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Is the Boston Film Festival on life support?
(Rant: September 2005) The 21st Boston Film Festival begins this Friday
(Spetember 9-13), but there are some big changes. It’s no longer 40 films in
10 days, but 20 films in five days. Also gone are longtime stewards Mark
Diamond and Susan Fraine. The new executive director is Robin Dawson who also
heads Massachusetts
Film Bureau (which is the private organization Dawson pulled from the
ashes of the Massachusetts Film Office after the state shut it down in 2002).
The festival, which has
attracted the likes of Jodie Foster, Susan Sarandon, Ridley Scott and so on,
has struggled in the recent years. True, the BFF has showcased films like American
Beauty (and brought to town Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening) that
have gone on to strike Oscar gold, but overall, the quality of films has
declined. Financial constrictions, the state of the economy and the closing
of the Loews Copley Place theater have played an obvious role. The bow-out of
Diamond and Fraine does not bode well either. That’s not to say that
the BFF doesn’t have a future, but it is certain it will need to change and
adapt. A long held knock against
the BFF is that it has never embodied a true festival atmosphere—Copley
Place, essentially a high-end mall cum business complex, was never going to
provide that environment. When the Kendall Square Cinema, an art house that
beckoned to the area’s cinephiles, opened in the late 1990s, it seemed like a
logical anchor for the BFF, but after one year of experimentation (screenings
at both Copley and Kendall) the festival reverted back to Copley exclusively.
Logistics and rent (Copley was notoriously affordable compared to other
cinema options) were cited as reasons for not pursuing it any further. Most large-scale festivals,
like Sundance or Toronto, are destinations for filmmakers, stars and
filmgoers, that bringing in tourist dollars as well as revenue for the
festival. The BFF on the other hand is a program that draws upon the local
cineastes (which does not shriek economic boom). It’s an issue the BFF has
long stayed away from, doing the programming the way they have, year in and
year out. And Ms. Dawson should take note, because while Boston plays host to
a smattering of smaller, tighter-run festivals (take the French Film Festival and Boston Festival of Films from
Iran at the Museum of Fine Arts), they are generally no threat to the BFF, but the
Independent Film Festival of Boston
is a different beast. In its nascent three years, the IFFB has brought
excitement to Boston and concept of a true film festival. It’s generated
buzz, fostered cinephile camaraderie and grown each year by leaps and bounds.
Not only does IFFB appear to have legs, but teeth and claws too. This year’s BFF will be
highlighted by three main offerings: the US premiere of Prime,
starring Meryl Streep and Uma Thurman; Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,
starring Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer; and North Country,
featuring Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand. Prime directed
by Ben Younger (Boiler Room), is a romance about an older woman
(Thurman) and a younger man—allegedly Sondra Bullock dropped out of the
project because the story was lacking. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
marks the directorial debut of Shane Black, who co-started with Arnold
Schwarzenegger in Predator and received a record payout for
penning The Long Kiss Goodnight—one can only hope that the
story telling in Black’s new crime romp is an improvement over the ramshackle
Long Kiss. The one that shines with the most intrigue is North
Country, directed by Niki Caro, who made the astonishing Whale
Rider in 2002. It’s a Norma Rae-esque recant of a historic
harassment suit and who better to play a strong woman at the epicenter of a
whirlwind than Theron, who won the Oscar in 2003 for playing a strong (and
demented) woman in Monster. Also on the bill is Buddy
a documentary about Buddy Cianci, the former Mayor of Providence jailed for
corruption. Opening the festival will be the comedy Touched,
starring Jenna Elfman (Dharma and Greg) and directed by Newton
native Timothy Bogart. Dawson has made claims in
the media about future plans for the BFF and what it will morph into. But as
of now, it’s hard to garner any information about the festival that’s about
to open. At the time of this article (9/4) neither the BFF site (there is still 2004
information listed—calling the festival the 20th, not the 21st
BFF—and no listing of films, only a schedule), nor the Massachusetts Film
Bureau had much to offer. And the recipient for the annual Excellence
Award (past winners being Foster, Bening and Tommy Lee Jones) has yet to be
named, though it has been announced that Buddy will receive the
inaugural David Brudnoy (the long time WBZ talk show host, Tab film critic
and a dear friend) Best Documentary Award. Dawson, most recently
known for her public feud with Mark Drago of the Massachusetts Sports &
Entertainment Commission—each proclaiming to be THE one to speak to
about getting a big-time Hollywood movie (like The Departed or Mystic
River) made in Beantown—is both a logical and troubling choice to
head the BFF. She’s connected, has industry experience and knows the lay of
the land. She also has a reputation for being a photo-op opportunist and one
who’s more interested in a good party than a quality film. Will her guidance
bring the BFF back to prominence or signal a death knell? History and logic
dictate the latter, but to be fair it’s transition year and Dawson’s in an
unenviable position. Only time will tell. The 2005 BFF will limp through to
completion and the fate of the BFF will lie in the sculpting of the 2006 BFF,
should there be a 2006 BFF. - TBM |
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