Friday, June 08, 2007

JUNE 2007: Farewells and Final Thoughts


It is now early June, a month after the Film Festival has wound down. I'm in the middle of wrapping things up, finishing a lengthy evaluation process, and if this can be believed, finalizing new screening programs for the summer and fall. Already, my boss and I have been talking more and more about next year, when we present our 24th edition, and going through our mental lists of what films are currently in whatever stage of post-production or principal photography, all to get the jump on what programming we can line up for next year. I've promised her a new budget (!!!), and we are still working to reconcile everything so we can close the books on this year's Festival by the end of the month. Ahh, the work never ends...

I truly believe that the memories of a completed festival never really recede from memory, especially since I've done so very many of these things before. In rewinding the events of Festival Week 2007 back in my mind, I once again have to go back in time, to August 2006 when I first came across the blog entry of IFFR's Gertjan Zuilhof, who seemingly hasn't let up in his healthy suspicions of the internet as aviable means of delivering cinema to the masses -- his latest blog references YouTube video content in derisive terms as "utter rubbish" and "childish." Ouch! His blog this month does go on to acknowledge the internet's importance in revisiting cinema that won't otherwise be seen, as when he describes the value of (re)discovering Hu Jie's THOUGH I AM GONE via YouTube. But, once again, I digress.

YouTube, Podcasts, iTV, and its ilk, though increasingly indispensable, remain largely uncharted territory for many of us independent film artists and cultural workers. Maybe we (Asian Pacific media arts organizations and festival organizers) are the ones who are behind the curve -- the ones who really need to get with the program and exploit the internet much more in order to connect with our audience or risk becoming irrelevant. In the meantime, I see instances in which the sense of community created through the film festival experience really brings people together; in the case of VC FILMFEST, it's as if Festival Week is the springtime after a long winter's hibernation. I recall the experience of viewing music videos with a live audience; the gratification I feel of seeing those filmmakers who accepted the challenge of filling DGA Theater One with their audiences; the shriek of collective joy that reported the announcement of Charlie Nguyen's THE REBEL as the winner of the Festival Grand Jury Award at Closing Night; and the relief of watching it all shut down after eight days, 161 productions and nearly 16,000 guests; and can't help but think, we did pretty good.

If anything, I know that the issues I encountered while organizing this year's VC FILMFEST, not to mention my own antipathy towards the new delivery streams of cinema to the masses won't go away. But with the Festival now over, it's time to give it a rest and see if some time off will change my opinions of the changes impacting our filmmaking community. With that, I think it's time I put this journal to rest for now. We'll spend the summer pulling apart and recontextualizing the Festival program for specific audiences -- to keep abreast of those developments, check with us here. And please stay tuned -- though this blog is being retired, it will remain online; and I'll be back after Labor Day (for those of you in other parts of the world, that's early September '07) to chart the developments for the coming edition of the Festival set for May 2008. See you all again soon!