A producer friend told me yesterday she was unable to get tickets for a couple of films at COLCOA, or the City of Lights City of Angels Film Festival (4.21 thru 4.28), which is now in its 18th year. That turned a light on. I’ve been attending COLCOA for several years now without too much difficulty, but now demand is apparently surging. So I spoke late this afternoon with the fest’s executive producer & artistic director Francois Truffart to ask about this. He confirmed that yes, things are crowded and “we didn’t have this situation before…it’s very unanticipated for now.” But he stressed that while many seats are held for co-sponsoring guild members, that doesn’t mean last-minute seating is out of the question. Truffart stressed that “we don’t want people to feel discouraged.” Earlier today he told Screen International‘s Elbert Wyche that COLCOA “has a 20,000-seat capacity and [is] almost full…we are not able to accommodate every person that wants a ticket [but] every year we add new screenings. [And of course] we like to create this kind of demand for French cinema. We want people to go to the theatre to see the film or on VOD during the year.” Here’s an mp3 of my brief discussion with Truffart.

executive producer & artistic director Francois Truffart.