In the closed-circuit world of film festivals, Durham's Full Frame has a reputation for being friendly, intimate and very well-organized.
The intimacy comes in part from the festival's compact footprint - all events take place over four days within a single city block in downtown Durham. The friendliness? Well, that's just a Southern thing.
But the organized part - that's the job of Deirdre Haj, the executive director, and her team. Haj expects more than 30,000 for the 100-plus films screening over the four-day weekend.
Over the first two days of the festival, Haj was busy running from event to event - introducing films, welcoming filmmakers and solving the roughly 20,000 little problems that pop up each day.
Thursday morning, as the festival's first early-bird attendees shuffled about, Haj stood inside the cavernous Armory building, which, during the run of the fest, serves as Full Frame "headquarters and brain," Haj said.
One minor but troubling problem had already developed - the building was broken into overnight, with at least one computer stolen. In fact, Haj said she had been up late dealing with the issue. "It happens," she sighed.
Haj then gestured to the dozens of volunteers who handle box office sales, which are tracked in real time.
"When 90 percent of the seats are sold, we stop sales and make the rest available at the door," she said. "This way, people can still get last-minute seats."
Just before leaving the Armory, Haj spotted an old friend - Full Frame founder and filmmaker Nancy Buirski, who's just arrived. The two hugged and traded stories as the box office lines filled out.
Haj would keep up this pace for the next two days as the crowds grew larger under the perfect 70-degrees-and-sunny weather. But she conceded there was one person on site even busier than she: director of programming Sadie Tillery.
Tillery, in charge of selecting the films that come to the festival, has a different job during the actual festival run. She's the one running from screening to screening, solving all manner of technical headaches.
Storms and parties
Like Haj, Tillery is also one of the official "voices" of the festival. After introducing guest curator Rick Prelinger at the A&E discussion series Friday - Tillery was in and out of the room in literally 60 seconds - she power-walked across the convention center to check logistics on the next screening.
Later Friday, Tillery and Haj briefly crossed paths at the small studio set up by The Documentary Channel, another sponsor of the festival.
While Tillery got some attention from the TV crew's makeup artist, Haj bantered with the crew and checked her smartphone with concern.
"Great," she deadpanned. "Saturday forecast calls for storms and hail."
Sitting for the TV camera, Tillery fielded the producer's questions with clarity, humor and remarkable calm.
"We're a little different from other fests," Tillery said. "We're four days instead of two weeks. We might not be New York or the other big cities, but we're in a place where people really love films.
"I was born in Raleigh, so it's sentimental to me. We're also small enough that we just have one party every night, so you don't have to juggle your schedule."
