Famous Last WordsIn a strange little stroke of irony, CFS Office Assistant Debbie Marshall had been working as a technician for the Kingston Canadian Film Festival just the week before, when Who Loves the Sun aired there, along with Congorama. Just the day before things went crazy here, she was talking to Print Traffic specialist John Wolf, and joked that she could have brought the films back with her from the festival, if she'd thought about it.

"Oh no," John laughed. "They're coming in... Don't worry about it."

John was a French major in college, not a classicist. That's a shame, because if he'd studied Greek Tragedies, he probably wouldn't have said that last bit. Every Classics student knows that you never throw down such a blatant challenge to the gods; it won't go unanswered.

Not 60% CinemaThe Cleveland International Film Festival has, in its 31 years of existence, become huge. This year we have over 120 feature-length films and more than 110 short subjects. That's a lot of film prints to ship in and test in preparation for the screenings, and a lot of them are making the tour of the Festival circuit, so we only get them a few days -- or even a day -- before their screenings. After playing at the KCFF, the Who Loves the Sun print had traveled elsewhere for another film festival. They screened the film and then shipped the print to us via FedEx, and it arrived on Friday, March 16th.

Late that night, projectionist Chris Davis made a horrible discovery as he tested the print: it was incomplete. Only the first reel of the film was in the box he'd received, with the first 60% of the movie. The second reel, and the remaining 40%, was nowhere to be found. He shot off a frantic email to John Wolf to let him know about the problem. John woke up at 6:45 am on St. Patrick's Day... to an unfolding disaster.

Hunting For Half a Print"Wake up, get email, and panic," is how John later described the start of his day. He raced to the Cleveland Film Society offices and began making calls to FedEx officials at 7:30, trying to find out where the second reel had gone.

It quickly became clear that the movie had been shipped in two boxes -- something that usually isn't a problem but had become one this time. The packages had gone through one of FedEx's automated facilities, and a machine had misread the shipment information on the second box and routed it to Chicago. The error had actually been caught upon the package's arrival, and they'd rerouted the package to Cleveland...

But they'd put it on a Business Day Delivery truck. The earliest it would arrive was on Monday. The film was scheduled to play on Saturday and Sunday; Monday would be too late.

Several tense phone calls later, John was forced to throw up his hands. The truck was en route, and FedEx's shipment insurance policies prohibited it being opened before it arrived at its destination. It was due to arrive in Cleveland on Sunday night at midnight, but even then it would be hours before it was unloaded, processed, and accessible. By 9:45 am, "we realized we weren't getting it," John said. He reported this at the 10:00 staff meeting. "I tried to get somebody fired," he joked, "but it was a machine."

"We had it unplugged," quipped Movie Mogul Concierge John Farina.

Failure, however, was not an option.

The Screener CopyFortunately, there was a safeguard. The Cleveland Film Society had a "screener copy" of the movie. This was the DVD copy that Artistic Director Bill Guentzler had used to watch the film during the selection process, and which other members of the Film Society used, as well, to preview it in preparation for the Festival's kick-off. If all else failed, the screener copy could be used to project the film. The quality wouldn't be as good as they wanted, but the show would go on.

As long as the film-makers approved, of course. They'd approved the screening of a 35mm-format movie, but would need to sign off on any other format that would be used.

At 10:45 the staff meeting concluded, and John immediately called producer Corey Marr. By Marr's internal clock, it was 7:45 am, because he was still on California time and pretty jet-lagged, so he was still asleep. John left him a message and waited for him to return the call. Half an hour later, Marr called him back, with some very bad news.

The screener copy had been watermarked.

The entire time the DVD plays, there's a "Property Of..." logo at the bottom of the screen, with the name of the production company, as a safeguard to keep it from being used for public screenings. There was no way that the DVD could be played for a paying audience.

But did any other print of the film even exist?

The Toronto ConnectionFortunately, one did. Marr had a copy of the film on Digital Beta... back in his Toronto apartment. A new scramble ensued as he made calls to friends to arrange for someone to get the film from his apartment and take it downstairs to the Benjamin Moore paint store on the ground floor of the building, where the staff would keep it for a courier. John, meanwhile, got back on the phone with FedEx to start making arrangements for it to be picked up and shipped to Cleveland.

This was when the next hurdle was revealed: the US-Canada border. FedEx would need a Customs Broker to take the film across. John relayed this to the rest of the Festival staff, all of whom traded blank, confused looks.

Nobody even knew what that was.

Trying to Find a Customs Broker"The gravity of the situation was starting to sink in," Asociate Director Patrick Shepherd said afterwards.

If it hadn't been the weekend, things probably would have gone smoothly. A Google search enlightened everyone on what Customs Brokers were and what they did, but calls around to their offices weren't generating any results; most of the offices were closed. Film Festival director Marcie Goodman began calling all of her art museum contacts to see if they could refer her to someone in a hurry, while John and Patrick began asking everyone on the staff to check and see if they had family or friends who were Customs Brokers.

