Fest: The Kensington Real Independent Film Festival, September 6 - 9
Aside from the two traditional ways of seeking movies for a film festival: call for entries/submissions & inviting films that I know about, I want to try a 3rd method: opening the floor up to the readers of my blog to nominate/suggest some movies that I should invite/try to get to screen at my fest.
Read the 2 or 3 posts below this one to get a full idea about my fest. KRIFF will be a very good deal for indie filmmakers; they will get 15% of tix sales, assistance with travel/housing/food & a chance to sell their DVDs & other merch. And no submission fee.
Here's what I am looking for:
- Fiction features
- No Hollywood or indiewood movies - no Hollywood or indiewood stars, or money, or control in or over these projects.
(some exceptions maybe made if a Holly/indiewood actor has a tiny part/more of a favor to a home town friend as opposed to a major marketing move by the filmmaker or something like that)
(also, real indie movies that eventually, after a lot of self-distribution perhaps, got a big name distro co. for the DVD or something - as in the case with The Debut - is OK, will have to look at it on a case by case basis (perhaps even theatrical through an established Holly/Indiewood company maybe OK in some cases - here I am thinking about movies like Tarnation), since self-distribution has only taken root in the indie scene in a big way kinda recently, only w/in the last couple of years)
- Low budget movies, "no" budget movies, ultra-low budget movies
- High quality movies (movies should be either very interesting in a positive way or entertaining)
- Comedies or dramas generally. Arty stuff (people talking a lot? :) very good. Other genres OK if there is something really special about the films/something that would appeal to a person who is not normally a fan of a given film's genre.
- Not sure yet if I am going to have docs & shorts in the fest (there is already at least one excellent short festival & one excellent doc festival in the DC area). Maybe. Feel free to suggest some anyway/just in case.
- Films that would provide a good value to a paying audience member. The image can be scratchy & or out of focus sometimes & the sound can be off/weird, but the film as a whole - the story/content/ideas has to have something valuable to offer - good/great entertainment or some very good ideas worth thinking about.
- The films can be made whenever, they do not have to be from just '06 or '05. Most likely I will program stuff made within the last 10 - 20 years. Actually I am open to films made & released at any point in time.
How's that for some loose guidelines? OK, suggest away. Filmmakers can nominate their own films if they really think their films would work for an ultra-indie film festival. Films that have been or are being self-distributed are specially welcome.
Thanks!
- Sujewa
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8 comments:
Let me suggest "Crooked Features" which needs more international fest exposure.
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0466740/
http://www.blumpkin.me.uk/
http://www.ratemymovie.co.uk/ (preview)
I think the requirement of a copy on Beta SP (or whatever) is a major downside. I for one, work totally tapeless, and couldn't afford a dub to beta anyway. Now DVD-R, I can manage that.
KRIFF is a great idea, wish you all the best with it!
Hey Mike,
Yeah, you may be right on the Beta tape thing. I myself don't have Date Number One on Beta yet. Perhaps I will go with MiniDV as the tape format. That maybe more affordable to most no-budget filmmakers.
Maybe DVD alone as the projection format will work. But I would feel better if we also had a tape option.
Thanks for the suggestions. Will look into it. I was thinking that this was going to be a US fest only, but you guys do work in English in the UK (and also in Canada & a few other places), so perhaps there is room to easily expand the KRIFF selection criteria
in some cases. There is a very good international film fest in the DC area, so that's why I am mostly focusing on US films at my fest, for the moment.
Anyway, thanks for the suggestions, will think on them.
- Sujewa
Oh I know why I chose to decide to make this years fest for US filmmakers only:
cost of travel
it will probably be a lot cheaper & easier for US based filmmakers to travel to my fest. thus, more affordable to the fest, since the fest will be assisting filmmakers with travel expenses.
but maybe not, will have to look into it. i have seen low air fares from UK to US & back.
- Sujewa
Sujewa,
I may be wrong on this, but mini-DV tapes don't go long enough to hold a feature length film. At least, that was the situation a few years ago... unless they've extended the length, I don't think that'll work for features.
Now DVCAM -- there are feature length tapes available...
Hey Chris,
I think there might be 120 min.MiniDV tapes. I thought I heard that once when I was researching this issue a few months ago.
If not, yeah, if would have to be DV Cam.
Will look into it.
- Sujewa
Hey Sujewa,
Your festival is a wonderful idea! Too bad you seem to be locked on having only films in English, and from US/UK based filmmakers. I think subtitles and foreign financial support systems (from film institutes etc) for films going to festivals in the US most likely (at least in european countries) are quite normal. That is; if a Norwegian real independent film project could've been screened in the festival, there might very likely be local Norwegian funds that would provide the filmmaker with going overseas.
There are 80 minute miniDV tapes that will hold 120 minutes when recorded in LP mode. That's what we always used for our feature, on those rare occasions when we exhibited it on miniDV.
Hey Karsten,
Have not decided on the nationality of the films yet. But I am leaning towards US only, to keep it simple & inexpensive for the fest. At least for 2007.
Yeah, the foreign gov assistance to their filmmakers for travel is a good idea/thing to keep in mind.
We in the DC area do already have a pretty excellent foreign film festival: the DC International Film Festival.
look into it if you are interested in playing a non-US film here in the DC area. plus, there are many embassies, foreign cultrual missions (aliance francais (sp?) does screenings, just one place off the top of my head), & museums (Sackler does Asian stuff pretty regularly) that screen films from other countries. see if you can play your movie in one of thoese places.
Also, i would have to learn exactly what would be a real indie film in each country, plus about their economies, what most people earn, what that buys, etc. since in most countries there is government funding & control over filmmaking & it isn't as simple as it is here to determine what's Hollywood & Indiewood/or similar & what's not. Perhaps one way for foreign real indie films to be incorporated into KRIFF or similar US fests would be there being real indie film fests in other countries, & then I can use their selection criteria as a guide to determine what may or may not qualify as a real indie film in a given country. Maybe such things already exist, will look around.
plus, what is a low budget in a given country? i know what's low budget here because i have a pretty good idea about what various people earn in America & what that amount of money can buy.
i would have to really look deeply into economies/pay/employment & many other related issues in order to figure out what maybe a low budget.
probably not that difficult to do, all the stuff mentioned above. thanks to google! :)
there should be plenty of screening ops for foreign films in the US. i think every major metropolitan area has a foreign film festival. so even if KRIFF '07 is US films only, it won't be a big loss for foreign films. i hope.
- sujewa
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