The future of the Northwest Film Festival is up in the air.
North of Superior Film Association president Marty Mascarin said they haven’t received formal word on the festival’s status, but they’re keeping their fingers crossed for next season.
The success of the festival is not in question, but there is pressure for theatre space at SilverCity, which Mascarin said was underlined the past two weekends with the blockbuster The Hunger Games playing in four theatres.
“It illustrates the challenge in front of Cineplex and scheduling on their end,” he said. “It’s a bigger picture on their side of things.”
The festival wrapped up Sunday evening with a strong finish. Mascarin said they had a couple of films sell out and they’re pleased with how the festival went this year.
Two of the big hits this year were Canadian film Monsieur Lazhar and A Separation from Iran. Monsieur Lazhar and Loose Cannons were among the near-capacity titles from Sunday evening’s screenings.
“It was nice to see the theatres really fill up with patrons,” Mascarin said.
And despite a few behind-the-scenes glitches, everything ran smoothly from the patron’s end.
Mascarin said some of NOFSA’s board members waited in the lobby after the 7 p.m. screenings were finished to gage reaction from some of the moviegoers.
“Our patrons have nothing but praise for the films and thanking us for putting it on. It makes a lot of hard work worthwhile when you have that loyalty and appreciation,” he said.