While everybody broke out their cell phones and began calling people they discovered that John Farina's cousin in New York City was a Customs Broker. They managed to track him down, but the news he gave them was disappointing.

"The customs shipment was going to take seven hours and the film was going on at nine," Patrick said. It was already past noon. "The window of opportunity was rapidly closing."

Call All Your Friends In CanadaClearly, FedEx wasn't going to be a workable option. Everyone had to brainstorm again to find another. They decided that their best bet was to find someone in Toronto who would be willing to bring the Beta down to Cleveland, either by car or by air. A new message went out to the staff and volunteers: call anyone you know in the Toronto area. Again, the cell phones and text messengers went crazy.

Debbie Marshall had been off for the morning, celebrating St. Patrick's Day with family and friends. She arrived a little bit after noon, and was immediately pounced by John. She'd gotten her Film Studies degree at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, an hour away from Toronto. If there was anyone with friends in Toronto to call on, she was the best bet yet, and John knew it.

Debbie's first call was to one of her best friends, Kara Haflidson. The two had met as freshmen and had been in the Film Studies program together, sharing most of the same classes and even living in adjacent dorms. Kara was watching a movie at the time, and didn't pick up, so Debbie left her a message and then began calling other friends. Each unanswered phone call or negative answer only increased her nervousness. She was running out of names.

A Sun Fan Answers the CallIt was 12:30 when Kara checked her voice mail and heard Debbie's panicked call. Calling Debbie back, she immediately volunteered to bring the film to Cleveland. Kara had just seen the film at the Kingston Canadian Film Festival, herself, and had fallen in love with it. Images from the film were currently her computer wallpaper, and she'd been recommending it to everyone. Knowing exactly what a wonderful film it was, she had even more incentive to make sure that Cleveland audiences would get to see it.

But she had no car. They'd have to fly her in.

Not a problem! John and Debbie jumped online... and discovered that none of the airlines would let them book a flight the same day over the Internet. They'd have to do it over the phone.

But that should be easy, right?

Well...

Nature In the WayAs it would happen, the eastern US was being buried by a snow and ice storm that had started on Friday night. New York and Pennsylvania, in particular, were getting a messy mixture that was making roads and runways fatally dangerous, and the airlines were paralyzed. More than 3,600 commuter and mainline flights would end up canceled, and more than 100,000 passengers would end up stranded at airports, and the airline call centers were being deluged.

John had connected with one of the airlines' reservation lines. The automated message made his jaw drop: "Thank you for calling. A representative will be taking your call in two hundred fifty-five minutes."

There was no way that they were going to get a reservation for Kara by phone. They'd have to drive down to Hopkins Airport and make it in person... and hope they could.

A Trip to the Air Canada CounterEmily Ingalls, one of the Guest Relations Coordinators, had been hoping to have a quiet day. None of the guests were going to need to be taken to or from the airport, and she had arranged her schedule to minimize the driving anyone would have to do while the St. Patrick's Day partiers were careening around. But now, suddenly, everything had changed. Debbie and John needed her to take them to the airport, as fast as she could. The race was on.

Hopkins Airport was an enormous mob scene. Although Cleveland had only been gently brushed by the very edge of the storm system, its effects were reverberating out nationwide. Huge crowds were thronging all of the ticket counters, almost all of which had horrendous lines. Debbie noticed that the United/Air Canada line was shorter than most of the others, and remembered that Air Canada had direct flights from Toronto to Cleveland. That looked like their best chance. Wading through the crowd, she finally reached the front of the line and began to explain what she needed to the flight attendant.

"I'm sorry," the attendant told her. "We're United, not Air Canada."

Debbie stared at her. "But you're standing under the Air Canada sign!"

It took several minutes of intense arguing to convince the attendant that her company was, in fact, affiliated with Air Canada, but once she checked her computers she verified that she indeed could book a flight for them, one that wouldn't need to pass through any of the snowed-in airports. At last! Jubilant, Debbie called Kara back. "Pack a bag. We're flying you to Cleveland."

"696" or "969?"While Debbie began reserving the flight and Kara threw clothes into an overnight bag, John read off the address that Marra had given him. Kara was to go to the Benjamin Moore paint store at 969 College Street and pick up the Digital Beta, and then head for the airport. A ticket would be waiting for her.

A hastily-packed bag in one hand, Kara took the subway over to 969 College Street, and found herself standing in front of... a plumbing store.

Where was the Benjamin Moore paint store?

She called Debbie back in a hurry, the panic now infecting her. John pulled out the paper again and groaned. In a moment of panic-induced dyslexia, he'd misread the address. The correct street number was 696, several blocks away. Kara took off at a run.

