I have seen five (5) films at the Phoenix Film Festival, and all were EXCELLENT! Luckier still, the movies were free because I was a volunteer. For an event that is literally entirely volunteer except for the Executive Director, it is organized quite well.
Day One of my experience was not good, and I thought, "This is lame; I am not doing this again." But by Day Three, I was really enjoying myself, able to see some good films and meet some good fellow volunteers.
The highlight of my experience was meeting the filmmaking crew of Brothers Ink Productions, and being invited to a Private Screening of their short film, "The Author," as part of the Locker 13 series. http://www.locker13.com/. This filmmaking team was TOO COOL!
And once you begin to understand the process, you no longer expect perfection because all these films are at different "lifecycles" in the process.
Oh, and I should also mention celebrity "sightings" of Virginia Madsen (Sideways) and Yeardley Smith (Simpsons' Lisa Simpson).
The only reason that this event does not have five (5) stars is because the feedback that I have heard from some of the Festival-goers is that this event is losing quality, and therefore, losing interest for some Festival-goers.