TRAVERSE CITY — The Traverse City Film Festival returned this week after a couple years off during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many volunteers help run the event, including newcomer Joyce Bono. The Grand Rapids native teaches in the business department at the University of Florida. This summer, she said, is her first time living in northern Michigan.
She will live and volunteer seasonally, thanks to some "persistent State and Bijou friends," she said. She initially planned to do a less-involved position, but they encouraged her to sign up, saying that the festival needed volunteers.
"It was always my intention to get involved this year and continue involvement," Bono said. "I'm excited to be part of making it happen and having it come back."
Bono is an afternoon venue manager at the AMC Cherry Blossom 14, a new venue during this year's Film Festival. She said her role includes taking tickets, making sure the venue is clean and helping moviegoers find their screening room at the theater. She said they showed 10 movies the first day- Tuesday.
Though it may be challenging to get started, Bono said it should go smoothly because "there are no established rules" to follow at the new venue. She said if all goes well, the theater may host some films again next summer.
"The bottom line is making sure the films start and making sure patrons have a good experience when they're with us," Bono said. "I am looking forward to being immersed in it."
Overall, she said she will see how volunteering goes and how her skills will be used.
She added that she aims to interact with attendees and even watch some of the films, if possible. She will need to work around her eight-hour shifts at the theater, perhaps making it to a few nighttime or morning screenings.
"Never Rarely Sometimes Always," "Happening" and "Mary Magdalene" are of particular interest, she said. She also wants to see the final film at the Open Space.
[Originally published online and in print July 28, 2022]
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