Business screen magazine (1947)

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON THE CLEVELAND FILM FESTIVAL' Kisri\Ai. "Oscar" I'KI si n i anon kvh iinitli' lo I'irgiiiia liniid. Coiiiuil Chun iiiini. h\ I>i. Keiinrlh B. Dislify, diiiiloi nj Clrvrhnid's Miiiciiin f)f \attirnl History. Maii^iiii-l Catpotter smiles her approval. lopes but also the stamps as well: (or it is easily seen how two mailings ol 3000 each would amoiiiu to §90 alone at li^ cents each. While it is too early to evaluate the resttlis oi this festival, subsequent inquiries and coni]iRnis b\ la\nien. business men and dealers |)oiin li> the wholehearted comnumiu actt'|ji ance ol the Film Festi\al idea. Whereas dining the da\, Inui stuLnini^ rooms were used for each ol the eight classes ol hlms shown, it was decided all the evening acti\iiy shoidd be concentrated in one place —a small auditorium which seats 200 people ( onilortaljh. Ihr loiumittce felt that by evening people wouUl be fdni weary; that an attendance of 200 would be in the realm of wishlid thinking. When the small auditorium was packed 20 minutes before screening tinu with over a score of people turned away (alu r .'iOO had been crowded in), it was both embarrassing and gratifying to the conmiittee. Ihere ^vere two reasons for this overflow crowd: Ii had been announced that the winning lilms of the day would be shown that evening. Hence anyone pressed for time could come to the e\ening shovv and sec what the audience had voted to be the best in each ol the eight classes shown. The second reason was the premier showing of Curiosity Shop a technicolor sound film ol the Aluminum Company of America. Because of the recency of this film, it had not yet been converted to 16 millimeter. So it was necessary to get special dual 35 millimeter sound |)rojection ecjuipment and engineering help to put on this 30 miniue part of the evening progiani. A woman sparked this whole thing;, through from start to finish (Miss Margaret Carpenter). The planned program for the evening was too ambitious. For that reason only half ol the (lav's winners coidil be shown. • Question: What should be ihe purpose of a film festival? .Answer: .\ film lesti\:il slioidd have sever:d [UN poses: .1. 1 o bring lo ihe < mmiilv leatlers (eilu (.ilioii.il. uligious, :md business) the besl .nul latest v isu:il aids whiih h:ive bein ileV eloped in \:irious fields. b. To present to interested people the latesi projection and camera equipment. c. To accelerate the use of motion pictures for educaiioniil and other purposes. Q: How shoidd one determine what kind of films should be shown? .\: Ihe lilnis to be shown should be decided ill general at preliminary meetings of revicwnig subcommittees. Insleail ol having eight broad classifications (Business, Education, Religious, and others) as was decided by the t:ie\eland Film Council, one classification might be chosen with several subdivisions. Business films, for example, might be broken down into: (a) Time and Motion Study; (b) Sales Training; (c) Einplovee Indoctrination; (d) Industrial Safety. .\11 films should be carefully selected by two or more people to minimize commercial and other subjecti\e bias :ind to assure an intelligent selection. Q: Wlial groups in the community should a film festival be designed to interest? .■\: The groups will depend largely on three I lungs: (a) films available; (b) council members who know the groups or films and who are willing to "pilch in" and assume usponsibility for this phase ol ihe program; i :ind (c) e\leni ol iiileiesi.' Q: What kinds of films should be selected? A: The selei lions should be iiuide al the discretion of the subcoinmiilees. If a good job of acting and photography has been done :iround a well chosen story or siluation, then a good film seledion is probable. The statistical summary of film preferenci' ;ii (;iev eland may also provide some guide. Q: Who should select the films and what procedures should be used in film selection? A: This question is prettv well answered in the answer above. The problem really boils down to choosing which five or ten out of twenty to forty films should be shown to a discriminating audience on a particular day. Subcommittees should make their selections at least four weeks in advance of the festival. Q: What are the possible film sources? A: The best film sources are the local eijuipmeni and film dealers ;ind perhaps libraries, (CON It N L t D ON P A G K F O R 1 ^ M X E ) rilr^( qlKNllulls. typical of those il^kKl. .Iff (mill friiiii Mr. Cicn Butch. Executive I>ir(l(ir iif thr Tiliii of -Anierira to Miss Virginia Beard. orti;iiii/ii .mil lirsi i of the Clexeland Film Council. StatiMual Suinn of film prefcieiui .it t:lLvel.in(I. "^ ^:t Rl (.isiR.vnoN SCENE shou'iiiii three /■eslreal I nnunitlee members at work: (left to rii^ht i Eli-abeth Hunady. Margaret Carpenter, and Kenneth S. Xash. (.E's jNela Park. Licnri.Nc Institute teas a husy beehive diirinij, Clexii'land's first I'iltn heslival as this typical interior Sfeiie n'ill attest. Over free hunilred persons attended. I'RiMii Rl raoin ciio.N was adnined by (I to ij Samuel E. Dirvies. Virginia Heard, Earl I'. Carfienter and Cleti Rynearson. IkFlM St I'I'EK ClEsls nunri'i'ng I'l' weie served after the day's showings as they awaited the ex'eniiig lilm premiere oj tlie Alcoa film. NUMBER 8 VOLUME 9 19 4 6 27