Filmmaker Michael Moore at a screening of his 2009 film "Capitalism: A Love Story." Moore will be in attendance at this year's Sedona film festival
PHOENIX (AP) — For Richard Schiff, who appears in “Another Harvest Moon,” the good thing about promoting films at festivals is the sense of discovery.
“What’s the difference in buying a gold ring and going into the river and (panning for) a big hunk of gold,” said Schiff, best known as Toby on TV’s “The West Wing.” ”The river experience is going to be more rewarding. … Small film festivals are like that, because there’s gold there and you feel like you’re the only one who’s discovered it.”
“Another Harvest Moon” is featured at the Sedona International Film Festival, which opens Sunday. Schiff will be in Sedona to promote the film — and search for gold of the film variety.
“I love the festivals, especially the smaller ones,” Schiff said. “It’s like going to a theater festival. It’s like going to Edinburgh, where people just love doing theater and are showing their wares. … I get something out of it. No one does anything completely out of generosity and altruism. I get to see other films, and see what’s going on in the independent-film world. Who knows, I might meet someone I want to work with.”
Perhaps he’ll run into Michael Moore, who will be at Sedona to promote “Capitalism: A Love Story.”
“For us, he’s the biggest filmmaker we’ve ever had here,” said Pat Schweiss, executive director of the festival. “Certainly, we’re very proud of it. He’s partly controversial, of course. But he’s also the most influential indie filmmaker of this generation, maybe ever. For what our mission is — independent film — he is the poster child of what we stand for. In our opinion, we couldn’t have scored bigger than Michael Moore.”
Moore, as Schweiss suggests, is something of a change of pace for the festival.
“We are different,” Schweiss said. “There’s some cutting-edge things that don’t work well for our festival that work really well at a TriBeCa, a Toronto, a Sundance. Sedona is a retiree area. What we look for might be totally different. What we look for are films that will move you to something.”
That doesn’t mean a series of documentaries on old-folks’ homes.
“It’s definitely not films about retirees,” Schweiss said, laughing. “It can be a very tricky line.”
For instance, this year’s lineup includes “Winnebago Man,” a documentary about a Winnebago salesman whose outtakes from ads in the 1970s have become a YouTube sensation — and who became a recluse.
“While it’s not at all what our demographic would normally watch, it’s about someone who is their age who is famous in circles five and six and seven decades younger than them,” Schweiss said. “We do try to mix it up. Every four-letter word in the book is said every other minute.”
Something a little offbeat for the festival, in other words, which is how Schweiss likes it.
“We don’t want to deliver what mainstream Hollywood is delivering,” he said. “We do try to be very cognizant of our audience. But we try to bring in many other genres.”
As is the case every year, it’s not just the films that attract a crowd. The red rocks and other scenic attractions play into it as well.
“I’d like to say people are coming here just because ours is the best festival in the whole wide world,” Schweiss said. “I’m not stupid enough to think that that’s true.”
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