2. WHAT ARE FILM FESTIVALS?
Film Festivals are events staged by universities, private organisations, local
government, arts associations and/or film societies. They provide an
opportunity for unknown filmmakers to get their movies in front of real live
audiences and to have their films reviewed by professional critics.
Filmmakers who get their movies accepted into a festival also get valuable
press attention and also exposure to prospective agents and buyers, not to
mention a sometimes sizeable cash award if they win.
Some festivals are broad in scope – they welcome a wide range of subject
matter and film lengths. But other festivals are far more specialised. They
may accept only comedies. Some festivals are specific to one film genre, such
as documentaries, or to one length, such as shorts.
3. WHO ATTENDS FILM FESTIVALS?
Many film festivals are open to the public. People can buy tickets or passes that
will give them admission to film screenings. Festivals generally seem to sell
tickets for individual screenings and for a discount, for groups of screenings.
Because a lot of festivals rely on outside funding for support, they can offer
membership for a yearly fee. Members not only get tickets to festival
screenings, but they also get invitations to special events, discounts at local
restaurants and shops and also the opportunity to purchase festival tickets
before they are available to the public.
At the festivals, the movie is screened for the jury as well as for the audiences.
The jury is usually made up of film critics, professors and filmmakers who will
judge each film for its artistic merit, production value, creativity and overall the
impression. Most film festivals also give the audience an opportunity to judge.
4. HOW DO FILMMAKERS SUBMIT FILMS?
Each film festival has its own set of rules. Generally filmmakers are given a deadline
by which they need to submit one or more of their films. Some festivals accept
films that have already been screened elsewhere, other require that films have not
been broadcasted anywhere prior to the festival, so it will be unique.
The films entered in the festival may range from shorts that are just a few minutes
in length to full length features that run 1.5 hours or more. Festivals will normally
accept one or more formats asked to submit a director bio, a synopsis and a list of
all production credits.
Not every film is right for every festival, submitting a film to the wrong festival is
likely to end in rejection. Therefore before submitting a film for consideration,
filmmakers need to research which festivals are most appropriate for the subject
matter. The biggest and the most prestigious festivals (CANNES and SUNDANCE) are
usually the hardest to break into because there is so much competition for a limited
number of slots.
