jul 28 - Jul 31, 2005
The Traverse City Film Festival will be an annual event in Northern Michigan. Indie flicks, foreign films and seldom-seen documentaries will deliver a whopping dose of movie magic to the Midwest when the first annual Film Festival debuts in July. The inaugural festival will feature 30 screenings at four venues throughout downtown Traverse City, such as the historic movie palace, the State Theatre, City Opera House, and Old Town Playhouse with a charge at these venues of $7 (excluding opening and closing night events). The Open Space Park is the 4th venue, where nightly admission-free classics will be projected onto an inflatable 40-foot screen along West Grand Traverse Bay as a gift to the community. Tickets will be available in July through the Interlochen Center for the Arts box office at (231) 276-7800 or (800) 681-5920, or in person at Bravo!, at 237 E. Front Street, Traverse City (next to the State Theatre). For more information call (231) 392-1134.
......................................
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Film festival brings Hollywood to Traverse City
Even though he didn't pick the movies, debut celebration has Flint's Michael Moore written all over it.
By Veronica Hutchinson / Special to The Detroit News
For information
What: Traverse City Film Festival.
When: Today- Sun.
Where: Traverse City.
Information: Visit www.traverse cityfilmfestival.org.
It wouldn't take a genius to guess who is the Hollywood muscle behind this weekend's Traverse City Film Festival. A perusal of the festival's four dozen-plus flicks should make guessing easy: "Enron," a documentary about corporate greed; Wim Wenders' "Land of Plenty," a take on post- September 11 America; and a beachside screening of "Jaws." This debut festival's got Michael Moore written all over it.
It would be easy to peg this festival, which runs through Sunday at three venues in Traverse City, to the curatorial vision of Moore. So many of the flicks seem to further conversations sparked by "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "Bowling for Columbine."
But festival co-founder and best-selling author Doug Stanton says his audacious collaborator didn't set the festival's artistic agenda. "It's not Mike; it's the themes that are out there in the culture right now," says Stanton, a Traverse City native and author of the novel "In Harm's Way" (Henry Holt & Co., $25). "There was not a master plan because there was no time to put that together. These are just the hot releases right now, the movies that played well at Telluride and Sundance (film festivals)."
No one will deny Moore's Hollywood pull helped bring this festival together in very short order. According to Stanton, in mid-May the festival founders said, "Wouldn't it be neat to show a dozen films at a nearby theater?" Three weeks later, they'd lined up 31 films, 52 screenings, three venues and an impressive schedule of panels featuring directors and other industry folks.
Traverse City has responded with equal passion. More than 100 sponsors ponied up the funds, and many screenings are nearly sold out. Stanton says the festival sold 1,000 tickets on Tuesday alone.
He isn't surprised in the least. "People want to watch films that are meaningful, that are about being human. This festival is about the idea that stories can bring people back together."
Veronica Hutchinson is a Metro Detroit freelance writer.
FAHRENHEIT 9/11
Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore ("Roger & Me," "Bowling for Columbine") crafted this incendiary piece of skillful agitprop, an exploration of the tragic chain of events before and after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center of September 11, 2001. Pointing his finger at a global conspiracy of war, greed, and media manipulation, Moore leaves no political figure unscathed in his most passionate, outraged condemnation of a president and policies he considers illegitimate and incompetent.
Traverse City Film Festival
Jul 28 - Jul 31, 2005
The Traverse City Film Festival will be an annual event in Northern Michigan. Indie flicks, foreign films and seldom-seen documentaries will deliver a whopping dose of movie magic to the Midwest when the first annual Film Festival debuts in July. The inaugural festival will feature 30 screenings at four venues throughout downtown Traverse City, such as the historic movie palace, the State Theatre, City Opera House, and Old Town Playhouse with a charge at these venues of $7 (excluding opening and closing night events). The Open Space Park is the 4th venue, where nightly admission-free classics will be projected onto an inflatable 40-foot screen along West Grand Traverse Bay as a gift to the community. Tickets will be available in July through the Interlochen Center for the Arts box office at (231) 276-7800 or (800) 681-5920, or in person at Bravo!, at 237 E. Front Street, Traverse City (next to the State Theatre). For more information call (231) 392-1134.
