Turnover at AFI

AFI Fest is the Los Angeles version of what used to be AFI Dallas. When AFI Dallas went bye-bye after last year’s festival, it felt at first like we were being dogged. Something seemed awry. No, no, we were told. A contract had just expired. Everything was fine. (And now we’ve got the Dallas International Film Festival in its stead.)

Well, it looks like something was awry. AFI Fest’s artistic director, its producer, and its head of PR have all stepped down. The official release leaves a lot of room between the lines into which one can read.