Donald Harrison leads the Ann Arbor Film Festival.

Both a welcome sign of spring and one of the defining cultural events in our city, the 49th edition of the Ann Arbor Film Festival is set to unspool at the Michigan Theater from March 22-27. Since 2008, its executive director has been Donald Harrison, whose extensive background in independent film makes him an ideal fit for the festival. Recently I spoke to the 1995 U-M graduate about what’s he’s most enthused about screening this year, how he got to helm the AAFF, and what some of his personal favorite films are.

Q. What’s your early background, and how did you eventually come to be the festival’s executive director?

A. I grew up the Detroit area and my Dad had an arcade game business, so I was drawn to the glow of the screen. I started to fall in love with art-house cinema at the Michigan Theater when I was at the University of Michigan, and it was really when I went to London and worked at the British Film Institute that I got excited about the behind-the-scenes aspect of films. I helped with their annual festival, and after I returned to the U.S. and moved to San Francisco I started to get interested in making films, documentaries in particular. That’s when my strong passion for experimental cinema began, and then about five years ago I wanted to move back to the Midwest.

As soon I got here I contacted the festival and started to help out in 2006, then became increasingly more involved. The time I moved back here was when the fest was going through crises in terms of fundraising cuts, a censorship case and was really in a difficult position. My background was in filmmaking, media arts management, sales, marketing and press, so my skill set really came into play once I got here. When Christen McArdle stepped down and moved back to California I became executive director, which was in May of 2008.

Q. How many films were submitted to the festival this year?

A. We had 2,500 submissions from 70 countries. The overall number was very similar to last year but 500 more than two years ago. It’s plenty; we’re getting plenty to consider. There will be around 100-120 films selected for competition. It’s very much what’s on the pulse of film, video, new media, what people are trying to create and express all across the world.

Q. Who decides what gets into the festival?

A. We have a multi-part screening process where we take those 2,500 films and narrow it down to around two or three times the amount we’re going to show. From there we have screening committees that watch everything and discuss it together, and ultimately the final decisions get made by our Program Director David Dinnell.

Q. I know it’s hard to choose, but can you name one film being shown at the festival which you feel is particularly notable?

A. A special film being shown on opening night is called “The Florestine Collection,” which is by Helen Hill. She was one of the most beloved independent filmmakers in the country and was tragically killed in New Orleans about six years ago. This is the final film of hers, completed by her widower, Paul Gailiunas. It’s a really special film and it’s going to be a really emotional film. It shows one of the brightest artists doing what they do, and it will be the world premiere. Paul is going to be here as well.

Q. What sets the AAFF apart from the hundreds of other film festivals that take place around the world?

A. This festival is special and pretty rare in terms of that landscape of other film festivals. You’re not going to find what Ann Arbor does just about anywhere else in the U.S.; it’s pretty unique. We’re showing independent filmmakers who are dedicated to film as an art form. A majority of them are short films, experimental films and we’re very much focused on film as an art form and artists who are working non-commercially. It might be a two-minute experimental film or a thirty-five minute documentary about a subject that’s really difficult or not often talked about.

We also have filmmakers at just about all the screenings for Q&As, and they get to have their work screened in one of the best venues in the country. We hear time and time again that filmmakers want to come here because they know the audiences are great and they get to be screened in a beautiful venue.

Q. You’re stuck on a desert island for the next year and can only watch a couple of films while you’re there. What would you bring? And none of those “it’s so hard to choose, I can’t decide” excuses!

A. I would say that Chris Marker’s “Sans Soleil” would be one that I would gladly watch over and over. It’s very much a film that’s a travelogue; it’s a complex film, it’s about being displaced from where you are. So if I was stranded on a desert island I would very much relate to that and appreciate it. It’s an incredibly influential film. There would have to be a guilty pleasure on there, of course. Along with the arcade game business that my Dad had, he was also very into bowling. I was raised to be a professional bowler, so I think that (Joel and Ethan Cohen’s) “The Big Lebowski” would have to be another one. It’s a classic.

For full details about the 49th Ann Arbor Film Festival, go to www.aafilmfest.org, and watch for full coverage on AnnArbor.com both before and during the event.

Martin Bandyke is the 6-10am morning drive host at Ann Arbor’s 107one, WQKL-FM. Follow him on Twitter and at www.martinbandyke.com.