I arrived home late last night, more than a little bit perplexed after attending a screening of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance at The Bridge: Cinema De Lux. I sat down at my trusty Macintosh to write a review article but promptly remembered that I had a video tape to watch. Joy! Festival programmer Travis Crawford had informed me the both he and Director of Media Relations Andrew Preis would be appearing on the public television show Philly Live on Friday night. I couldn't watch it as it aired live, so I decided to put my brand new Sony VCR to good use and record the proceedings. (My VCR is silver, by the way. That's very important.)

This particular episode of Philly Live was hosted by Pamela Hooks, a self-proclaimed indie film fan. She set the stage and then introduced the guests, both of whom were sharply-dressed. Travis started off with an overview of his Danger After Dark program, which has developed a bit of a cult following around the world in recent years. He discussed the elements that make the films in his program unique, though when asked to compare American independent horror films with their mainstream counterparts he refrained from naming names. C'mon, Travis, give us the dirt! Next came a short clip from Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, depicting a rather sweet moment from early in the film. Pamela deemed it "powerful", though how she could arrive at such a judgement from 20 seconds of footage is perplexing.

Several viewers called in with questions and comments, all of which were handled quite well by Andrew. He first responded to complaints concerning the lack of African films in the current lineup, and promptly explained how thematic categories of films are released in unpredictable waves. From my own experience, I know that New Korean Cinema was a featured category on the 2002 program, but it doesn't appear this year because far fewer films were available. Andrew also addressed concerns about the dearth of silent films in the festival, agreeing that there should be more. But in all fairness to the festival folks, there are two centerpiece screenings for silent films, including a 100th anniversary screening of the very first silent film, The Great Train Robbery, with live organ accompaniment. That sounds pretty damn good to me.

Andrew also mentioned that some old-tyme cartoons would be playing at the outdoor screening of The Great Train Robbery. Pamela expressed her fondness for vintage cartoons, which is very cool, but she curiously indicted modern animation as "choppy". Choppy? You can certainly question the artistic value of modern animated features, but the technical aspects of the medium are light-years beyond what was available even a few years prior, let alone three-quarters of a century ago. I challenge her to watch anything from Miyazaki, especially Princess Mononoke or Spirited Away, and call it choppy. Okay, I'm finished grumbling now.

A few more clips were shown, including Aro Tolbukhin: In the Mind of a Killer and A Wedding in Ramallah, one of the many films in the Cinema of the Muslim World series. There are some concerns that ticket sales for these muslim films will be below expectations due to the war in Iraq, but I don't think that will be the case. Travis then went on to explain the differences (or lack thereof) in vampire movies from around the globe before the program drew to a close. Sadly, time ran out before the panel could discuss foreign pornography and The Good Old Naughty Days, which I was really looking forward to. Drat. Well, I guess the program was edgy enough without it.

If you missed Philly Live, hopefully this brief synopsis will clue you in as to what you missed. It was good to see the festival get some exposure on local television, though I must admit that I'd never heard of this particular channel before tonight. WYBE was it? Hopefully the members of the Philadelphia Film Festival continue to explore new ways of getting the word out, because it really is a fun event. Oh, and I've still got the tape, if anyone's interested. Bidding starts at $19.99. Heh heh heh...