Summary
On the other hand, the festival may need to find a way to transport the ticket holders to their assigned theaters efficiently. There was at least one instance in which screenings began with many empty seats and hordes of people waiting in standby. One double-bill I attended-INTIMACY OF STRANGERS and JOHN & JANE TOLL FREE-became a last-minute hot ticket on Saturday night. While frustrated pass holders stewed outside, the first film began with almost the entire right section of the Carolina Theatre's Cinema One empty, but with "Reserved" placeholders on the seats. Fortunately, these seats were filled during a break between the two films.
Another issue cropped up in conversations with volunteefs: the matching of a film with a venue. While festival organizers can't be expected to be utterly clairvoyant in judging a film's appeal, reports were that the Friday afternoon screening of IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS was a mess. Many more people wanted to see James Longley's already acclaimed (and eventual Full Frame Grand Jury award-winning) experimental narrative than were able to be accommodated by the venue's 270 seats. Speaking by telephone, festival founder and artistic director Nancy Buirski says she wasn't surprised by the film's popularity. "While documentaries in recent years have begun to resembe the structure of features in having a beginning, middle and an end, we're now seeing a fragmenting. Our audiences have really embraced challenging and experimental films like Iraq in Fragments."Ultimately, it's a measure of what a phenomenal festival Full Frame has become that its most pressing concerns are ones related to size, growth and expense. My personal highlight reel of the weekend starts with Smiling in a War Zone and getting to meet its creators Magnus Bejmar and Simone Aaberg Kaern. This film tells the story of Kaern's determination to pilot her ancient single-engine plane from Denmark to Kabul, Afghanistan, where she would offer some flight lessons to a 17-year-old girl. (Kaern appeared at her screening dressed in a one-piece flight jumpsuit and an aviator cap, complete with earflaps and goggles.)See the full content of this document
Extract
Full Frame-Up, and Up and Up
From the vantage point of someone with a tendency to carp, this year's Full Frame Documentary Film Festival was a smashing success. Despite the relative dearth of blockbuster docs-no Super Size Me or Murderball this year-a strong and diverse array of films generated record turnout, with an 8 percent increase in ticket sales over last year.
To be sure, the festival h...See the full content of this document
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