Michael Moore announces end of Traverse City Film Festival after nearly 20 years - mlive.com
- Published: May. 03, 2023, 9:54 a.m.
Michael Moore sits in his seat on stage during the live filming of MSNBC’s All In America: Michael Moore in Trump Country at Factory Two on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018 in Flint. (Kaiti Sullivan | MLive.com) Kaiti Sullivan, MLive.com
TRAVERSE CITY, MI -- The curtain has closed on the Traverse City Film Festival after nearly 20 years.
Festival founder and Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Moore announced the decision to end the festival Tuesday night in an email sent to supporters of the festival. Moore said that even though last year’s festival was “one of our best festivals ever” it was time to put an end to the yearly event.
“We’ve decided, after much heartfelt discussion, that it’s best to close this era of the film fest now while we’re ahead, no longer in debt, and go out on top with many years of fond memories that we will all collectively cherish for the rest of our lives,” Moore wrote.
The decision to end the festival was made by the TCFF board which Moore said unanimously voted in support of shutting down the festival. Moore said the members -- which according to the TCFF website include actors Jeff Daniels and Terry George, musician Tom Morello and filmmaker Mark Cousins -- will now shift to work on other projects that “are necessary for the times we find ourselves in.”
However, Moore went on to say the TCFF will continue to focus on supporting two of the theaters used in the festival, the State Theater and Bijou by the Bay.
“We will redouble our efforts and focus our attention on building back a post-pandemic audience and continue to provide great movies at these beautiful venues 365 days a year — creating, in essence, a permanent ‘year-round TCFF,’” Moore wrote.
The TCFF began in 2005 and ran yearly with the exception of 2020 and 2021 when the festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, the festival received a $1 million grant to restart the yearly event as part of a government program to help entertainment venues coming out of the pandemic.
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