"Go, Go, Film Girl!"It was like a scene right out of Run, Lola, Run or The Devil Wears Prada. It was 2:00 in the afternoon when Kara breathlessly reached the Benjamin Moore paint store and identified herself to the men behind the counter. They had the Digital Beta waiting for her, and were obviously very tickled and excited by the wild commotion that it was causing. As Kara turned around and headed out to catch a cab, they set up a round of enthused, cinematic cheering:

"Go, Go, Film Girl, Go!"

Kara told the cab driver about her emergency, and he obligingly decided it was time to re-enact the car chase from a thousand action movies. She got to the airport in record time.

"Kara who?"It's amazing just how gracious people can really be, even during times of high stress. Airports have a reputation for being harried, frustrating places where the rules of courtesy are frequently discarded. But everyone helped Kara. As she approached the Air Canada counter, people let her cut ahead of them in line so that she could make her flight and avert the crisis.

But when she gave the attendant at the counter her name... nothing came up. There was nothing in the reservations for a Kara Haflidson.

It was time for another panicked call.

Debbie had reserved the ticked under "Kara Haflidson," but then had had a moment of uncertainty. Had she spelled her friend's last name right? She tried to call Kara and confirm it, but Kara was on the subway at the time, on the way to the paint store. So she called another of their close friends... and that friend "corrected" her, and gave her a different spelling.

"My two best friends in the world," Kara said afterwards, shaking her head and laughing, "and they couldn't spell my name right!"

After a few tense minutes, the name problem was straightened out and the agent gave Kara her ticket, and a dubious look. "I don't think you're going to make your flight," she said. The Air Canada flight was scheduled to take off in less than half an hour, and was already beginning to board, and Kara still had to clear Customs.

"Oh yes I will," Kara answered, and took off at top speed.

"The Print Has Landed!"Again, everyone at the airport was amazingly accommodating for the young woman on the emergency mission. Even the customs officials were helpful, in spite of the fact that her ticket was one-way and those often get red-flagged. They sailed her through and got her on her flight with minutes to spare.

As Kara's flight streaked through the sky towards Cleveland, everyone in the Festival booth was in a breathless holding pattern, waiting for word. Then a text message came through from Patrick: "Our Toronto friend and 'Who Loves the Sun' are in the air and scheduled to arrive at Hopkins in 15 minutes."

Soon after, the message everybody had been waiting to hear went out over the Festival radio sets, as Patrick jubilantly told everyone: "Ladies and gentlemen, 'Who Loves the Sun' has landed at Hopkins!" Moviegoers must have thought we were crazy, because everybody began cheering.

A Wild Limo RideKara still needed to get from Hopkins to Tower City, though. Emily had been called away to drive one of the guests, so other driving arrangements had to be made. Fortunately, John is close friends with Andrew Watterson, a member of the Cleveland Film Society Board of Directors. Andrew has an annual tradition on St. Patrick's Day: he rents a limosine for the day and rides around to sample all of the town's festivities. He agreed to pick Kara up. His only question: "What does she like to drink?"

"Gin," Debbie told him with a laugh.

While Kara was clearing customs, she got a jovial call on her cell phone. "We're on our way to get you. We don't have gin, but what else do you want?"

And sure enough, there was an elegant stretch limosine waiting for her when she stepped outside. The driver opened the door for her and a brightly-smiling Andrew was sitting inside, with a drink he'd mixed just for her so they could toast her success.

Kara's Standing OvationIt was shortly after 5:00 PM when Kara arrived at Tower City and was ushered up to the Hospitality Suite. That's the time of day when the Festival Directors hold their Programming Meeting in the room. When she walked in the door, the Digital Beta in her hand, everyone rose up and gave her a standing ovation. Everyone's perserverence and heroism had paid off; the film had arrived.

"It was magical," Karra said later.

"She's a great friend," Debbie hastened to add, "and I owe her a lot."

"Yes," Kara agreed, mischievously.

"A lot!" Debbie emphasized.

Kara gave her friend a huge, glowing smile. "Just your love," she said.

We all love Kara.

A Happy EndingAfter everything, the 9:30 Saturday night showing of Who Loves the Sun went off without a hitch. Bill announced the film to the audience and introduced Kara and Debbie to the audience along with Matt and Corey. For Kara, it was a dream-come-true. She got to meet and talk to the director and producer of the film she'd fallen in love with, and says that they were everything she hoped they would be. She also spent the rest of the afternoon and evening, and much of Sunday, with the Film Festival staff, pitching in and catching our Festival Fever right along with us. When she left for the airport, after Matt Bissonnette was presented his award, everyone hugged her and thanked her again. She's our hero, and we're all indebted to her.

The FedEx truck with the missing print is due into Cleveland at Midnight tonight. Sometime tomorrow, it will be delivered to the Festival. "We're getting the print," John says with an ironic grin. "After it's done screening."

But as far as the public could tell, nothing had gone wrong at all. Nobody would ever be able to tell that there'd almost been a catastrophe... except that this is far too good a story not to share.