The State Theater and Bijou by the Bay have been closed since Michigan's shutdown last year. The Traverse City Film Festival has received $933,000 in federal coronavirus relief to help restart its two movie theaters and continue its annual film festival. The festival's founder filmmaker Michael Moore says without the grant, the organization may have folded. “I would say without any hint of hyperbole here that this million dollar grant from our federal government has literally saved the Traverse City Film Fest and our theaters,” he says. The northern Michigan festival attracts film makers from around the world, bringing in around $20 million dollars to the local economy and supporting two independent movie theaters.