Putting a new spin on our Critic on the Spot series, this week we feature an ongoing exchange with festival co-directors Heidi Durrow and Fanshen Cox because, let's face it, the gatekeepers are critics at heart. Aren't they?
We wrap up this exchange with two questions from Andrew Altenburg and Rolando Teco.
Q (from Andrew Altenburg):
Can you explain how you chose to include literature and film under the same
roof? Do you see much overlap in your audience from one to the other and how
are you working to encourage more filmophiles to get into literature and
more bibliophiles to get into film?
A:
The Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival is fundamentally a festival that
celebrates storytelling. We love both film and literature and wanted to
hear stories of the Mixed experiences anyway we could--so we included both.
Last year we found that the Festival attendees were interested in the films
and readings in equal measure. They wanted to see Mixed families on the big
screen as much as they wanted to hear memoir and poetry. We would love to
see the filmophiles and the bibliophiles mix with each other. Mixing is
what we're all about.
Q (from Rolando Teco):
What do you see as the future for film festivals looking like? Do you see
them drifting away from the Sundance model of old in significant ways? And
if so, how will these changes impact both audiences and artists?
A:
We imagine that film festivals will continue to crop up--probably in the
same fashion they have for the past decade or so. But certainly there will
be room for new media filmmakers. That means more films. More
experimentation. More stories. That's encouraging.