......................................
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Film festival brings Hollywood to Traverse City
Even though he didn't pick the movies, debut celebration has Flint's Michael Moore written all over it.
By Veronica Hutchinson / Special to The Detroit News
For information
What: Traverse City Film Festival.
When: Today- Sun.
Where: Traverse City.
Information: Visit www.traverse cityfilmfestival.org.
It wouldn't take a genius to guess who is the Hollywood muscle behind this weekend's Traverse City Film Festival. A perusal of the festival's four dozen-plus flicks should make guessing easy: "Enron," a documentary about corporate greed; Wim Wenders' "Land of Plenty," a take on post- September 11 America; and a beachside screening of "Jaws." This debut festival's got Michael Moore written all over it.
It would be easy to peg this festival, which runs through Sunday at three venues in Traverse City, to the curatorial vision of Moore. So many of the flicks seem to further conversations sparked by "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "Bowling for Columbine."
But festival co-founder and best-selling author Doug Stanton says his audacious collaborator didn't set the festival's artistic agenda. "It's not Mike; it's the themes that are out there in the culture right now," says Stanton, a Traverse City native and author of the novel "In Harm's Way" (Henry Holt & Co., $25). "There was not a master plan because there was no time to put that together. These are just the hot releases right now, the movies that played well at Telluride and Sundance (film festivals)."
No one will deny Moore's Hollywood pull helped bring this festival together in very short order. According to Stanton, in mid-May the festival founders said, "Wouldn't it be neat to show a dozen films at a nearby theater?" Three weeks later, they'd lined up 31 films, 52 screenings, three venues and an impressive schedule of panels featuring directors and other industry folks.
Traverse City has responded with equal passion. More than 100 sponsors ponied up the funds, and many screenings are nearly sold out. Stanton says the festival sold 1,000 tickets on Tuesday alone.
He isn't surprised in the least. "People want to watch films that are meaningful, that are about being human. This festival is about the idea that stories can bring people back together."
Veronica Hutchinson is a Metro Detroit freelance writer.
Friday, July 29, 2005
Day Two of The Traverse City Festival and Micheal was Everywhere.
Sharks and Moore on first full day
Festival off to bustling start
By MARTA HEPLER DRAHOS
Record-Eagle staff writer
TRAVERSE CITY - Moviegoers who came to the Traverse City Film Festival expecting to catch a glimpse of Michael Moore probably weren't disappointed.
Moore seemed to be everywhere on Thursday, the festival's first full day. He led a panel discussion on filmmaking at the City Opera House and introduced a screening of "Czech Dream" at the Old Town Playhouse.
The day was marked by a minor glitch or two - most of the earlier screenings began late, and some callers had trouble getting ticket information by phone - but there was lots of good news, too. Parking was plentiful, thanks to the downtown parking structure and all-day festival shuttles between venues; at least two screenings were sold out; and the festival and Traverse City received a nationwide plug on CBS Radio.
At the waterfront Open Space, boaters and curious spectators leaned against railings or sat on concrete walls for a noon preview of Thursday night's "Jaws" pre-show entertainment.
While a sound system broadcast the famous shark theme - duh-DUH, duh-DUH, duh-DUH-duh-DUH-duh-DUH-duh-DUH - four custom-made automated fins circled in the bay. Nearby, a rubber dinghy sped through the water towing a toothy "shark," giving the illusion the boat was being chased.
"Are there real sharks coming?" asked 6-year-old Liam Tank, a Central Grade School first-grader who watched with his mom, Jennifer Tank, and 4-year-old sister Molly.
Those arriving for screenings at the City Opera House also were treated to pre-show entertainment. A jazz and rock ensemble of Traverse City Central High graduates - veterans of the school's Chorale, Choralaires and other music groups - performed a 15-minute set before the start of each film.
