Full speed ahead for DocFest 2

Jim Hagarty

EDITOR
Craig Thompson was in Toronto on Wednesday, reading the dozens of emails that poured in after the conclusion of the first DocFest Stratford on Sunday.

The executive director of the four-day documentary festival was gratified by the response and upbeat about a second festival next year.

Especially appreciative of this year’s experience were the students who attended a workshop at the Country Club on Friday and that, said Thompson, might have been the highlight of the whole weekend.

Film-wise, the most successful of the 10 documentaries was Up the Yangtze which packed City Hall with a sold-out attendance of 270. Other highlights included Sunday afternoon’s shorts which included the winning documentaries produced by students, a number of Bravo Facts films and a short film of the people of the village of Shakespeare, shot in the 1940s.

And while the auditorium wasn’t filled for the final night’s showing of the acclaimed The Wild Horse Redemption, it was special for Thompson and for those who did see it because of the spectacular cinematography.

Thompson also was excited that so many directors wanted to come to Stratford.

As for total attendance, while figures were still be assessed, Thompson told the Gazette he believes between 1,500 and 2,000 tickets were sold.

“It was what I expected,” he said. “People in Stratford aren’t used to going to films at noon.”

But those behind the festival plan to continue with the four-day format and to keep holding it in the “shoulder season” rather than feeding off other events. Thompson believes the best time for it is just before the Stratford Shakespeare Festival starts and right after people are finally putting winter behind them.

Another thing that won’t change is the venue, which directors fell in love with.

“They thought it was the perfect setting,” said Thompson, especially acoustically.

“Anything bigger would be difficult to fill and anything smaller would be too small.”

DocFest benefitted from the use of the same type of projector used in regular cinemas.

Some people have expressed gratitude for “opening our eyes to issues we never knew about”, said Thompson, such as children working in the mines in Bolivia.

Thompson said an important job will be the picking of films for next year. As with this year, he feels it necessary to combine commercial success with films from around the world. They need to appeal to young people and to general audiences.