The Portland Film Festival recently debuted a sharp new poster. Discerning readers will, of course, notice that the revered publication the Portland Mercury is part of it!
Except, well, here’s the thing: That’s not not what we said. I mean, yes, we used the word “quality,” but… okay, here. In context, here’s how “quality” was used in Ben Coleman’s write-up of last year’s fest:
When it comes to quality vs. quantity, the Portland Film Festival chooses the latter. This year boasts 80 features and 134 shorts—which, on paper, seems like it’d give a bunch of independent, up-and-coming talent an opportunity to shine. But the reality is that without better curation, few films have a chance to stand out. PFF seems to assume audiences are more interested in mingling with mid-range celebrities at after-parties than in actually watching any movies à la carte.
Of the six features I watched from this year’s offerings, nothing struck me as the sort of thing you should get a ticket for ($5-15), much less a festival pass ($49-349).
If you’re legitimately interested in how the Mercury felt about last year’s Portland Film Festival, you can read Ben’s full piece here.
As for those other quotes—the ones from the Oregonian, the Willamette Week, and Portland Monthly—they make a bit more sense, or at least aren’t used in the exact opposite way they were intended. All are taken from broad, preview-type pieces of last year’s festival: Willamette Week‘s “so Portland” is taken from their headline “What Makes the Third Annual Portland Film Festival So Portland?” The Oregonian‘s “film geeks” comes from this piece, which notes, “Film geeks will appreciate the special guests….” And Portland Monthly‘s line about this being the Portland that Portland Monthly readers have been desperately searching for is entirely intact.
But as for that Mercury quote? Yeah. Pretty clearly, that’s not what we meant. I emailed Portland Film Festival Director Josh Leake about this, but he has yet to reply. Stay tuned all the same: We’ll have more on the qualities of the Portland Film Festival when it returns later this month.
I *told* them to go with *my* edit of your review:
“the Portland Film Festival… features… a bunch of… up-and-coming… films… a… stand out… festival…” PORTLAND MERCURY
Pull quotes seem to be something a graphic designer makes a decision on without delving into the context or source history. I’m gonna assume the people who run the festival barely looked at this detail and said “yep, poster looks good, print it!”. I could be completely and entirely incorrect, obv.
This is hilarious and it strikes me as something Josh would do on purpose, with a gleam in his eye (I got to know him a little bit, years ago when he was doing mortgages).
I’m sure you know it’s an old tactic for movie posters and book covers.