Procrastinating on Premieres – Let’s eat.
I’ve been writing and rewriting a piece on the issue of premieres and film festivals for a week or so now. To be honest, I’m not sure what to do with it. The more I find information on who stole what from who, which festival claimed a premiere that actually wasn’t, the sheer volume of first-time filmmakers that have been led this way and that by festivals and film societies that are, on the surface, created to showcase film not hinder where else it can be screened, the more depressed I become. I’ve tried to bring this issue up before with people—festival directors and programmers—and it usually doesn’t get very far.
I was happy to read in a recent Variety article the comments made by Rose Kuo, new Artistic Director at AFI Fest, surrounding the issue, as well as comments by Noah Cowan earlier in the year. Will it change anything? I hope so but I’m not holding my breath.
During this year’s Denver festival a film that was submitted, invited and confirmed for the 2007 program ended up getting pulled (or dropped, I suppose, depending on your point of view.) The filmmaker contacted me and said, “I was wondering if the film screening could be listed as a "Sneak Preview". We've been in talks with a couple of festivals that will only show the film if it hasn't "premiered" elsewhere...” We talked about it for a while and I explained that I couldn’t support that because I felt that was ignoring a problem I saw as becoming all too prevalent in the festival world and we decided to not screen the film as part of the Denver festival. Another festival that had already scheduled the same film did go ahead and agree to list it as a sneak, and so I’m sure I’ll see this title pop up sometime this spring at another festival, as a premiere, which, of course, it actually won’t be.
For the moment though, I’m taking a break on this issue, if for nothing else but my own peace of mind.
So, on another matter, I convinced a great girl with a great job as a freelance food writer in Boston to move in with me a few months ago and leave her work at places such as The Boston Phoenix, The Improper Bostonian, The Dig and as the editor of Boston’s Zagat guide. She just started her own blog on…well, food, and making her way through Denver's culinary scene. You can take a look here.
