Let me begin by saying that the 2004 Phoenix Film Festival, held at the Harkins Scottsdale 101, home of the Cine Capri, was the first festival I've ever been to. Thus, I don't know for sure if the event was better or worse than the previous three held in the Valley, or how they measure up to other large festivals across the country and the world. That said, let's look at the good and bad of the festival, and what can be done to make things better come next April.
The best thing about the Festival was the people. The staff was extremely generous and helpful from the second I walked into the theater. I can't give enough praise to the fine folks who worked for the Festival, and for the staff of the theater itself. Kudos to all staff members. They were able to answer my questions easily, knew what was going on and were all very informative.
The diversity of the films being shown are also commendable. Imagine my surprise when I flipped through the festival guide in my press packet (very nicely done, by the way) and read about an independent film called The Falls, a modern film noir set in Buffalo, New York, which is mere minutes from where I grew up. There were films from NYC, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and all over the United States. This festival knows how to attract national attention.
Another thing worth praising is how the Festival was able to adapt through the sporadically stormy weather. As we all know, Phoenix weather is fickle, and a storm system found its way into the Valley, thus causing problems for the planned parties taking place in a "party tent" outside of the theaters. However, the Festival directors were able to find help from the nearby Elephant Bar and Abuelo's restaurants, which were both fantastic. The parties that did take place inside the tent were well-done, but things seemed to be a bit cramped inside the tents because of the hundreds of people attending the events.
On to what can be improved. First and foremost, the closing night premiere was a red flag. The film being shown was Laws of Attraction, a romantic comedy starring Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore. It's opening nationwide on April 30, and is a fairly big-budget film for a predominantly independent film festival. According to one of the directors, its premiere at the Festival was either the second or third time it was shown in the world (the number of times changed within a matter of minutes). Thus, everyone (emphasis on that word) had to be swiped by metal detectors and checked for audio devices, including the press...the same press who would need audio devices or cameras for directly after the film, when the awards for the Festival commenced. Sounds like a problem, right?
It was simply poorly managed. If the press had known about this earlier, there wouldn't be as much a problem as there was. Instead, we all found out five minutes before we were ushered into the Cine Capri.
My final quibble is with actor Peter Fonda, who was given a tribute on Saturday night. Fonda was, surprisingly, a very loquacious person who told many, many anecdotes. The problem is that these stories had little to do with the questions he was asked, so they were just strange. It seems no one felt the urge to stop him before he just went on and on for hours.
Other than that, the 2004 Phoenix Film Festival was a success, and I'm looking forward to the event next year.
Josh Spiegel is an entertainment reporter for the Web Devil. Reach him at Joshua.Spiegel@asu.edu