2D = New Student Edition
The Michigan Daily - 'michigandailycom 4
Despite controversy, A2 Film Fest returns4
By BRANDON CONRADIS
DailyFilm Editor
March 20, 2008 - Ann Arbor isn't
typicallyknown for glamour. In fact,
most people wouldn't know it at all
if it weren't for the University that
has engulfed it. But for one week
out of every year the city becomes
a hotbed of entertainment industry
intrigue, flashing camera bulbs and
red carpet-style murmurings. And
for once, the spotlight isn't on the
students.
For the past .46 years, the Ann
Arbor Film Festival has been one
of the city's most vibrant and dis-
tinctive cultural institutions, sec-
ond only, perhaps, to the University
itself. Spawnedfromaresurgencein
cinematic experimentation during
the '60s, the festival grew to become
one of the most widely-regarded
avant-garde and experimental film
festivals in the world.
Yet only a year ago - despite the
temptation to think a festival as
well-established as this would be
immune to such worries - it was
dangerously close to extinction.
"Everybody was very disturbed,"
said Christen McArdle, AAFF's
executive director. "It seemed like
a lot of artists did get in touch with
me - internationally, especially."
The concern in the filmmaking
community arose in 2006 after a
group of state legislators cut the
festival's state funding. The insti-
gating factor for this sudden con-
troversy was an article published
by the Mackinac Centex for Public
Policy - a group opposed to state
funding for the arts - which used
several films shown at the festival
as examples of state-funded art
they deemed objectionable. Among
the films named were Brooke Kee-
sling's "Boobie Girl," an award-win-
ning animated short about a young
girl who wishes for bigger breasts
and Jenny Bisch's "The Arousing
Adventures of Sailor Boy," a sexu-
ally-suggestive piece of surrealism
with vaudevillian undertones.
The thin line between pornogra-
phy and art has always been a cause
of struggle for filmmakers, soit was
no surprise to McArdle thatthe sort
of risque material the festival spe-
cialized in would cause some dis-
comfort.
"It'll never go away," she said,
commenting on the ongoing art/
porn conflict. "It's an easy argu-
ment, and there's no legal defini-
tion for pornography. It's a hot
button issue, ypu know, for every-
one."
McArdle also added that the
actual content of the films listed
by the legislators ultimately was
beside the point. Referencing the
films on the list that sparked the
initial outburst of controversy,
she said, "They never watched the
films. The legislators and the spe-
cial interest groups ... they named
23 films and one performance, and
I can confidently ask them if they
watched them, and they'll say no."
Regardless - and despite out-
cries from filmmakers defending
the integrity of their work and
the festival - the AAFF was being
zeroed out by the state. McArdle
pointed to its history of pushing
the envelope and taking chances
with audacious and often contro-
versial material as the main rea-
son, yet she was quick to add that
the festival was about more than
just shocking its audience.
"The festival is about the dia-
logue that happens during : and
after the festival, and supporting
those very artists that are making
work that instigate this dialogue,"
she said.
It's that sense of community
awareness among contributors to
the festival that helped McArdle
and others when they turned to
filmmakers around the world for
support. Almost immediately, they
were met with a wave of positive
response, as supporters running
the gamut from members of the
local filmmaking community to
Hollywood heavies like Sam Raimi
("Spider-Man") and Ken Burns
("The War") came to the festival's
defense.,
In March 2007, a lawsuit was
filed by the AAFF against the state
of Michigan to overturn its deci-
sion to stop funding. After months
of struggle - and a growing fear
that the festival wouldn't have
enough money to operate on - the
AAFF achieved a great victory
when the state legislature reversed
its initial decision in December of
that year, deeming the restrictions
imposed upon the festival to be
unconstitutional.
"It was a big decision to fight
back and we knew it was going to
put us in jeopardy, but it succeeded
in the end," said McArdle proudly.
Looking back on the number of
contributors, as well as the wide
range of people who lent their
support, McArdle seems most
astonished by the dedication and
perseverance on the part of the
festival's advocates.
She argues that one of the rea-
sons for the overwhelmingencour-
agement was a sense of duty to the
art world and the community as a
whole.
"It made everyone step back
and look at the bigger picture," she
said. "I kind of loved that. It was
very honest to me. I don't think
you see that all the time."
People from all over the world
are rallying behind the AAFF
now. Charlie Koones, publisher
of the entertainment industry's
most revered newspaper, Variety,
ranked it as one of the "10 Film
Festivals We Love" in his speech
at the International Film Festival
Summit in 2007 -not bad con-
sidering he had roughly 6,000 to
choose from.
And Larry Flynt, founder of
Hustler Magazine, will make an
appearance next week to coincide
with the screening of a documen-
tary about his longtime crusade
for free speech.
Though it's faced its ups and
downs over the past year, the Ann
Arbor Film Festival has beaten the
odds and come out on top.
McArdle sees it as not only a
victory for free speech, but as a
victory for all those willing to take
a risk and stand up against artistic
injustice.
"It was a David and Goliath,"
she said, smiling. "We fought back
and won."
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The Ann Arbor Film Festival fought back against the big, bad state legislature and won,
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