EDITOR’S NOTE — The Festival is SOLD OUT, at all pass levels. (BUT the Festival has rush tickets available for the movies. If there are available seats 10 minutes before the show you can buy one for $12. There is a special “RUSH TICKETS” line outside of the venues. Just jump in that line. There are always people who don’t show up. )
There are also seats available today for free movies at noon and 3 p.m. (SEE BELOW) and a free outdoor movie at 7:30 p.m. (dusk) tonight on the block in front of the downtown Haller Fountain — “Cinema Paradiso.” Sit on the straw bales or bring your own chair. Beer and wine area for over 21.
READ MORE: “Port Townsend Film Festival special guest Beau Bridges shares life experiences on work, family, peace of mind with students” — https://giftsnap.shop/article/20150927/NEWS/309279980
PORT TOWNSEND — The 16th annual Port Townsend Film Festival resembled its predecessors for its celebration of independent film with one significant difference:
It sold out.
As of Friday morning, more than 1,400 passes ranging from $35 to $1,250 were sold for the three-day event, ending today, that screened 84 films in eight locations in downtown Port Townsend.
Jan Halliday, festival marketing director, credited this success to the presence of two special guests, actors Beau Bridges and Chris Cooper, as well as a heavy marketing effort.
“This year, several media outlets decided to promote the festival,” she said.
“We’ve told people since June to get their passes early because of the special guests, so the people who waited to the last minute were sold out.”
Halliday credited publications from Sunset magazine to the Peninsula Daily News for the festival’s success.
Janette Force, the festival’s executive director, said shutting down pass sales Friday benefited those who had already purchased them.
“While we are sold out of passes, the theaters aren’t full, so pass-holders can always get a seat,” she said.
“It gives them a better experience.”
Two free movies will be shown today at the Cotton Building at 607 Water St., which is known during the festival as the Peter Simpson Free Cinema.
The “Spirit of Adventure” program of short films will screen there at noon, while “The Mask You Live In,” about America’s “boy crisis” and how we can raise a healthier generation of boys and young men, can be seen at 3 p.m. today.
The Simpson theater has 100 seats; moviegoers can get in line up to a half-hour before show time to be admitted on a first-come, first-seated basis.
The sold-out festival continues today, concluding with a free outside showing of “Cinema Paradiso” at 7:30 p.m. on the giant inflatable screen on Taylor Street.
Force said the addition of a new theater with the temporary conversion of the Cotton Building was a major improvement.
“This is a spectacular demonstration of collaboration between ourselves, the city, Centrum and First Federal,” she said.
“The sound is great, and no one has ever used those words talking about the Cotton Building.”
Halliday said the festival is limited by the number of theaters, with few downtown buildings able to accommodate a retrofit.
Halliday said the Uptown Theatre wasn’t used as in past years “because we wanted to keep everything downtown, walkable within an eight-block radius.”
Much of the festival has been what attendees expect: free movies on Taylor Street shown on an inflatable screen, a presentation by special guests of their most notable films, a catered dinner and raucous opening ceremonies.
About 500 people gathered Friday at the corner of Taylor and Washington streets as special guests arrived, delivered in classic vehicles supplied by the Raker’s Car Club.
Bridges, referring to his visit to the Port Townsend High School, gave a shoutout to the undefeated football team.
“This festival is a wonderful chance to rise up and tell the stories, as we all like doing,” he said.
“Today, I talked to the kids at the high school, and I want to say go, Redhawks! Three and 0!”
As the festival proceeded, the Redhawks scored their fourth victory, a 52-0 rout over Coupeville.
“We’re glad to have Chris and Beau here because they represent a long journey while you are at the beginning,” Force said to the assembled filmmakers.”
“It really matters to us that we can feature their work next to yours.”
For more information, go to www.ptfilmfest.org.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
