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Meg Hamel is director of the Wisconsin Film Festival, which runs in Madison March 30 through April 3. She began her involvement as a volunteer with the first year of the festival 13 years ago.

What kind of movies do you like?
I think what is analogous to that question is if I were a professional chef, what kind of food would I like. I’d like a whole lot of different kinds of food. ... I’ve never been interested in narrowing down my tastes to focus on just things that are in a comfort zone for me. ... One of the great things about this job is I am so fortunate to see a much greater cross section of movies that are being made around the world.

What do you think about American movies?
When I think about American filmmaking, I don’t think so much about films that are coming out of Hollywood. ... One of the distinctive qualities about American narrative filmmaking is a sense of place. Filmmakers who are working with their friends in the locations that they know, and they’re creating films about those places. One of the most interesting aspects of watching a movie is to see through the eyes of filmmakers what those parts of our country look like to an artist. (cont’d)

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Read Full Article at Source:   Wisconsin State Journal