Moore Launches Film Fest
Robert Redford, Robert De Niro...Michael Moore?
The controversial Fahrenheit 9/11 filmmaker is launching an outdoor film festival in the tourist town of Traverse City in his native Michigan, July 28-31. But unlike his Sundance and Tribeca counterparts, Moore's down-home summer fest will feature free admission, an open-air theater and no red carpet.
Roughly 30 independent and classic movies will be screened during the family-friendly four-day fest, with selections limited to G- and PG-rated fare. Casablanca, Jaws, Young Frankenstein and Rebel Without a Cause are among the pics already lining the bill.
City commissioners gave the go-ahead to the Traverse City Film Festival Committee on Monday, permitting use of a park along Lake Michigan for the outdoor viewings. The festival committee, chaired by the 51-year-old Oscar-winning director, is planning to construct a 49-foot-by-24-foot inflatable screen at the idyllic locale, not far from Moore's home.
According to the Detroit Free Press, public reaction to the event is mixed, with several residents fearing the possibility of politically biased movie choices and doubting Moore's cinematic goodwill.
"There will be no surprises," Moore told the newspaper. "There is no hidden agenda."
Fellow committee member Mary Bevans Gillett released a memo to the city backing the promise for a nonpartisan festival, saying it "was created to further film appreciation and access," and in hopes it will evolve into a leading annual event.
The fest's $150,000 cost will be covered by donations and ticket sales from smaller indoor screenings.
Moore is no stranger to the film-festival circuit. He credits small-own festivals with the success of his first documentary, Roger and Me, and in 2004 he won the Cannes Film Festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or, for his anti-Bush doc Fahrenheit 9/11.
The love-him-or-hate-him director is currently filming--and causing widespread panic--with Sicko, a documentary on the American health-care industry, and also has a sequel to his biggest project, Fahrenheit 9/11 1/2, in the works.
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