You Know What’s Coming! A Special Note from Michael Moore

Friends,

It’s film festival time!

Last night I chose the final film for this year’s Traverse City Film Festival. It’s called “The World is Ours,” a Spanish comedy that is best described as “Dumb and Dumber” meets “Dog Day Afternoon.” It’s a gem of a film, and the kind which rarely makes it to these shores. This is true for most of the great foreign films we’re bringing this year. What a thrill it is to discover a great romantic comedy from South Korea, or a World War II thriller from Holland, or one of the best Shakespeare films I’ve seen — filmed at a guy’s house (with his friends) in L.A.!

Then there’s the slew of great new documentaries we’ll being bringing to TC. These are exceptional films which will challenge conventional wisdom and take you everywhere from remote Greenland to a small Kurdish village that is experiencing its first “movie theater.”

It’s an amazing line up (we’ll announce the whole schedule in about 10 days). And we’d like to ask you to contribute to the schedule by voting for our annual People’s Choice film in Open Space. Click here to vote for the film we’ll show in our free outdoor venue on Saturday night — deadline for voting is Monday, July 1.

The festival runs from July 30 through August 4. This will be our ninth year — and to celebrate, we will christen our brand new year-round theater, the Bijou. We are busy seven days a week building it, and we are half-way to achieving our fundraising goal in order to complete the project in time for the festival’s opening day. I went ahead — as I did with the State Theatre — and started construction before all the donations were in. I’m a big believer in the “If you build it, they will help you finish it” line of thinking. Don’t prove me wrong! Please give whatever you can to this nonprofit movie house on the beach.

If you are a Friend of the Film Festival, ticket sales begin for you on Sunday, July 14. Tickets to the general public go on sale Saturday, July 20. All prices remain the same this year, and we have a very special film for you on opening night. There’s lots more to tell, and I’ll do that next week. For now, start making your plans to come to Traverse City. We’ve already started making you some fudge and cherry pies. (If you’re already from TC, step away from the fudge and go for a walk with me!)

Yours,
Michael Moore

P.S. Our Sustaining Sponsor FIM Group is once again sponsoring the TCFF bumper/trailer contest, and the grand prize is $1,000. Aspiring filmmakers, here’s the chance to see your little one minute short up on the big screen — check out the details here!