As moviegoers lined up at the Old Town Playhouse for a showing of the Czech Republic film "Czech Dream," volunteers grabbed a quick bite to eat and anxiously awaited delivery of festival T-shirts to sell.
Jan Hinds took advantage of the lull to knit a scarf.
"You have to bring a book or something so you don't go nuts in between," said Hinds, who had just come from a volunteer stint at the morning's panel discussion.
Ken and Marge Philp drove from their summer home near Torch Lake to be first in line.
High school and university teachers who live in Texas the rest of the year, the Philps said they prefer counterculture films and films about the "human condition" and support the festival's intellectual diversity.
"Wherever you live, these kinds of films are so hard to find," said Marge Philp.
http://www.record-eagle.com/2005/jul/29filmfest.htm
Up and Running
TC Film Festival off to a Hollywood start
By MARTA HEPLER DRAHOS
Record-Eagle staff writer
TRAVERSE CITY - The Sundance Film Festival has been an important part of Park City, Utah, for nearly a quarter of a century.
Whether or not the fledgling Traverse City Film Festival will have a lasting impact here remains to be seen, but signs are hopeful midway through the inaugural event.
The five-day festival kicked off Sunday with a Founders Preview Party that featured a sneak preview of the film "The Baxter" at the Bay Theatre and a post-screening reception at Ciccone Vineyards and Winery, both in Suttons Bay.
About 200 local sponsors and others turned out for the event, dressed in everything from casual flip-flops and shorts to formal wear (festival founder and Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Moore sported his usual T-shirt and baseball cap).
As an Interlochen ensemble played and a cooling breeze blew through the open doors, they sipped wine and nibbled on ethnic hors d'oeuvres in the vineyard's expansive barn overlooking West Grand Traverse Bay.
On Wednesday the scene was a little different, as movie-goers flocked downtown for opening night of the festival and their first glimpse of the newly renovated State Theatre on Front Street. After the sold-out 8 p.m. screening of "Mad Hot Ballroom," many strolled three blocks west to the City Opera House to mix and mingle at an elegant opening night reception.
As a jazz ensemble played, guests stood chatting at cocktail tables set with white cloths and fresh flowers or strolled between caterers' stations offering local beers and wines, cannoli and tiramisu.
Linda Wise and her daughter Loraine Steinbarger shelled out $50 each to attend the opening night events.
"We want to see what's happening; how they're going to handle this," said Wise, 61, who agonized over what to wear until finally settling for slim khaki pants and a sheer dressy blouse.
Besides Marilyn Agrelo, Andrew Wagner, Andrew Wagner and Alex Gibney, directors of "Mad Hot Ballroom," "The Talent Given Us" and "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," those in town for the festival include screenwriter Larry Brand ("Halloween: Resurrection") producer Rob Tappert ("Spiderman," "Spiderman 2") and actor Richard Brooks ("Law and Order").
Brooks, who played Assistant District Attorney Paul Robinette on the program for three years, is a 1980 graduate of Interlochen Center for the Arts, where he studied theater and voice. He is currently on the center's Motion Picture Arts Advisory Board and will conduct master classes with drama students at Interlochen Arts Camp while here.
He will participate in Saturday's free "Hollywood Confidential" film festival panel at the City Opera House at 11 a.m.
A major coup for the festival has been hiring Bill Hill, head projectionist for the Sundance Film Festival and "booth chief" at the Telluride Film Festival's Galaxy Theatre, and his crew of three.
Hill's Santa Fe, N.M. company, Hill Top Productions, has done production work for movies including "All The Pretty Horses" and "City Slickers," but focuses on providing technical support for film festivals across the country.
Hill said he wasn't looking to put on another festival this time of the year, especially one on such short notice. But he changed his mind and canceled his vacation when the festival committee came calling.
"What they're pulling off is just absolutely incredible," he said. "I've been involved lately in a lot of first-year festivals and what they take six or eight months to do, it seems like everyone here has been able to do in a couple of weeks."
