Two weeks ago Behind the Screen asked to hear about your experiences at the 36th Chicago International Film Festival. Here are some of your replies (edited for conciseness):
Renee Oliver, Naperville: “I love the festival and try to catch as many movies as I can every year. This is the first year that I bought a package instead of trying to purchase individual tickets. I thought this would be a good deal, because the PassPort package, which sells for $110, gives two people access to 16 movies at a rate that is less than 16 movies at full price.
“The only problem with this is that you only have this little PassPort ticket, which doesn’t get you in to the movies; you still have to stand in line with everyone else who has not yet bought tickets, and I’m sure you know that these lines are over an hour long at times.
“I wanted to see `The Day I Became a Woman’ at 600 N. Michigan on Oct. 7, and we brought our PassPort only to find the line snaking all around the theater (we were standing in line with people who wanted to see `Meet the Parents’ and all the other movies playing there as well). So, here we are, having paid $110 for tickets, but still having to wait in line an hour in order to see the movie. Bad form, I think.
“Second thing that bothered me was that we weren’t told when picking up the PassPort that `Best in Show,’ which we very much wanted to see, was a special presentation that you needed special tickets for. (You couldn’t use the PassPort to see that movie.) So it sold out and we couldn’t see it.
“Lastly, I wish there had been better communication about movie cancellations. I really wanted to see `Thomas in Love,’ so I left work early to catch it at 600 N. Michigan at 4 p.m. Theater staff said that they didn’t `have’ the movie yet (what, are they delivered by armored car?) and that I would have to check back in 30 minutes to see if they’d get it. The staff wouldn’t let you wait in the theater, so I had to go wander for half an hour, only to come back and find that it had been canceled.
“The film festival staff that I came in contact with over the 10 movies I eventually did end up seeing were very helpful and hardworking, though at times they looked a bit overwhelmed (specifically at the 600 N. Michigan location) as they bravely worked through snafus.”
Ellen Kamienowski, Chicago: “The cancellations of `101 Reykjavik’ and `South Side Story’ because of Customs was a feeble excuse at best. When I called the festival headquarters the afternoon before the evening performance of `South Side Story,’ I was assured it was being shown. When I arrived at 8 p.m. with ticket in hand, I was told curtly that it was canceled, `pick something else.’ My money was returned to me begrudgingly.
“The people selling tickets at Loews had to be the rudest people imaginable. Was that a prerequisite for the job?”The lines for `The Day I Became a Woman’ were snaking around the upper floor with no one to inform that the show was sold out.
“This festival was one of the most unpleasant experiences ever. Two years ago it was a relaxed professional fortnight. Has management changed? The London Film Festival put us to shame, by organization and overall content. I doubt whether Chicago will see me again next year.”
Steve Sposato, Chicago: “I attended three or four events, and everything was smooth. Brief intros (under a minute), starting pretty much on time, good projection, etc.”
Angie Heisler, Chicago: “Don’t get me wrong. I love the film fest and look forward to it each year. I just wish they would get better organized. It has been such a trial to get tickets over the years.
“The last two years I thought they had gotten a good system–sell them at local stores and allow you to get them for the whole fest, not just the day of the performance, when there can be long, long lines. I usually get a pass for a number of shows. (I am more than an avid moviegoer.) Then once the schedule comes out, I like to get my individual tickets for the whole festival at once.
“This year the choices were: 1) Go to their office on Randolph (where the machines came in two days late, and there were lines around the block) or 2) Get tickets at the theater on the day of the performance only (where often the lines were around the block also). Even getting tickets through TicketMaster was out of the question because they did not deal with people with passes.
“So I made two trips to the Randolph Street store–once to drop off my pass with a list of the movies I wanted (because the machines had not arrived even though their phone message said they had) and once two days later to pick up the tickets, which were supposed to be ready. (When they weren’t, I waited for an hour to get them.)
“I can’t tell you the number of people I talked to who were upset about the lines, who sometimes even missed the first part of the movie because of the lines. [Other] people I saw walking away in disgust when they saw the lines. It takes a really hardy avid moviegoer to make it through the gauntlet of getting a ticket. And that’s a shame, because I would assume they should be building their audience from folks who are not already avid moviegoers.
“I was thrilled that the festival organizers decided to screen some of this year’s feature films here in Hyde Park. (We South Siders are always moaning about being ignored by various institutions.)”
Marc Paloma, Chicago: “I attended the Oct. 6 screening of `A Time for Drunken Horses’ at DOC Films and thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Before it began, however, the festival workers experienced a problem with their connection to TicketMaster, thus bringing all ticket sales to a standstill.”At 6:35 p.m., 10 minutes before show time, the organizers instructed the crowd how they were going to sell tickets. This process went smoothly, and the movie began about 15 minutes late. No big deal.
“I was pleasantly surprised, then, when, after the Q&A with the director, the festival rep said that everyone was receiving a free pass to see any festival movie because of the delay. This was completely unexpected, but much appreciated, and I feel that I was treated well by the festival this year.
“I used the pass to see the Oct. 8 screening of `Harry, He’s Here To Help’ at DOC, by the way, and was entranced by this French thriller. Two for one from the Chicago International Film Festival? Sign me up for next year!”
Robert and Susan Crawford, Chicago: “We, too, went to see `Yi Yi,’ an absolutely wonderful movie. With all the advance enthusiasm, we feared a sellout, so we went to the Music Box on performance day at 3:30 p.m. to buy tickets. The joint was deserted, and there were no signs indicating box office hours.”The much-touted Film Festival phone number was effectively unworkable: a recorded message said the voice-mailbox was full (surprise!). We tried TicketMaster, but the computer was down at our neighborhood outlet (not the festival’s fault, we must concede). We finally did see the film, which started 20 minutes late because the ticket-sale operation was so inefficiently organized.
“Any film festival involves a high degree of risk; but our Chicago version adds to the risk a comparably high degree of plain old inconvenience and annoyance.”
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E-mail: mcaro@tribune.com.
