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July 8, 2005TC Film Festival ticket sales near halfway markTRAVERSE CITY - At one week and counting, ticket sales for the upcoming Traverse City Film Festival have far surpassed planners' projections.Founder Michael Moore said they'd hoped to sell $10,000 in tickets by the end of the first week. He said yesterday that sales had actually reached five times that goal since going on sale last Friday, passing $50,000 out of a total $112,000 in potential sales for the entire five-day run. The Traverse City Film Festival is scheduled to open July 27 and continue through Sunday, July 31. It will feature 30 films - foreign and domestic, comedies, dramas and documentaries - shown in several venues downtown that are all within walking distance of one another. So far, the opening night State Theatre screening of "Mad, Hot Ballroom," a documentary that follows fifth-graders from different New York boroughs and ethnic backgrounds as they learn to ballroom dance, is sold out. Planners are considering the possibility of adding another screening to meet demand. Moore said Thursday he expected the closing night premiere of "Broken Flowers" starring Bill Murray and Sharon Stone to be sold out by today. Those attending here will be seeing it well before its national release. Other films that are more than half sold include "Grizzly Man" on Saturday night, "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" and "A Good Woman." The first showing of "Downfall," about the final days in Hitler's bunker, is also more than 50 percent sold. "When we set this up, we thought the tickets would sell closer to the film festival," Moore said, noting that most of the buyers so far are from Traverse City and surrounding communities. "We're all very excited and thrilled that the community has come out for it." Moore said the group is launching promotional efforts in downstate cities like Ann Arbor, Detroit, Grand Rapids and East Lansing this weekend. "Our encouragement to people is do not wait," he said. "If they're planning on coming, they should get their tickets now." Moore said other details about panel discussions and directors and actors who might be coming for the festival continue to emerge. So far, he's confirmed that Marilyn Agrelo, the director of "Mad, Hot Ballroom," will be on hand for its opening night screening. In addition, Paramount is flying some of the children who appeared in the film in from New York to attend. "Paramount thought the kids would love to come out here and do this, so I said that would be great," Moore said. "I think people here would love it. "I know there are some kids who do ballroom dancing at the (Traverse City) Opera House, so maybe we'll get some local kids that can do some dancing with them." In addition, "Enron" director Alex Gibney and Andrew Wagner, director of "The Talent Given Us," have confirmed that they will be coming. "We expect to announce other directors and actors next week that will be coming with their film," Moore said. Interlochen Center for the Arts is handling ticket sales. Tickets are being sold at Interlochen's "Bravo!" store next to the State Theatre in downtown Traverse City. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. Tickets can also be purchased and picked up at the campus box office from noon to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, or 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday. Order by phone at 276-7800 or (800) 681-5920. Prices are $7 per person except for the opening night showing of "Mad, Hot Ballroom" and closing night's "Broken Flowers," each $25 per person. As part of the festival, a free film will be shown nightly at the Open Space. See Related Stories: Conservatives offer alternate film festival - July 7, 2005 Moore announces Traverse City Film Festival lineup - July 1, 2005 Moore deilivers for first Traverse City film extravaganza - July 1, 2005 Michael Moore hopes actors will visit Traverse City Film Fest - June 16, 2005 TC Film Festival: Residents share noise, crowd concerns - June 8, 2005 Coming soon: Classics; Michael Moore backs TC film festival - June 4, 2005 See Related Editorial: TC Film Festival plans a great fit for the area - June 12, 2005
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