The closure and cancellation of just about everything in 2020 because of the global pandemic has allowed film festivals around the world to raise the bar in 2021.
No in-person events meant a lot fewer movies created prior to the pandemic making it to the silver screen.
“There was a bottleneck last year,” said Jeff Yanc, program director for Tucson’s The Loft Cinema, which is bringing back its film festival starting Wednesday, Nov. 10. “When we went looking for films this year, there were plenty to choose from. There was almost a glut of films in a way.”
Yanc said because of the abundance of options, the quality of this year’s fest, which will be held entirely in-person, is tip-top, with more than 40 full-length and short films screening through Nov. 18.
As an example, the festival will open on Wednesday with the Arizona premiere of Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar’s “Parallel Mothers,” starring Penélope Cruz and Milena Smit as two expecting mothers who, by happenstance, have a chance encounter at their local hospital while they are both in labor.
Yanc said Almodóvar, an accomplished director and Academy Award winner, has long been on The Loft’s wishlist for the festival.
“He is extremely prolific,” Yanc said. “He has made many films over the years and they are always consistently good. He has never really dipped in quality. Because of that he has built up a reputation as a filmmaker that people trust to provide a good experience.”
The fest closes with a screening of “Julia,” a documentary by directors Julie Cohen and Betsy West, about famed cookbook author and television personality Julia Child.
This year's Loft Film Fest will include a screening of the 1924 Buster Keaton film "Sherlock Jr." with live musical accompaniment from members of the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music and the American Harp Society.
Sandwiched in-between is a wide-ranging selection of films, including “A Hero,” about a man in debt who is offered an opportunity to make good, directed by Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi; and a free screening of the 1924 Buster Keaton film “Sherlock Jr.” with live musical accompaniment from members of the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music and the American Harp Society.
Yank said the festival tries each year to make the film selections as diverse and inclusive as possible. That includes working toward featuring as many female directors in the lineup as there are male directors.
Among the options this year for female-directed movies is Lauren Hadaway’s “The Novice,” a psychological thriller that won big at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.
“It is getting easier,” Yanc said. “More and more women directors are getting opportunities to make films. There are more to choose from.”
Festival programming will be shown in The Loft’s main auditorium and in its outdoor, Open Air Cinema screening area, created during the pandemic to provide a safer viewing experience for patrons.
“The Open Air Cinema was a great lifeline during the course of the pandemic,” Yanc said. “We closed it over the summer. Our projector was literally melting. Parts were malfunctioning in the heat. But the weather has finally cooled down.”
The Loft continues to institute strict COVID protocols. Masks must be worn inside the lobby and auditorium, except when eating and drinking. The venue is limiting capacity to 185 people per screening in its main auditorium. And proof of vaccination or a negative test is required to attend.
Yanc said people worried about COVID have appreciated the measures that The Loft has taken to keep them safe. They plan to keep such procedures in place through the end of the year, at which time they will revisit.
Yanc said the film festival coming back is a major step toward things returning back to normal at The Loft.
“A lot of festivals went 100% virtual last year, but we skipped it completely,” Yanc said. “We wanted to wait to do it in person so that we could celebrate the communal aspect of people watching films together.”
