The Traverse City Film Festival is an annual film festival held every late July through early August in Traverse City, Michigan. The festival was created as an annual event in 2005 to help “save one of America's few indigenous art forms—the cinema." The event was co-founded by Michael Moore, the Oscar-winning film director, well known for his anti-establishment films and documentaries such as Fahrenheit 9/11, Bowling for Columbine, and Roger & Me, along with author Doug Stanton and photographer John Robert Williams.
The mission of the Festival is to show movies representing excellence in filmmaking, particularly those rare independent films and documentaries by both noted and new filmmakers, that do not receive mainstream distribution. The Traverse City Film Festival is a non-profit organization, and is funded by businesses, community groups and individuals, plus ticket sales for various events. The Festival is headed by a committee of Michigan area filmmakers, writers, and creative professionals. Deb Lake has been the executive director of the Traverse City Film Festival since 2006, and is one of only two paid employees who work year round. All other work is done by the nearly 1,000 volunteers.
The 2005 Traverse City Film Festival was held July 27–31. The 5-day event featured many independent films, plus four classic films. The independent films were shown in three indoor venues in downtown Traverse City: the State Theatre, the Old Town Playhouse, and the City Opera House. In addition, each night, a classic film was shown on a giant inflatable screen along West Grand Traverse Bay in the city’s Open Space Park. Broken Flowers, a winner at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, was shown at the Traverse City Film Festival before being released to the general public. Other 2005 Traverse City Film Festival selections covered a gamut of film subjects ranging from period romances, unemployment, terrorism, among many other subjects.
The second annual Traverse City Film Festival was held July 31 – August 6, 2006.
The third annual festival was held July 31 – August 5, 2007.
The fourth annual festival: July 29 – August 3, 2008. Special appearance by Madonna, on August 2, 2008, introducing her film I Am Because We Are. Also world premiere for Religulous.
The fifth annual festival was held from July 28 – August 2, 2009.
The sixth annual festival was held from July 27 – August 1, 2010.
The seventh annual festival was held from July 26–31, 2011.
The eighth annual festival was held from July 31 – August 5, 2012.
The ninth annual festival is scheduled to be held July 30 – August 4, 2013.
Read more about Traverse City Film Festival: Celebrities in Attendance, Staff
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