Thursday, April 1, 2010
Our 48th season was a festival of large, lively audiences, wild headlines, pre-show surprises, live performances, adventures onstage, lasting connections, and memorable programming. Attendance continues to rise and this year’s festival drew together many emerging and established filmmakers with film curators, distributors and educators.
Opening Night was a packed house with a stylish, spirited crowd. Chick Strand’s first film “Angel Blue Sweet Wings” started this year’s screenings with beauty and music while Laidi Lertxundi’s “My Tears Are Dry” concluded the evening on another musical note, this time longing for more. In between we experienced a full spectrum of filmmakers exploring the world through the art form of film.
Flying Lotus delivered on the promise of his world premiere live score to Harry Smith’s “Heaven & Earth Magic” with a bonus appearance by Dr. Strangeloop and improvised audience Q&A. Those attending the sold out after party were not disappointed as FlyLo rocked the foundation of the Blind Pig.
The following night Kenneth Anger transfixed a packed house with his films and charmed everyone in his conversation with New York film critic Dennis Lim. Seemingly inspired by the gorgeous Michigan Theater, Anger was in fine form and stayed well beyond his program to sign autographs for adoring fans. Special thanks to AMPAS for making this unforgettable evening possible.
The Kids Are Alright program featured a pre-show puppet parade by FestiFools and music on toy instruments by Little Bang Theory, who later brilliantly scored a short silent film - The Mascot. Sandwiched in between were short films in competition that engaged and challenged filmgoers of all ages, including students from several area high schools that participated in AAFF media literacy workshops this winter.
This year’s festival also had its share of funny press headlines. My personal favorite was Cinema Chat during fest week: “Ann Arbor Film Fest highlights, dragons, hot tubs and more.” Read quickly it seemed to summarize our festival offerings; read more carefully it clearly was covering film happenings beyond the AAFF. But with our festival you never know what might appear - hot tubs and dragons are not farfetched...next year perhaps.
Donald Harrison
Executive Director
Ann Arbor Film Festival
Flying Lotus delivered on the promise of his world premiere live score to Harry Smith’s “Heaven & Earth Magic” with a bonus appearance by Dr. Strangeloop and improvised audience Q&A. Those attending the sold out after party were not disappointed as FlyLo rocked the foundation of the Blind Pig.
The following night Kenneth Anger transfixed a packed house with his films and charmed everyone in his conversation with New York film critic Dennis Lim. Seemingly inspired by the gorgeous Michigan Theater, Anger was in fine form and stayed well beyond his program to sign autographs for adoring fans. Special thanks to AMPAS for making this unforgettable evening possible.
The Kids Are Alright program featured a pre-show puppet parade by FestiFools and music on toy instruments by Little Bang Theory, who later brilliantly scored a short silent film - The Mascot. Sandwiched in between were short films in competition that engaged and challenged filmgoers of all ages, including students from several area high schools that participated in AAFF media literacy workshops this winter.
This year’s festival also had its share of funny press headlines. My personal favorite was Cinema Chat during fest week: “Ann Arbor Film Fest highlights, dragons, hot tubs and more.” Read quickly it seemed to summarize our festival offerings; read more carefully it clearly was covering film happenings beyond the AAFF. But with our festival you never know what might appear - hot tubs and dragons are not farfetched...next year perhaps.
Donald Harrison
Executive Director
Ann Arbor Film Festival
Posted at 1:23 PM | Permalink