AFI Fest 2009: Launch!
Wes Anderson, Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray on the red carpet
outside of Grauman’s Chinese Theater for the North American premiere
of Fantastic Mr. Fox at 2009 AFI Fest. (REUTERS/Fred Prouser)
Before introducing filmmaker Wes Anderson last night to kick off the 23rd Annual AFI Fest, AFI President and CEO Bob Gazzale evoked the intertwined history of Hollywood and of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, home of this year’s festival. Calling the 82-year-old theater hallowed ground, Gazzale reminded the audience of the 1944 Oscar ceremony that was held there wherein a little film called Casablanca won for Best Picture, Director and Screenplay. It was a fitting start to a festival celebrating an art form in the city where that art became an industry.
This year’s festival is a little different than in previous years because it is being offered completely free to the public for the first time, an unprecedented move for a festival of this scope. According to a nice piece in this week’s LA Weekly, festival directors were looking for a way to make the festival viable in rough economic times. Since they had their main sponsors in place, they decided to trim back a bit on the schedule (67 features compared to over 100 last year and most films are showing only once) and then offer free admission. The result is that the festival will stay in the black and nearly all of the screenings are sold out. It’s a win for AFI, it’s a win for the filmmakers and its’ a win for the city of Los Angeles.
Having said that, festival organizers are anticipating that roughly 15% of ticket and pass holders will be no shows. It’s human nature. If you’re in LA and you’re sitting around wondering what to do, I strongly encourage you to check the schedule, pick a movie and head out to Hollywood and Highland. Rush lines are supposed to start an hour before showtime, but for the gala presentations (The Road, Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Precious, A Single Man, Everybody’s Fine) I’d consider showing up a bit earlier. The Chinese holds over 2000 people and everyone in the rush line for Fantastic Mr. Fox last night got in. The line for the Chinese forms along Orange Dr. across the street from the theater on the south side of Hollywood Boulevard. You’ll see an AFI sign that says Rush Line. Lines for the smaller theaters inside of Mann’s Chinese 6 form just outside the theater doors (the internal entrance, not the back entrance closer to the boulevard).
I’ll have more on the films I saw including Fantastic Mr. Fox later (loved it), but right now I need to get back to the festival.
In the mean time, check out Wes Anderson introducing the film last night.
Filed under: Film Festivals
Tags: AFI Fest, Bill Murray, Bob Gazzale, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Jason Schwartzman, Wes Anderson
