TRAVERSE CITY — The Traverse City Film Festival honored two men whose support of independent films gave movie-goers a chance to see now-classic cinema.
Festival founder Michael Moore praised Sony Pictures Classics Co-Presidents Michael Barker and Tom Bernard as "champions and advocates" for foreign, independent and nonfiction films, saying that without the two of them many important films would not have been made or seen by audiences.
Moore gave Barker and Bernard the festival's Lifetime Achievement Award on Thursday morning during a film panel discussion at the City Opera House.
"Tom and I, we never accept these awards," said Barker, adding that "self-aggrandizement is not what we should be doing."
But, Barker said they were motivated to come because of the State Theatre's work and what Moore has done for Traverse City and for independent cinema. Barker and Bernard's relationship with Moore dates back to the documentary filmmaker's smash debut.
"These are the first guys that saw 'Roger & Me,' and the first guys who made an offer," said Moore, who ultimately went with Warner Bros.
Barker and Bernard have teamed up for nearly 30 years. They met when they picked the other's name from a secret Santa hat while working for the same distribution company. Bernard received hockey gear. Barker got a Hunter S. Thompson book. And movie lovers would later benefit when the two helped bring to theaters films such as "Ran," "Waltz With Bashir," "An Education," "Howard's End" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."
Before Sony Pictures Classics, which produces, distributes and acquires independent films, Barker and Bernard were at Orion Classics and United Artists Classics.
"We've always loved quality films and to be part of it is just great," Barker said.
The documentaries that work best are the ones in which the viewers feel compelled to see them in a theater, on a big screen, Barker said. He called Moore and Al Gore, whose film "An Inconvenient Truth" was a hit, the first "movie stars" of the documentary genre.
Upcoming films from Sony Pictures Classics include "Inside Job," a documentary about the financial crisis, and the Robert Duvall movie "Get Low."
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Related Photos
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Thursday's Traverse City Film Festival filmmaker panel, "An Intimate Interview with America's Premier Indie Film Moguls," at the City Opera House featured Sony Pictures Classics studio Co-Presidents Michael Barker, left, and Tom Bernard, right, and filmmaker Michael Moore. Record-Eagle/Jan-Michael Stump
Festival honors Sony Classics leaders
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