It’s opening day for Filmfest DC, The Washington International Film Festival and Tony Gittens, the founder and director hasn’t slowed down for even a minute; there’s simply too much to do. Moviegoers, dignitaries and dozens of directors from across the globe have come to the nation’s capital for ten days.
And it’s not just any year—it’s the 25th Anniversary of a festival that started off small, and has grown every year since. Gittens points out that when the the festival began in 1987 they used, “fax machines and expensive overseas phone calls; there was no internet or cell phones by today’s standards. Chain theatres were nowhere to be found; the District’s theatres were all owned by local companies.”
So much has changed, but Gitten’s original vision of bringing the world together through film has only grown more focused, more resolute. Indeed, this year’s offerings include “The Green Wave,” a film that could not have happened before the days of social networking and flip cameras and festivals like this.
Each year the Festival highlights films from select geographic regions. This year Filmfest DC presents: Nordic Lights: The Old and The New, featuring films from Scandanavia. Films from what is called “New South Korean Cinema” are also in the spotlight. I’ll have reviews of two of them, along with some surprising details about Korean moviemaking in a separate post.
Meantime, the website (something that also didn’t exist 25 years ago) has a great overview to help you decide what to see and where to see it. That web address is: http://www.filmfestdc.org
There will also be frequent updates at : http://www.EntertainmentOrDie.com
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