Tracy Kurtz, spokesperson for the festival, said the area's natural beauty and the "legend" of the State Theatre helped serve as a draw for both industry professionals and audiences.
"The directors are eager to have their films shown here and people are excited about this (State Theatre) coming back to life after nine years," she said.
The festival has drawn broad-based community support from more than 400 volunteers and 100 sponsors including the Midwestern Broadcasting Company, which airs Rush Limbaugh and other conservative talk shows on its Traverse City radio station WTCM-AM.
President Ross Biederman said the company is sponsoring the festival for the same reason it supports at least a half-dozen arts organizations in the region - because it's "good for the community."
"We are interested in the film festival because its a film festival, period," Biederman said. "This is not about anyone's politics."
The film festival runs through Sunday, with a total of 31 films. As of Wednesday morning, 13 screenings and four films had completely sold out, although standby ticket lines form 10 minutes before each sold-out show.
"It's an amazing event and I'm just happy to be part of it," said Hill.
http://www.record-eagle.com/2005/jul/29tcfeech.htm
On the Net:
Festival Web site: http://www.traversecityfilmfestival.org
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MI_MOORE_FILM_FESTIVAL_MIOL-?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=HOME
Festival off to bustling start
By MARTA HEPLER DRAHOS
Record-Eagle staff writer
TRAVERSE CITY - Moviegoers who came to the Traverse City Film Festival expecting to catch a glimpse of Michael Moore probably weren't disappointed.
Moore seemed to be everywhere on Thursday, the festival's first full day. He led a panel discussion on filmmaking at the City Opera House and introduced a screening of "Czech Dream" at the Old Town Playhouse.
The day was marked by a minor glitch or two - most of the earlier screenings began late, and some callers had trouble getting ticket information by phone - but there was lots of good news, too. Parking was plentiful, thanks to the downtown parking structure and all-day festival shuttles between venues; at least two screenings were sold out; and the festival and Traverse City received a nationwide plug on CBS Radio.
At the waterfront Open Space, boaters and curious spectators leaned against railings or sat on concrete walls for a noon preview of Thursday night's "Jaws" pre-show entertainment.
While a sound system broadcast the famous shark theme - duh-DUH, duh-DUH, duh-DUH-duh-DUH-duh-DUH-duh-DUH - four custom-made automated fins circled in the bay. Nearby, a rubber dinghy sped through the water towing a toothy "shark," giving the illusion the boat was being chased.
"Are there real sharks coming?" asked 6-year-old Liam Tank, a Central Grade School first-grader who watched with his mom, Jennifer Tank, and 4-year-old sister Molly.
Those arriving for screenings at the City Opera House also were treated to pre-show entertainment. A jazz and rock ensemble of Traverse City Central High graduates - veterans of the school's Chorale, Choralaires and other music groups - performed a 15-minute set before the start of each film.
As moviegoers lined up at the Old Town Playhouse for a showing of the Czech Republic film "Czech Dream," volunteers grabbed a quick bite to eat and anxiously awaited delivery of festival T-shirts to sell.
Jan Hinds took advantage of the lull to knit a scarf.
"You have to bring a book or something so you don't go nuts in between," said Hinds, who had just come from a volunteer stint at the morning's panel discussion.
Ken and Marge Philp drove from their summer home near Torch Lake to be first in line.
High school and university teachers who live in Texas the rest of the year, the Philps said they prefer counterculture films and films about the "human condition" and support the festival's intellectual diversity.
"Wherever you live, these kinds of films are so hard to find," said Marge Philp.
http://www.record-eagle.com/2005/jul/29filmfest.htm
Up and Running
TC Film Festival off to a Hollywood start
By MARTA HEPLER DRAHOS
Record-Eagle staff writer
TRAVERSE CITY - The Sundance Film Festival has been an important part of Park City, Utah, for nearly a quarter of a century.
Whether or not the fledgling Traverse City Film Festival will have a lasting impact here remains to be seen, but signs are hopeful midway through the inaugural event.
