No Short Cuts

Matt Gryczan

Daniel Garcia is a preacher for patience -- for tax incentives that have brought filmmakers to Michigan, for time to let two fledgling film festivals take root in Grand Rapids next week, for everyone to sit through a slower moving film to let it tell its story gracefully.

While his own creation, "The Gift of All, A Community of Givers," isn't a particularly long film at 54 minutes, it was an exercise in patience for Garcia to direct the documentary of 32 influential West Michigan philanthropists that left hours of interviews on the cutting room floor. It was worth the wait. The result is a polished documentary that is being shown at the Michigan Film Festival on August 29.


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