Previous Festivals: 2002

Roger Dodger: Campbell Scott and Jesse Eisenberg

Jeff Blitz, Emily Stagg and Sean Welch in the Q&A for Spellbound

Season IV in October, 2002 was unquestionably the most successful to date - four sellouts, a further 20% bump in attendance, 18 provocative guest actors, directors, screenwriters, editors, and producers, first-class films including three documentaries, and WFF’s first-ever American premiere.

The Festival showed eight features (two of them the final festival screenings before release) and 17 shorts and established itself ever more firmly on the New England cultural scene. Audiences responded to the inspiring Rocks with Wings, the sexual power plays of Love in the Time of Money, the novelty of an all-shorts slot, and the wacky romance of The Perfect You. WFF drew 2,500 people for the first time, with Roger Dodger, Spellbound, XX/XY and The Safety of Objects selling out.

There were many memorable moments: Campbell Scott, fielding questions on opening night about playing the title cad in Roger Dodger. Jeff Blitz and Sean Welch comparing notes with Rick Derby on the perils of making documentaries, or presenting Emily Stagg - one of the young National Spelling Bee hopefuls in Spellbound - to the surprise and delight of the crowd. Three directors of shorts paying their own way from New York and L.A. to take part in the Festival. A Tinseltown Trivia Contest, with the rival teams going ballistic. Indefatigable and charming John-Paul Davidson flying in from London for the weekend to reveal secrets of the Disney animation process after an exhilarating premiere screening of The Sweatbox.

On the financial side several major contributors increased gifts, HBO and Coca-Cola joined the cause as a Corporate Sponsors, and in a tough economic year the Festival reached its fundraising goal.