The 6th Annual Tacoma Film Festival is in the works!

Hi all!

This is Emily Alm, the Director of the Tacoma Film Festival. I’ve been working for the Grand Cinema for over 4 years now, and have most recently taken over all operations having to do with the Tacoma FF. Believe it or not, there is work to do year -round for the festival – we started accepting entries for our 2011 festival (October 6-13) last December! I’ve been tracking, organizing, reviewing, and talking about the 380 entries (a new record) for many months, so you can imagine how familiar I have become with each of them. Of the bunch, about 1/3 of the films have some tie to the Pacific Northwest – which is exactly what we want to see! We strive to highlight the best independent films out there, while simultaneously supporting and celebrating the filmmakers in our very own backyard. We have entries from Australia, Sweden, Peru and India (just to name a few), entries that have played at the Sundance, Seattle, Tribeca, Dubai and Palm Springs festivals (among many more), and entries that range in length from 1 minute to 138 minutes. What a diverse pool of submissions! The higher quantity, and the wider variety translates to higher quality films… aka the BEST Tacoma Film Festival yet.

The last few weeks have proven to be some of the busiest, since I have been watching films non-stop in order to meet our final decision deadline of August 5th. The pile is dwindling slowly, but there are still plenty more movies to watch, think about, and review. It’s not an easy task, but it’s a privilege to be able to see so many great works of independent film from around the country (and the world). My goal is to hand-pick the best films of the bunch, and provide that “filter” – so you won’t have to! Having seen nearly all films that will be ultimately picked will contribute to my success in programming the festival and highlighting the movies that I think you’ll like best. I think you’re going to like what you see.

Final decisions will be made in August, and the program will be announced in early September. Keep an eye out! This will be your chance to see hard-to-find quality films right in your own neighborhood.

 

See you at the movies!

– Emily