Film Festival Secrets

"At festival screenings in the Palais, folks are deadly serious, dressed to the nines and behave with a generally austere manner befitting the most respectful film-going audience in the world," League said. "Just 100 meters away, appropriately through the back door of the same building, dozens of tiny rooms are outfitted with 6-foot screens, cheap video projectors and home-grade sound systems. This is the Marche du Film, where I spend the bulk of my time. Instead of tuxedos, folks are wearing sweat pants and T-shirts. Buyers are talking at full volume on cell phones during the screenings. At any given time, one-third of the audience will be either texting or snoring. If a film doesn't deliver in the first five minutes, half of the room clears out and buyers move on to the next room. I start watching about eight movies a day; I usually finish three of them. If you are a filmmaker with a movie in the [Market], do not attend your screenings. It might break your soul."

James Rocchi interviews Fantastic Fest director Tim League for an exploration of the fascinating (and terrifying) Cannes Marché du Film (Film Market).

The Vimeo Festival and Awards invites video creators throughout the world to submit their finest original online videos and then come celebrate as we award the best of the best. All the details on how to submit your videos, and/or buy tickets to the upcoming events, coming soon!

I'm not usually keen on online festivals but it looks as if Vimeo will be holding "real world" screenings as well for their awards in Fall 2010. Keep an eye on this one.

LightCube Video is seeking video and experimental film works exploring the themes of Freedom and Independence and their relation to Sustainability: societal, economic and environmental.

Chosen, curated videos will be exhibited at Visual Voice gallery in Montreal, and given online exposure and sales potential on LightCubevideo.com. Online digital formats will be specially formatted for fine art collectors or film distribution.

The FREEDOM SPARKS VIDEO AND FILM Festival will open July 1 (Canadian Independence Day) and run through the 4th of July, (American Independence Day) for two weeks.

THERE IS NO ENTRANCE FEE. Works will be curated by selected independent curators.
DEADLINE: May 30, 2010.

After several years of flying under the radar and letting competing showcases take root, the Boston Film Festival is getting organized early and seems ready to take off for its 26th edition.

Translated: the all-volunteer Independent Film Festival of Boston has been kicking the older festival's ass. (Apparently a 19-year head start didn't help.) I don't know much about the fall festival but it seems to me Boston is a town big enough to support (at least) two quality indie film events each year. The current Boston FF site doesn't give any insight as to the festival's past programming, so I'll be curious to see what they come up with for their 2010 slate.

It is with an extremely heavy heart that we are are posting this. After struggling for the past 18 months since the economic crisis, Gen Art has finally succumbed to the recession.

During this challenging time we did everything in our power to adjust our business to these new business realities by cutting costs and seeking out alternative funding solutions. However when a major, new, corporate partnership unexpectedly collapsed a few weeks ago, we found ourselves without sufficient resources or time to overcome this sudden and substantial loss of revenue. Their decision had the unintended effect of pushing Gen Art over the edge. We have now halted all operations, have let go all of our amazing staff, and shuttered the business that we hope was in some small way  was as close to your heart - as it was ours.

Gen Art's New York-based film festival served as a small but intense launching pad for independent filmmakers. This is a tough one for folks like Jeff Abramson who were the collective heart of a scrappy arts organization, the likes of which are rapidly disappearing in the U.S.

This puts me in mind of an article by William Osborne about the differences in public funding for the arts between the U.S. and European countries. I realize it's difficult to argue for increased arts funding when we can barely get our government to help keep its citizens alive, but it's a conversation worth having.

De Niro colleague Jane Rosenthal stated the ongoing intention of Tribeca to offer “a diverse group of films to a wide group of audiences”—in other words, something for everyone. As a guiding mandate, that declaration rings hollow, especially within the context of the program itself. In a sense, Tribeca indeed has it all, from midsize, star-studded indies to far-flung international selections. But the lack of connectivity makes it difficult to find the movies that are worth a damn, especially since even the good ones tend to divide people.

IndieWire's Eric Kohn spanks the Tribeca Film Festival for trying to please everyone all the time.

Festival coverage in general tends to focus on the biggies -- Sundance, Toronto, Cannes, Berlin -- but regional festivals like this one in Dallas (or the Savannah Film Festival in Georgia, or the Oxford Film Festival in Mississippi) feel important in a different way. They breed grassroots-level enthusiasm for movies -- mainstream, independent, foreign, or short-form -- and foster community around discussions of said films.

Q. After your experience with “Purple Violets,” which was released exclusively on iTunes, did that sour you on the prospects of digital distribution?

A. For us, “Purple Violets” didn’t have the highest profile. I don’t know how well it did for the financiers. The problem I’ve had the last couple years is, you make these films, you get released in New York and L.A., and then you’re going to platform from there. A lot of times you don’t get beyond the second platform. But I’ve always had the ability to get pretty decent publicity for my films. You have, let’s say, people in St. Louis and Kansas City and Cincinnati who might see Selma Blair on “Conan” talking about the film, get really excited for it, and then it doesn’t get to that city. And by the time it comes out on DVD, they’ve forgotten about seeing Selma Blair and getting excited. What the iTunes thing enabled, in the moment when you have your greatest heat, publicity-wise, everybody who’s into your film can access your film. For the small movies, that’s probably the model that makes the most sense.

According to a YouTube spokesperson via email, “When we announced YouTube Rentals in January we said we would be creating a destination after more partners joined the program. To date, we have nearly 500 partners that have joined our Rental program.

YouTube's online rental concept was introduced at the Sundance Film Festival in January and it looks like their model of presenting films currently running the festival circuit will continue. For example, you can rent Metropia (which has played extensively in Europe, at Fantastic Fest, and is now playing at Tribeca) on YouTube for $5.99.

One of the highlights, or lowlights, of this weekend’s TFF will certainly be the world premiere of “Ticked Off Trannies With Knives,” Israel Duva’s revenge fantasy featuring such sure-to-be-indelible characters as Bubbles Cliquot, Tipper Sommore, Rachel Slurr and Emma Grashun. And Pinky La’Trimm. Already, the film has caused a tsunami of vitriol on Tribeca’s Web site: “To make the attacks and murders of transgender women into a form of stupid entertainment is beyond unenlightened, it’s offensive and ultimately sexist,” wrote Anna R. “Tribeca Film Festival should be ashamed of yourselves for presenting this!” All this, and for a film that has yet to premiere. The fact that there’s so much pre-emptive venom when no one has actually seen the movie will undoubtedly make it one of the hottest ticket at Tribeca. We can’t wait to cross the picket line.