by Becky T.

The film critics of Currents Magazine are true festival alumnae. Our first Filmfest was 1997, when eight of us were accredited, after being encouraged to do so by Klaus Akkermann, the then head of Streit’s cinema. Four of the original eight still represent Currents today: Mary Wienke, Thelma Freedman, Nancy Tilitz and Becky Tan.

We reported in two pages of the November 1997 issue of Currents. By 2000 we had our own separate film issue of Currents. Up to nine critics have participated ever year since and in 2001 we branched out to new festivals with Mary Wienke leading the way to Berlin. In this issue we are including reports from Traverse City, the KurzFilm Fest Hamburg and Sundance Festival.