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Survival of the Coolest
Ann Arbor Film Festival evolves to endure
When organizers of the Ann Arbor Film Festival engineered the Endangered Species fundraising campaign, it wasn't an amber alert designed to gouge sentimental old hippies in the pocketbook. It was a bona fide, crisis-level stopgap measure to keep the 46-year-old institution alive and out of the clutches of those who would seek to sanitize its progressive programming.
The oldest festival of its kind in North America, the Ann Arbor Film Festival was there when burgeoning filmmakers like George Lucas and Ken Burns were looking to showcase their early work. It also provided an arena for experimentalists like Andy Warhol and Yoko Ono to preview cutting-edge creations. But when the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs yanked a significant chunk of the festival's funding last year, following what it deemed (according to a statement from state representative Fran Amos in February 2007) "deviance from what is considered favorable," the fest began its perilous march of faith, ignoring the Council's pronouncements and kissing off more than $14,000 of much-needed support.
Luckily, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences stepped in with a $10,000 donation and the show rolled on. But the battle is hardly over. In March the festival, in conjunction with the ACLU of Michigan, filed suit against the State of Michigan for violating its First Amendment rights. While this may seem like grandstanding to some, the struggle to make independent and experimental film available to interested audiences beyond the realms of the underground is a challenge. If a Goliath like the Ann Arbor Film Festival goes down, it will represent a serious blow to the national and international alternative film communities at large.
The oldest festival of its kind in North America, the Ann Arbor Film Festival was there when burgeoning filmmakers like George Lucas and Ken Burns were looking to showcase their early work. It also provided an arena for experimentalists like Andy Warhol and Yoko Ono to preview cutting-edge creations. But when the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs yanked a significant chunk of the festival's funding last year, following what it deemed (according to a statement from state representative Fran Amos in February 2007) "deviance from what is considered favorable," the fest began its perilous march of faith, ignoring the Council's pronouncements and kissing off more than $14,000 of much-needed support.
Luckily, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences stepped in with a $10,000 donation and the show rolled on. But the battle is hardly over. In March the festival, in conjunction with the ACLU of Michigan, filed suit against the State of Michigan for violating its First Amendment rights. While this may seem like grandstanding to some, the struggle to make independent and experimental film available to interested audiences beyond the realms of the underground is a challenge. If a Goliath like the Ann Arbor Film Festival goes down, it will represent a serious blow to the national and international alternative film communities at large.
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20:24 EDT, 19.Oct.07
11:28 EDT, 18.Oct.07