6B - The Michigan Daily - Weeked lWafZil - Thursday, March 11, 2004 V V V V w w -W The Michigan Daily - WkeIdlMagazine - .. . ... ..,.. ..o..... ..... .. _ _ _. ... , THEBATE R OF OPERATIONS ANN ARBOR'S FILM FEST TAKES OVER THE MICHIGAN' S MAIN STAGE Left: Interns and volunteers pi together posters and publicati to hype the festival. Right: Film reels are meticuloi labeled and organized accordir to their day, time and theater location. Going ByJiwon Le Daily Arts Witer Film festival volun- teers Shrihari Sathe, Jacquline Wood and hen lookin th Laura Bridges, cre- ing Ann Arbor Fri ate a detailed plan of to be A zAtthel the week's festivi-frm oe int ties for each screen- from one minute ing rooms in the length, the films c Michigan Theater. world and are jewel ece ons usly ing ) behind the scenes of1 rough the synopses for mpetition at the upcom- m Festival, it's hard not pure variety. Ranging long to feature-film ome from all over the s of experimental, doc- Volunteers band together to produce the Ann Arbor Film Festival By Danielle Ravich For The Daily For an inside peek at where Hollywood goes to get fresh new ideas for its movies, come check out the Ann Arbor Film Festival at the Michigan Theater. The 42nd annual Ann Arbor Film Festival starts Tuesday and runs until March 21, showcasing independent films by artists visit- ing from around the country and around the world. The show is completely run by nearly 100 volunteers. Volunteers are invaluable to the festival. Without their hard work, dedication and passion, there is no way that this exceptional event would take place. They run every- thing from mundane office work to deciding which films will be entered into the competition and even wait tables at benefits. Volunteers for the festival are not just film majors. For example, Lauren Bridges, the volunteer coordinator of the Ann Arbor Film Festival, is a political science student. Although she was asked by Festival Director Chrisstina Hamilton to take on the position, she was more than glad to do it. "I've always been interested in film and I knew it would be a great experience." Planning for the festival starts in the summer at the beginning of the school year. "As soon as I got the position, I already started getting e- mails from people asking to volunteer," she added. The Ann Arbor Film Festival is an event that many peo- ple hold dear. "People feel so passionately about this fes- tival because there is just something so special about it" said Lauren. Everything from setting up at the Michigan Theater to the films themselves is "...driven by the heart. It is a celebration of work that is not out make millions of dollars." Some volunteers are local residents, and others don't even live in Ann Arbor or attend the University. Some vol- unteers even have families of their own and have children who come with them to help out. Most of the volunteers are generally needed during the week of the festival to set up and to make any other last-minute arrangements. They come into Ann Arbor from areas Ohio for this event. Several Ann Arbor residents will around Michigan and even open their homes to house artists who will be coming from out of town. Artists will be visiting from countries including Austria, France, Hong-Kong, Britain, and the Czech Republic. Residents of Ann Arbor have been housing out-of-town artists for years in order to provide visitors with a free, comfortable place to stay. As Bridges explains, "Going to the Ann Arbor Film Festival is not like going to your typical Cineplex. These films come out of the artist's own desire and passion. They don't make any money by putting so much of their time and effort into these films." So, if you are looking to support a cause that is driven solely by the passion and raw emotion of artists and their vision, and are looking for something exciting and cheap to do this week, visit the Michigan Theater. Sit back, relax and enjoy the show. umentary and animated styimgs. Bemg one of the most prestigious film festivals to be showcased in, filmmakers flock to enter their works. In previous years, about 500 entries were submitted. With the new change allowing digital films in the festi- val, about 1,600 entries were handed in this year. Each underwent a critical process. There is a committee of pre-screeners who watch all of the entries and weed out pieces which do not fit in with the festival's mission. The pre-screeners are unpaid vol- unteers who have backgrounds in film and have experience with experimental film in particular. This initial judgment is very preliminary and is meant to sort out only the most obviously unsuitable pieces. As pre-screener and Film and Video lec- turer Stashu Kybartas describes it, "I try to go by their (the festival's) criteria and his- torically what the festival represents: non- commercial and more artistically geared pieces. Sometimes people don't under- stand on a fundamental level what the fes- tival is about." Kybartas himself was one of the 13 pre-screeners and went through 50 or 60 films, writing comments and rec- ommendations. However, just because a film isn't rec- ommended in this first level of acceptance does not mean it is out of the running com- pletely. A screening committee will then go back and view 90 percent of the reject- ed pieces to make sure they aren't right for the festival. If any screening committee member feels the film deserves another chance, it is pulled back into the list of pos- sible pieces. In fact, no film is rejected because of only one person's ratings, mak- ing Ann Arbor a unique festival in that regard. "We feel it's very important that it's not just one person that sees the work. I think Ann Arbor is so special because of how we respect the work and filmmakers doing the work. Some festivals are about the view- ers or the audience and our festival is all about the artist and the filmmaker," said Festival Director Chrisstina Hamilton. An extension of this caring is seen in the awarding of honorable mentions. Shrihari Sathe, LSA junior and two-year festival intern, describes these awards say- ing, "If there's a particular film that does- n't fit into any of the categories and the judges think a film deserves an award, then it would probably get an honorable men- tion award." Shri is one of eight interns who work nearly year-round for the festi- val. Their jobs can range from picking the filmmakers up at the airport to labeling tapes for the database. This year there was actually two screen- ing committees because of the tripled amount of entries. The two committees would screen films separately and then engage in a complex system of votes and ratings. The details are tedious, and it is clear immediately how much work the screening committees did to ensure a qual- ity lineup. ing et) co cal fil eb an ma ex tha ati be dii di: an sa so ide Ha me th in er fe fri Th ta by as its w in fe Photos courtesy of the Ann Arbor Film Festival Top: "Colorforms" airs March 19 at 9:30 p.m. Bottom: "Mouskouri and a Cabbage Tree" airs March 20 at 2. p.m.