Docfest organizers says attendance was greater than expected

By Harrison Perkins

Organizers of the first Downtown Docfest are pleased with the outcome of the film festival that took place last weekend at the Empire Theatre.

Thirty films were shown at both the theatre and the Belleville Public Library, with 17 of them being Canadian.

The festival’s co-chair, Gary Magwood, said attendance was greater than he expected.

“The folks that came in could go and watch one or four or whatever they wanted to do in a day,  we really wanted to be inclusive, we didn’t want any citizen in Belleville to feel they couldn’t go see one of these films”,  Magwood said.

A committee of six people worked for almost a year to bring the film festival to Belleville.

The age range varied throughout the weekend, Magwood said they won’t know for sure until they go through the evaluation documents that visitors filled out.

Magwood said volunteers were crucial in order to make sure the festival run smoothly.

“If it hadn’t been for the 20 to 30 volunteers who took tickets and moved people in and out of the theatre, and introduced the presenters and just did all the stuff that volunteers do we’d been in do-do.”