Saturday, January 21, 2012

How to Get into Old Movies...Part 8

Part 8: Find a Local Classic Film Festival


I am lucky enough to live close to West Orange, NJ, where the arts council has been hosting its own classic film festival for the past few years. Unfortunately, I just recently learned about this great program but have been lucky enough to take advantage of it this year.

The first film of the festival was The Wild Bunch, one I had previously seen and only moderately liked. It's hard for me to not like a movie with William Holden, possibly my favorite classic movie actor, in it. However, it's a movie slightly grating for the abundance of gore and mostly unlikable characters. After the film, Stephen Whitty, the film critic for The Star-Ledger, spoke about the film's significance, filling in gaps for the audience using anecdotes and how-it-was-made trivia.

I, as well as my girlfriend who doesn't particularly like westerns, was able to walk away with a newfound appreciation for the film.


Granted this isn't always feasible, depending on where you live (I say this because I feel most occur in big cities), but finding a local classic film festival is an excellent way to get into films. Usually, the film choices are multifaceted, varying from genre to genre, color to black-and-white and American classics to foreign. This is perfect because it opens the viewer up to a wide array of film types.

Usually, there is an expert - sometimes a local film professor, historian or critic - available before or after a film to discuss it and its relevance to cinema and society. As I mentioned in my post about film classes, it is nice for one's appreciation of a film to have somebody further explain the significance of certain parts about movies, showing you things you might not have understood even if you've already viewed the film.

One great thing about festivals is that the people there are fellow fans excited to both see the movies and talk to you about them, another forum for piquing somebody's interest in classic films.

A few ways to find a classic film festival:
  • Turner Classic Movies has been hosting a classic film festival for the past few years, although you'd have to drop some cash to get there as it is usually located in Los Angeles and fairly expensive
  • Check out local municipalities' arts councils
  • See if any local colleges host any festivals
  • Other film festivals - ones that don't necessarily focus on classic films - might feature a classic or two
  • Check out the offerings at small-town, independent theaters, especially ones that play obscure movies, such as indies, foreign films and, yes, older movies

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