The Georgetown Film Festival can no longer call Georgetown its home.

Founder and executive director Eric Sommer moved the festival to Adams Morgan this year because he could not find cheap space in Georgetown.

Since its inception in 2000, the Georgetown Film Festival has showcased hundreds of independent and student films. Between 700 and 1,000 submissions arrive each year from around the world, 40 to 50 of which are produced by students. Around 80 films make it to the festival’s screens each year.

Patrick Morrissey/The Hoya SHUT DOWN AND SHUT OUT: Today the building stands empty, littered with festival mementos.

While Blues Alley donated space for the festival for the last three years, Sommer said that they did not renew the lease on that space. The new landlord, Armond Spikell, asked Sommer for $5,000 a month and a three- to five-year lease agreement. Sommer, who said he has already poured $180,000 of his own money into the project, was not prepared for more financial burdens.

“We’re a small nonprofit,” Sommer said. “We just don’t have the kind of resources that a long-term lease negotiation would require.”

The organization has received about $67,000 in donations since 2000 but still struggles financially. Sommer said the Georgetown business community did not do enough to keep the film festival in this neighborhood.

Last year, Sommer requested help from community organizations, including the Georgetown Business Improvement District (BID), a partnership that includes 1,500 businesses in Georgetown. The BID aims to keep streets clean and safe, beautify public space and enhance the neighborhood’s image through marketing strategies.

Students may know it best for running the “blue bus,” the Georgetown Metro Connection shuttle, that takes people between the Rosslyn, Foggy Bottom and Dupont Metro stations, as well as up and down Wisconsin Avenue and M Street.

Sommer blamed Ken Gray, executive director of the Georgetown BID, for not being “visionary” enough when it came to the festival.

“The Georgetown Business Improvement District has done nothing for us. They could have helped negotiate a lease on a theater for us, which is totally reasonable,” Sommer said. “They could have helped us raise the money to cover that theater and it would have come back to them in spades.”

But Gray said that Sommer asked the Georgetown BID to guarantee his rent, promising to pay if the festival could not. Though Gray called Sommer “creative and innovative,” he said that if the festival was not financially viable in and of itself, his organization could not sustain it.

“I can’t stress enough that it is an equity issue,” Gray said. “I can’t use other businesses’ money for another business that’s having trouble making its rent.”

Sommer also held Anthony Lanier, president of development firm EastBanc, equally responsible for the festival’s move.

“He has plenty of buildings around here that are empty and open that he could have let us use,” Sommer said. “I hold him personally accountable for turning Georgetown into a money slum … and forcing these small local businesses to leave.”

Lanier did not return phone calls for comment.

Sommer identified good community entertainment, not revenue, as the nonprofit’s biggest focus. He said he wants a theater “with atmosphere” that he could afford to rent year-round. His goal was to show movies five times a week throughout the year.

“The film festival is important enough to have a permanent home,” he said.

Despite financial difficulties, Sommer said he will not consider raising admission prices. He said he prides himself on keeping ticket prices for the festival low. For $5, a patron can see six or seven films in an evening. Films range from five seconds to 90 minutes.

When Sommer had problems getting space in Georgetown for this fall, he considered canceling the event. However, after receiving many unsolicited submissions, he decided instead to move the festival.

After being forced to postpone the festival several times, Sommer decided on a final date and venue.

Dennis Lee, president of Capital Design Group, owns the space where the festival will take place, 2424 18th St. N.W.

“Adams Morgan welcomes the festival here,” Lee said. An Adams Morgan resident since 1995, he described the neighborhood’s population as more “eclectic” than Georgetown. He predicts a warmer reception for the festival in Adams Morgan.

Once Sommer confirmed the location, he was able to set the final dates for the festival, Nov. 4-7.

But loyal fans in Georgetown are displeased by the move. Deborah Crawford, owner of Movie Madness, a movie and poster store in Georgetown, was the festival’s main ticket vendor until this year. She said that the festival’s move disappointed many customers.

“When you have landlords that are just strictly interested in getting top dollar for their properties, you’re not going to see spaces rented out to … cultural-type events,” she said. “It does have a dramatic effect on the area.”

Students agreed, saying that they hoped to see more cultural events in Georgetown.

“It is somewhat disappointing to hear of this change, as it makes the festival, which was created specifically to bring independent film and art to Georgetown, less accessible to residents of the area,” Sarah Ferrante (COL ’07) said.

Despite the new setting, Sommer plans to keep “Georgetown” in the festival’s name. “The festival has built up incredible name recognition,” Sommer said. “It will screen in Adams Morgan but will still — and always — be the Georgetown Film Festival.”