Film Festival Day 2

Friday for me was mixed. I saw one terrific film (Shadow Dancer), one so-so film, and had one film I really wanted to see cancelled.

Last night at L2 the screening of The Sapphires was cancelled due to a projector failure. This was not a great way to start the festival and I know Britta Erickson, the Festival Director, was very frustrated, though it was not her fault or the fault of any one at the Film Society. The projector had been tested in the afternoon and worked fine, but when it came time to screen Sapphires at 6:30 PM it was kaput. The crew worked for nearly an hour to fix the problem but it was beyond repair.

Though disappointed, the crowd in the Theatre was pretty good-natured and endured the delay and then cancellation with equanimity. The Good news is that a new screening of the film has been arranged for closing Sunday night.

I will say, that L2 is not a great venue for film particularly when compared to the wonderful Film Center facility and the Pavilions, where other Festival films are screening. Let me also say that while I miss the hominess and am a bit nostalgic for the Tivoli facility, I don't miss those terrible seats. It really had become careworn. Pavilions so far is working out quite well and is much more comfortable than Tivoli.

My first screening yesterday afternoon was Argentinian Lesson. It is actually a Polish documentary, and while visually quite good, I found it only so-so.

Of course the big news from the Film Society is the $2.5 Million donation from the Anna and John Sie foundation to allow the purchase of the Film Society's home on Colfax. John and Anna have been strong supporters of the Festival and the Society. I was particularly pleased to hear John say, in acknowledging the current and earlier support, that he really would like to see Denver become a center of film making not just film screening.

Kudos John and Anna.