It's been another record year for the Windsor International Film Festival
Executive Director Vincent Georgie tells CTV Windsor ticket sales for the 14th annual event are projected to reach 24,000 from the week-long festival, topping the previous high of 22,000 set last year.
"It's been a fun week, very, very full houses, lots of great films, lots of energy downtown," he says. "More and more people discovering us for the first time and more and more people coming from outside of the region."
The festival brought 143 titles this year including, The Wife, starring Glen Close, Free Solo, and Tea with the Dames, starring Judy Dench and Maggie Smith.
Georgie feels the festival gives the average moviegoer a look beyond the blockbusters.
"Their eyes open and they realize, have I been missing all these great movies 'for so long and what else can I try out?' WIFF is sort of like a buffet, in that you go try different things and sometimes you'll grab a scoop of something you normally wouldn't try and then you realize that it was very good and you want to catch more," he says.
"There are so many that have been huge and again, people have seen multiple — I just talked to a woman who's seen 46-films," says Georgie. "I think it says that it is an unmissable event, it's something people look forward to and they put it in their calendar a year ahead."
One of the missions of WIFF is to become the largest volunteer run film festival in Canada and out of 160 in the category, it's only behind the event in Collingwood.
Next year will be the festival's 15th edition.
— with files from AM800's Gord Bacon