Documentary festival coming to Belleville

By Jennifer Bowman

Organizers hope a documentary film festival in Belleville will get people talking about big issues.

Gary Magwood, an organizer of Downtown DocFest, said the plan is to feature up to 20 international film documentaries at various Belleville locations on the weekend of March 2-3.

Magwood said organizers have been working on plans for the festival for more than a year. It would be a first for Belleville, he said.

He said they’re not looking for a large turnout the first year, but he does expect some interest. He used to own the Organic Underground Café in Belleville where he screened documentaries.

“We’d get 20-25 people out to see some of the docs and good discussion would follow,” said Magwood. “The Organic Underground closed, so I lost my venue, so to speak.”

After the café closed, Magwood began collaborating with the Quinte Film Alternative.

“I’m not quite sure how it all evolved, but we decided to put a committee together and stage a documentary festival in Belleville,” said Magwood.

He said documentaries are gaining in popularity and are a good way for people to become more informed.

“Docs are really starting to come to the forefront,” said Magwood. He noted that the Toronto film festival is opening with a documentary this year.

The films will be focus on social, environmental, political, and commentary documentaries. They won’t be scanning beautiful mountains and lakes like National Geographic, he said.

“I’m really hoping we can screen a couple of locally produced documentaries as well, which would be great fun,” said Magwood.

DocFest will open the Empire Theatre on Friday, March 2, 2012, then move to the Core Centre, and possibly the library on Saturday, March 3.