Traverse City Film Festival

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The Traverse City Film Festival is an annual film festival held at the end of July in Traverse City, Michigan. The festival was created as an annual event in 2005 to help “save one of America's few indigenous art forms—the cinema."[1] The event was co-founded by Michael Moore, the Oscar-winning film director, well known for his anti-establishment films and documentaries such as Fahrenheit 9/11, Bowling for Columbine, and Roger & Me, along with author Doug Stanton and photographer John Robert Williams.

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2015 TCFF Opening Night downtown Traverse City

The mission of the Festival is to show "Just Great Movies" that represent excellence in filmmaking, particularly those rare independent films and documentaries by both noted and new filmmakers, that do not receive mainstream distribution. The Traverse City Film Festival is a non-profit organization, and is funded by businesses, community groups and individuals, in addition to ticket sales accumulated by various events. The Festival is headed by a committee of Michigan area filmmakers, writers, and creative professionals. Deb Lake has been the executive director of the Traverse City Film Festival since 2006, and is one of only three paid employees who work year round.[2] About 3,000 volunteers come together each summer to devote their time and efforts to making the festival happen.

Official selections

2005

The 2005 Traverse City Film Festival was held July 27th–31st. The 5-day event featured many independent films, plus four classic films. The independent films were shown in three indoor venues in downtown Traverse City: the State Theatre, the Old Town Playhouse, and the City Opera House. In addition, each night, a classic film was shown on a giant inflatable screen along West Grand Traverse Bay in the city’s Open Space Park. Broken Flowers, a winner at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, was shown at the Traverse City Film Festival before being released to the general public. Other 2005 Traverse City Film Festival selections covered a gamut of film subjects ranging from period romances, unemployment, terrorism, among many other subjects.

2006

The second annual Traverse City Film Festival was held July 31st – August 6th, 2006.

2007

The third annual festival was held July 31st – August 5th, 2007.

2008

The fourth annual festival: July 29 – August 3, 2008. Special appearance by Madonna, on August 2, 2008, introducing her film I Am Because We Are. Michigan Filmmaker Award went to Kurt Luedtke. Also world premiere for Religulous.

2009

The fifth annual festival was held from July 28 – August 2, 2009.

2010

The sixth annual festival was held from July 27 – August 1, 2010.

2011

The seventh annual festival was held from July 26–31, 2011.

2012

The eighth annual festival was held from July 31 - August 5, 2012.

2013

The ninth annual festival was held from July 30 - August 4, 2013. Paul Feig was honored with the Michigan Filmmaker Award and Michael Apted with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Liana Liberato received the Discovery Award and Mark Cousins, Rob Epstein, and Jeffrey Friedman received the Visionary Award. The Festival added a new venue this year by renovating the former Con Foster Museum into a theater that was named Bijou by the Bay which opened in time for the 2013 Traverse City Film Festival.

2014

The tenth anniversary festival was held from July 29 - August 3, 2014.

2015

The eleventh annual festival was held from July 28 - August 2, 2015.

Notable filmmakers and guests

Board members

Staff

  • Executive Director: Deb Lake
  • Business Director: Susan Fisher
  • Creative Director: Meg Weichman

Main sites

References