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June 4, 2005Coming soon: ClassicsMichael Moore heads committee backing TC Film FestivalByand Record-Eagle staff writers TRAVERSE CITY - Jaws, Gary Cooper and Young Frankenstein may show up in Grand Traverse Bay this summer. That is, if filmmaker Michael Moore has his way. Moore, a Flint native and current Antrim County resident, is chairman of the newly-created Traverse City Film Festival committee, a group that hopes to bring classic and independent films - and those who make them - to a cinematic celebration in northern Michigan that would include showing films projected onto an inflatable, floating screen in West Grand Traverse Bay. "We want to show some classic films that represent the best of cinema," said Moore about the event, scheduled for July 28-31. "That is our primary motivation and when you speak to people about this, there is an immediate support and enthusiasm for the idea," Moore said Friday. Moore said the idea of creating a local festival has been "kicking" around for the last five years, primarily to bring a wide spectrum of movies - including both fiction and nonfiction, American, independent, foreign, and even animation - that may not otherwise appear in Traverse City. "The only criteria is that it be a really good movie and that people leave the theater saying that to each other," he said. Festival organizers will ask the city commission to approve the request to use the Open Space at a 7 p.m. Monday meeting, a request recommended by the city's parks and recreation commission. Free films that could be shown on the bayfront include "Jaws," "Young Frankenstein" and "High Noon," said Mary Bevans Gillett, a festival committee member. Moore said nothing is set in stone, but the committee will likely know more in the next few weeks about movies, venues, and workshops that will come to the festival this year. The festival also reserved the City Opera House and the Old Town Playhouse for ticketed showings of other film fare. "They are great films that we might not normally have the opportunity to see in Traverse City," Bevans Gillett said. "It furthers the art, it opens up access." Jim Carruthers, a parks commissioner, supports the festival's request for use of the Open Space. He said it offers a chance for residents to view films "outside the box, outside Star Wars." "(They are) planning to bring a diverse film platform for everyone to see," Carruthers said. "Of course, it is going to be controversial when Michael Moore is involved because he is a controversial guy." Moore said whether the festival will be simply a community event or grow into a destination like Robert Redford's Sundance film festival in Utah is too far off to tell, although he has been in talks with others in the film industry about the new project. "What it will become is something we will have to wait and see," he said. "The first year of Sundance was just a showing of old movies, if I remember correctly. "What we can pull together for this year I still don't know since we have little time, but I have spoken to some people and hope this will be a good thing as far as attracting directors, actors and others interested in film." Bevans Gillett said the festival is "not political" and is "being put together by film-lovers." Will people attend? "Definitely," said Lin Rufli of Suttons Bay, spotted walking down Front Street Friday. The mother said the free shows sounded "cool" and double-checked the dates to see if she would be back yet from a planned vacation. That the oft-political Moore is involved doesn't give her pause. "He has a right to his opinion," she said. But Moore, whose film biography includes "Roger & Me," "Fahrenheit 9/11," and "Bowling for Columbine," said he has no intention of turning the festival into a political event; he just wants a venue to offer people a chance to see movies. "I haven't heard anyone raise that about politics and I wouldn't even think of it," he said. "The criteria for films is that they are great movies. ...Hopefully, all the films will, in their own way, speak to the human condition." Organizers said free, outdoor viewings would start at 10 p.m. and conclude by midnight. Parks commissioner Tom Mair said there are still "some things to work out" such as crowd control. Mair said the festival hopes to draw as many as 500 viewers to the Open Space. "Those involved in this are a good cross section of the community, all of them film-lovers," said Moore. "But we hope to also involve others, including people who have summer homes here who are in the film and entertainment business. I think it will be very cool."
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