Or even just the late 20th century, for that matter. I have some affection for the USA Film Festival, which has roots at SMU and used to be the only full-service, year-round movie organization in Dallas. I have that affection because my wife used to work there.
I was concerned that they wouldn’t be able to survive when AFI Dallas (now minus the AFI) stepped up and launched its efforts with what had been USA’s turf: a spring movie festival. I was worried for USA’s future when I saw that this new “Dallas Film Society” was recruiting its own membership, and felt even more so with news of the recent hiring of Tanya Foster, which signals that they’re targeting the same Park Cities/North Dallas fund-raising base that’s long supported USA.
But when I get an e-mail from the Angelika Film Center today touting USA’s 26th annual KidFilm program (this Saturday and Sunday), and when that e-mail says I can log on to USAfilmfestival.com for a full schedule of the screenings, and when I check out the USA site and see that it’s the same rudimentary set-up they’ve had for years, my sympathies fail me.
Yes, USA probably should have changed its name to “Dallas Film Festival” decades ago, but it’s too late for that. If they hope to continue to exist in the face of their slicker competition at the Dallas International Film Festival, the least they can do is upgrade their website. (Don’t believe that bit about it being a temporary web page.)
Just to name one problem with their set-up: There’s no way to buy tickets in advance. You can only get them, with cash, at the theater, on the day of the screening only. (Don’t think about trying to buy a seat for one of the Sunday shows on Saturday.)
That leads to long lines of parents who show up shortly before showtime only to discover the screening of Barbie and the Three Musketeers is already sold out. It’s heartbreaking to watch a divorced dad who’s only got his young daughter for the weekend, and just drove her into Dallas from Rockwall, have to explain to his sobbing child that they won’t be able to get into the movie. He didn’t know he was supposed to show up two hours beforehand to have any chance of securing the tickets.
KidFilm remains a unique program in this city. The DIFF folks don’t put on anything like it yet. There are some fun screenings, with filmmakers in attendance, every year. But it can’t go on operating like this, can it?
