SIFF’s Secret Festival Sunday Mornings
The Secret Festival began yesterday. All pass holders are sworn to secrecy about the films shown, and they buy a pass with no idea in the world of what will be shown every Sunday morning for four weeks. Possibilities include films with copyright issues, or Premiere Promises elsewhere, classics that call for a big screen and an engaged audience, or films for the hell of it.
It is also fair to say that each year, one of the four loses a certain audience share who end up at the eatery across the street in search of an early lunch, and hissing questions at other pass wearers nearby.
The thing is, people start lining up more than an hour before the theater opens, the line goes round the corner and all the way down the block. As you walk up you see the same faces four times, You sit near the same people, begin to talk with strangers. But if you’re really good standing in line. the cookie man may come. And then you know the Secret Festival is back.