The five-day festival kicked off Sunday with a Founders Preview Party that featured a sneak preview of the film "The Baxter" at the Bay Theatre and a post-screening reception at Ciccone Vineyards and Winery, both in Suttons Bay.
About 200 local sponsors and others turned out for the event, dressed in everything from casual flip-flops and shorts to formal wear (festival founder and Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Moore sported his usual T-shirt and baseball cap).
As an Interlochen ensemble played and a cooling breeze blew through the open doors, they sipped wine and nibbled on ethnic hors d'oeuvres in the vineyard's expansive barn overlooking West Grand Traverse Bay.
On Wednesday the scene was a little different, as movie-goers flocked downtown for opening night of the festival and their first glimpse of the newly renovated State Theatre on Front Street. After the sold-out 8 p.m. screening of "Mad Hot Ballroom," many strolled three blocks west to the City Opera House to mix and mingle at an elegant opening night reception.
As a jazz ensemble played, guests stood chatting at cocktail tables set with white cloths and fresh flowers or strolled between caterers' stations offering local beers and wines, cannoli and tiramisu.
Linda Wise and her daughter Loraine Steinbarger shelled out $50 each to attend the opening night events.
"We want to see what's happening; how they're going to handle this," said Wise, 61, who agonized over what to wear until finally settling for slim khaki pants and a sheer dressy blouse.
Besides Marilyn Agrelo, Andrew Wagner, Andrew Wagner and Alex Gibney, directors of "Mad Hot Ballroom," "The Talent Given Us" and "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," those in town for the festival include screenwriter Larry Brand ("Halloween: Resurrection") producer Rob Tappert ("Spiderman," "Spiderman 2") and actor Richard Brooks ("Law and Order").
Brooks, who played Assistant District Attorney Paul Robinette on the program for three years, is a 1980 graduate of Interlochen Center for the Arts, where he studied theater and voice. He is currently on the center's Motion Picture Arts Advisory Board and will conduct master classes with drama students at Interlochen Arts Camp while here.
He will participate in Saturday's free "Hollywood Confidential" film festival panel at the City Opera House at 11 a.m.
A major coup for the festival has been hiring Bill Hill, head projectionist for the Sundance Film Festival and "booth chief" at the Telluride Film Festival's Galaxy Theatre, and his crew of three.
Hill's Santa Fe, N.M. company, Hill Top Productions, has done production work for movies including "All The Pretty Horses" and "City Slickers," but focuses on providing technical support for film festivals across the country.
Hill said he wasn't looking to put on another festival this time of the year, especially one on such short notice. But he changed his mind and canceled his vacation when the festival committee came calling.
"What they're pulling off is just absolutely incredible," he said. "I've been involved lately in a lot of first-year festivals and what they take six or eight months to do, it seems like everyone here has been able to do in a couple of weeks."
Tracy Kurtz, spokesperson for the festival, said the area's natural beauty and the "legend" of the State Theatre helped serve as a draw for both industry professionals and audiences.
"The directors are eager to have their films shown here and people are excited about this (State Theatre) coming back to life after nine years," she said.
The festival has drawn broad-based community support from more than 400 volunteers and 100 sponsors including the Midwestern Broadcasting Company, which airs Rush Limbaugh and other conservative talk shows on its Traverse City radio station WTCM-AM.
President Ross Biederman said the company is sponsoring the festival for the same reason it supports at least a half-dozen arts organizations in the region - because it's "good for the community."
"We are interested in the film festival because its a film festival, period," Biederman said. "This is not about anyone's politics."
The film festival runs through Sunday, with a total of 31 films. As of Wednesday morning, 13 screenings and four films had completely sold out, although standby ticket lines form 10 minutes before each sold-out show.
"It's an amazing event and I'm just happy to be part of it," said Hill.
http://www.record-eagle.com/2005/jul/29tcfeech.htm
On the Net:
Festival Web site: http://www.traversecityfilmfestival.org
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MI_MOORE_FILM_FESTIVAL_MIOL-?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=HOME
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