Documentary Film Festival Comes to Bellingham

MEDIA CONTACT:
Michael Falter
True/False West Film Festival
3903 York St
Bellingham, WA 98229
360-306-5713
michael@truefalse.org
www.truefalsewest.org

Bellingham, Wash.-The Whatcom Film Association is proud to announce the newest addition to their slate of year round film programming: The True/False West Film Festival will debut April 21 through 23, 2006, in Bellingham, Washington at several downtown hot spots, including The Mount Baker Theatre, The Pickford Cinema, The Nighlight Lounge, and the Pickford Dream Space. This three-day film festival is produced in conjunction with True/False Film Festival in Columbia, Missouri.

Exploring fact and fiction, and what lies in between, the True/False Film Festival champions films that breathe life into the nonfiction format by honoring the finest new work in documentary filmmaking. The films we show typically evade easy categorization, blurring the line between fact and fantasy, documentary and narrative, propaganda and journalism.

The festival seeks to spread media literacy and promote mutual understanding between cultures, providing the impetus for active interchange between filmmakers and audiences. Events are designed to stimulate dialogue and debate while fostering community and fun. Parties, workshops, field trips, panels, works-in-progress seminars, and filmmaker banquets fill out a full three-day schedule. Key to the festival’s success is the presence of filmmakers accompanying their films--with the festival covering travel expenses for representatives from all invited feature films.

ABOUT THE FESTIVALS

The festivals are an outgrowth of exhibition work we’ve been doing in Columbia since January 1998, when the Ragtag Film Society was formed, and in Bellingham since November 1998, when the Whatcom Film Association opened the Pickford Cinema.
Columbia: An abiding love for documentaries, the success of the Ragtag Cinema, and the presence of a world-class journalism school led to the first True/False Film Festival in 2004. Filmmakers in attendance included Kevin Macdonald presenting Touching the Void to excited patrons from around the Midwest. Its second year brought in more than 50 filmmakers from around the world and increased ticket sales to more than 6,500. True/False will host more than 60 filmmakers in 2006, as the Tiger Ballroom joins the Missouri Theater, the Blue Note Theater, and the Ragtag Cinema as a festival venue.

Bellingham: The Whatcom Film Association was formed in 1998 to preserve an independent cinema in downtown Bellingham, christened the Pickford Cinema. Boasting more than 1,600 paying members and providing the area with a popular series of outdoor films in the summer, a local film festival (NW Projections) in the fall, and more, the WFA will be moving to a new two-screen theater in fall 2006.

Though maintaining a regional flavor, the festivals share both a common mission and programming, creating a unique opportunity for filmmakers to get twice the coverage of a single festival.

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE TRUE/FALSE EXPERIENCE

“Three things that make True/False the best U.S. documentary festival. First, the perfect number of films. Second, a collegial, egalitarian, noncompetitive environment for all the filmmakers. Third, the most stylish hooded sweatshirt.” --John Pierson, independent film guru

“Wow! What an unbelievable weekend of films. We never have enjoyed Columbia as much as last weekend. Our group of five, ranging in age from 17 to 54, packed so many films, debates, and discussions in the last four days that my brain is still reeling from overload and exhilaration … Our only regret is that we have to wait a whole year to do it again.” --Linda Mustoe, festivalgoer

###