07/06/2007

Coming attractions

Opening, closing free films set; more to come

FROM STAFF REPORTS

Special to the Record-Eagle
Ludivine Sagnier and Roman Duris in a scene from "Moliere," this year's Festival closing night film.

Tickets at a glance

• Tickets go on sale to members of Friends of the Festival July 13 at noon, online at traversecityfilmfest.org; at the Main Box Office and Festival Store in Radio Center, 300 E. Front, next to Crema in downtown Traverse City, with hours noon to 8 p.m. Monday through Sunday; or by phone at (231) 922-0234.

• Tickets go on sale to the public July 20 at the Main Box Office and Festival Store only, from noon to 6 p.m., and continue noon to 8 p.m. daily. Online and phone ticket sales open to the public at 6 p.m. July 20.

• If tickets are still available at the time of the festival, they will be sold at the door of each show. If a show is listed as sold out, a stand-by ticket line will form 30 minutes before each screening.

• All seats to regular movies are $8.50 with the exception of the opening and closing night movies, which are $25. Open Space movies will be free, as will daily 11 a.m. panels and a children's screening for people under 18.

• Opening and closing night parties are ticketed separately; cost is $50.

For more information, call the festival office at (231) 392-1134 or log on to traversecityfilmfest.org.

TRAVERSE CITY — "Once,” a highly acclaimed Irish film that won this year's Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, is the opening night feature for this year's Traverse City Film Festival on Tuesday, July 31.

"Molière,” a brand new French movie about the life of the French writer and playwright Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Molière, will be the closing night feature on Sunday, Aug. 5.

Showing on the huge portable screen in the Open Space as part of the festival's free nightly movie series will be "ET” on Wednesday, Aug. 1; Alfred Hitchcock's "North by Northwest” on Thursday, Aug. 2; "Grease” on Friday, Aug. 3; and a special studio print of "Raiders of the Lost Ark” on Saturday, Aug. 4. Aug. 5 remains open as a rain date.

Larry Charles, a member of the film festival board and director of "Borat,” will present an evening during which he'll offer a behind the scenes look at the making of that movie including footage not seen publicly before.

"He hasn't done that anywhere, so this will be the first time people will see and hear how they did that,” said Festival founder and Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Moore.

And the new permanent projectors, screen and Dolby sound system at the State Theatre should be in place in time for the festival.

The rest of this year's details, including he list of movies, panels, the schedule and other details, will be released on Thursday, July 12.

Moore, fellow board members and staff are currently finalizing the list of films, along with the schedule of special events, and venues. As in previous years, movies will be shown at the State Theatre, newly acquired by the festival from Rotary Charities of Traverse City; at the recently refurbished City Opera House, bigger this year with the increase of balcony seating; and at Old Town Playhouse. The festival is also hoping to be able to add Lars Hockstad Auditorium at Central Grade School as a venue this year.

Tickets will be sold from what organizers are calling the Main Box Office and Festival Store at 300 E. Front inside the Radio Center next to Crema downtown. They go on sale at noon Friday, July 13, to people who are members of the Friends of the Traverse City Film Festival. The group boasts about 2,000 members, and those wishing to join can still sign up.

One week later, tickets will be available to the general public. Sales start at noon July 20 for walk-up purchases only until 6 p.m., when online and phone ticket sales to the general public will also open.

Moore is excited about the opening and closing night films, describing "Once” as possibly "the best film I've seen this year.”

"It's a fictional story of a street singer in Dublin who meets up with a young woman and together they compose songs and provide the music throughout the film,” he said. "It's original ... it's upbeat, it's very uplifting.”

"Molière” will be opening in New York and Los Angeles around the time that the Traverse City festival begins. Moore described the plot as sort of a "French version of 'Shakespeare in Love,' instead of being about Shakespeare, it's about Molière.

"It's very much like a French period, kind of a sweeping, epic period piece,” Moore said. "It's very lush, poignant, funny.”

The complete list of films and a schedule will be in the Thursday, July 12, edition of the Traverse City Record-Eagle.

For more information, call the festival at (231) 392-1134 or log onto www.traversecityfilmfest.org.