Box Office and Ticket Information
This page explains the basics of Festival tickets. Descriptions and schedule of films is available in the Film Guide. The Film Guide is also where you order tickets.
Tickets are $8, or $5 with a valid current student ID (university, college, high school, etc.). See sidebar on the right for discounts available when tickets are purchased before the Festival.
Many festival films are not rated. Viewer and parental discretion advised.
To guarantee admittance, ticket holders must arrive 15 minutes prior to show. Available seats will be filled at curtain time. Latecomers with tickets are not guaranteed admittance.
Advance Tickets
Between Saturday, March 5 (noon) and Tuesday, March 29 (5 pm), you can buy tickets online or at the Festival Box Office. After Tuesday, March 29 (5 pm), the online ticketing system is turned off.
Orders placed online or by phone will be mailed to you, provided that you order before 7 pm, Monday, March 21. After that time, your tickets will be held for Will Call pick-up at the Festival Box Office.
Students must show ID when claiming their tickets, so orders placed online or by phone at the student price will be held for pick-up at the Festival Box Office and will not be mailed.
Up to eight tickets may be purchased for a single show. There is charge of $4 per order for online and phone sales.
At-the-Festival Ticket Sales
During the Festival, tickets are only sold at the individual theaters, not at the Festival Box Office in the Memorial Union (which is open for will-call pick-ups only). Festival theaters sell tickets for the films that play at that venue. The individual theater box offices open an hour before the first film of the day at that theater.
All tickets sold at the individual theater box offices are $8 general and $5 student. Students should bring their school ID. There are no discounts for tickets purchased in quantity.
Cash or vouchers are accepted for at-the-door ticket sales (sorry, no credit cards). Quantity depends on availability.
Rush Tickets
Want to see a sold-out show? You can! (Almost always.) A film is sold out when all of the tickets allotted for advance purchase have sold. We set aside a few tickets for filmmakers and these might not all get used. Many people buy tickets and may be unable to come to the show. This can create an open seat that can be filled right before, or just after, the start of the film. (This is why ticket-holders must arrive at least 15 minutes before a show to have a guaranteed seat.)
Each theater has a rush-ticket line that is separate from the ticket-holders line. If you would like to see a film and no tickets are available at that theater’s box office, join the rush-ticket line (ask a volunteer where to stand). It’s wise to come about a half-hour before the start of the show, but it depends on how popular that film is. When all the ticket holders have been seated, we’ll count up how many empty seats there are in the theater, and start selling last-minute seats to those people waiting in the rush-ticket line.
Cash or vouchers may be used to buy rush tickets. Having a voucher is not a guarantee of a seat or preference in line; it’s just used in lieu of cash. The number of rush tickets available depends on the number of empty seats for that show. Limit two tickets per patron. First come, first seated.
Vouchers
A voucher is like a coupon that can be exchanged for a film ticket. No refunds
are given for vouchers, but you may give them to family and friends!
Vouchers can be exchanged for “real” tickets, which are printed for a specific date and time of a film program. You can make an exchange at the box offices of the Festival theaters during the Festival. Vouchers themselves are not good for entry into a theater, nor do they guarantee you a seat – you must first exchange them for a real ticket.
If you want to add vouchers to your online order, go to the film guide under "V" and find the listing among the film titles.
Refunds and Exchanges
All tickets sales are final. No refunds or replacements for lost tickets. No refunds for vouchers.
Tickets may be exchanged in person at the Festival Box office, between March 5 and March 29. Exchanges cannot be made over the phone or online. Tickets cannot be exchanged during the Festival.
