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Your Favorite Filmfest DC Memories
We invite you to share your favorite festival memories with us. Did you see a film that changed your life? Did a new friendship spawn out of volunteering at the box office table? Did you meet your spouse while waiting in line to purchase a ticket? Did a guest filmmaker inspire you to take action? We invite you to share the memories, anecdotes and milestones in your life in which Filmfest DC played a role.
My favorite memory was the viewing a Senegalese version of Carmen (in French with subtitles) at the Film Festival. Though I have seen the opera version many times and enjoyed the music, I don't think I fully understood the character, Carmen, and her purposeful use of her sensuality as a tool. After seeing this version, "I got it!" ...visually and viscerally.....
— Wendell Williams, April 20, 2011, 3:20 PM |
"Farewell" by Elem Klimov, an elegaic Russian film, opened the first Filmfest DC in 1987 at the National Gallery of Art. I wept as I watched the inundation of a village by a huge dam project. Afterwards we had a sumptuous and elegant dinner at the Park Hyatt. I was the logistics coordinator that year and we produced the festival out of cramped offices at the Carnegie Library and the MLK Library. What a great team--Bob Sacheli, Kandace Laass and others. We closed with "My Life as a Dog" by Lasse Hallstrom, with a party at the Swedish Embassy. A tradition was born. And Tony's vision has continued to inspire and delight all of us.
— Sally Craig, April 13, 2011, 8:13 PM |
I had a chance to go to the film fest in DC in 2010. It was the greatest event of my LIFE.
I loved this movie from Brazil and Thailand.
The people in the theater were so, cool. I can not wait for 2011 and beyond.
I love movies with people as 'STICK FIGURES'. Love ya
— Tony Pires, April 12, 2011, 7:12 AM |
I have so many great memories from years of participating in FilmFest DC, but my favorite memory would have to be from April 2006, when I met Wissam Benkhedda before the screening of the film he was featured in - Bellek - about Moroccan Hip Hop. Not only was it an honor to meet such a vibrant talented performer, but I was also blessed to have him become a part of my life and to marry him in Morocco in 2008 and in the US in 2009. <3
— Monica Haines Benkhedda, April 5, 2011, 4:05 PM |
For many years I have seen two films in one night. The oddest pairing was The Piano Teacher and the Miles Davis Story, I believe at the old and much missed Visions Theater. Clearly, there were two very separate audiences for these two very different films.
— Howard Silver, March 21, 2011, 3:21 PM |
Seeing the Mongolian Film The Tale of the Wheeping Camel and realising at the end of the film that half the audience was Mongolian. Only in DC could this happen.
— Marlene Shade, February 25, 2011, 10:25 AM |
I remember during the 2002 festival, desperately wanting to see Gerard Corbiaus, The King is Dancing Le roi danse . We waited in the rush line for over an hour and after several people ahead of us were admitted, it was finally our turn. Tony Gittens keep going into the theater to look for more seats. It was the small Janus theater on Connecticut at R St., which is now a shoe store. At the last moment he comes out and offers us the two last seats front row center. Our feet touched the front wall where the screen was mounted. We slouched with our heads rolled back. I literally had to turn my head from left to right, back and forth, to read the sub-titles. We loved the film and happily endured the pain to see it. It felt great to be included in the audience and be part of a small number of fellow Washingtonians fortunate enough to see the film. Call me crazy but it is experiences like this one that make me love film festivals.
— Don Bush, February 24, 2011, 5:24 PM |
FilmFestDC 1986; my first and favorite Filmfest. Imagine logistics with barely basic computers and no cell phones! That's right, cell phones had not hit the market yet, not to mention the innovation and devices we take for granted today. Can you imagine a festival without today's internet, well it actually happened and I can't wait to see how it's done today.
— Dan Daniels, February 20, 2011, 1:20 PM |
"Kiss Me Not," an Egyptian movie about two mutually incompatible motifs in Arab life and culture. On the one hand, erotic poetry and belly dance; on the other, female circumcision and sexual repression.
We saw this rich and fascinating movie with our 10-year old daughter, who was inspired by the movie to take up belly dance, and has been dancing ever since.
— Rebecca Rizvi, February 18, 2011, 12:18 AM |
Congratulations!
Thanks for the Walk Down Memory Lane Today.
Re: Filmfest DC Memories circa 1996
Welcome to the Dollhouse Screening and Filmmaker Talk by Director Todd Solondz
Yes, I enjoyed meeting and chatting with Todd Solondz (very personable and erudite)and seeing this wonderful film. I think I was working in the Filmfest DC Hospitality Crew that year making sure filmmakers, directors, and producers got to their screenings on time .....Thanks + Cheers!
— Denee Barr, February 17, 2011, 6:17 PM |
The reception and dinner after the opening and closing of the fest.
It reinforced the camaderie among movie buffs and the graciousness of the sponsoring embassies. One unforgetable one was the closing event by the Embassy of India, food was sumptous, served under huge tents and the exotic but upbeat music pulled a lot of dancing from the attendees.
— Nina Reynoso, February 12, 2011, 8:12 AM |
One of my all-time favorite film experiences was a Filmfest DC screening of a fantastic documentary about Ravi Shankar at the late lamented Visions Cinema, followed by an insightful discussion with the director. Another wonderful Filmfest DC experience was seeing Ten Canoes - the film remains vividly in my memory. Happy Anniversary and many happy returns!
— Linda Keenan, February 10, 2011, 3:10 PM |
Christmas Oratorio, hands down!
Gorgeous music, a thrilling family saga, exquisitely satisfying plot.
Can you show it again?
— Carren Kaston, February 10, 2011, 5:10 AM |
One year you showed a film on the life of singer,Little Jimmie Scott". There was a rousing standing ovation at the end of this film!!! I will never forget this. Kudos to Filmfest DC!!!
— Linda Jenkins, February 9, 2011, 4:09 PM |
Congratulations to Film Fest! I worked on an Australian Film Fest in the early years of the festival and we all had such a great time at the Australian Embassy. Thank you Tony and Shireen!
— Amy Ballard, February 9, 2011, 4:09 PM |
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