Saturday, January 16, 2016

Week 1: "Festivals of Their Own" Response

After reading “Festivals of Their Own”, one of the main points that stuck out to me was the concept of each festival having their own mission, goal, and style depending on what films they end up screening. Also, festivals change and morph overtime, like we saw in Sundance as it grew and became widely popular. You don’t need popularity, famous directors, A-Class stars, or a lot of money to run a successful festival. Many underground festivals were showcased in restaurants, bars, or any venue they could afford in able to screen unrecognized filmmakers’ works. From the list of underground film festivals, each festival had their own individual motive from recognizing local filmmakers to showcasing low budget films. Each festival has its own personality and its own purpose within the film industry. Even though many underground festivals don’t attract money or stardom, they are providing an experience and a place for filmmakers to communicate and express their works visually.

Josh Koury’s interview in the latter part of the article provided me with a lot of information on festivals from not only submitting my work, but advice on actually running a festival. He provided a good point in that when submitting to festivals it’s important to pay attention to which festivals you are submitting your work to, and to not get too discouraged if you are rejected. However, he highlights one of the main points in which festivals are so important to me as a filmmaker. Festivals allow filmmakers to converse while celebrating exhibition of peers’ works. More importantly, underground festivals make it so you don’t have to have a ton of money or stars within your film to have your work showcased or to bask in the experience.

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