Documentary Production-Sem 4-For BA(H) Journalism by Shamita Harsh for 01.04.2020
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Unit 4 | Documentary ProductionFestivals & International Market !1 | Shamita Harsh Unit 4- Festivals & International Market What is a film festival? Film festivals are events staged by universities, private organizations, local governments, arts associations and/or film societies. They provide an opportunity for unknown filmmakers to get their movies in front of a real live audience and to have their films reviewed by professional critics. Filmmakers whose movies get accepted into a festival also get valuable press attention and 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 specialized: They may accept only comedies, only Jewish films or only films made by female directors, for example. Some festivals are specific to one film genre, such as documentaries, or to one length, such as shorts. What differentiates a film festival from, say, the Academy Awards, is the open submission policy. Most festivals accept submissions from any filmmaker, regardless of his or her past experience or budget. A number of festivals even invite students to enter and may have a special award category for student films. As technology races forward, film festivals are evolving to keep pace. Many new filmmakers are starting to produce and edit their films on computers rather than on celluloid. And many film buffs are looking to the Internet for the latest independent releases. Following this trend, a number of festivals have expanded into the online arena. Toronto and Sundance are just two of the film festivals that have an online branch. Although they may lack the budget of their real-world cousins, online film festivals can reach far larger audiences. In 2003, the Sundance Online Film Festival site hosted more than 600,000 visitors. Film festivals are the places and events where cinema and the moving image can be elevated and celebrated in all its guises. Film festivals are places of discovery and ritual, where film and cinema can be explored and consumed by audiences of all ages and interests. They are places where new filmmakers can reveal their work to world Unit 4 | Documentary ProductionFestivals & International Market !2 | Shamita Harsh and audiences can discover new talents. Retrospective titles can be honoured and rediscovered. Discussions around movies and film industry can be had and plans for the future can be forged. Why do we need a film festival? Film festivals are a vital link in the chain of global film culture. First of all, in the 21st Century we need festival diversity: in my perfect world, all of them should encourage the breadth and variety of views. Cinema is the most democratic art: it uses the most appropriate language for audiences and can be accessible almost everywhere because of the Internet. Film festivals can consolidate and maintain democracy, peace and freedom. For years we have been teaching our audience to talk about difficult topics, and yet the steady growth of viewers continues. It’s sharing. Thanks to global digitalization film festivals are now an exceptional tool for crossing the communication channels from the most distant places. Film festivals are helping at the frontline of an increasingly polarized world. Speaking multiple languages, they give you the ability to hear a rich diversity of voices from the divided areas. Whatever happens in the farthest place of the world, it occupies the festival screens within the next year. The information you get is much more complex than in TV news and there is a chance to speak to characters or witnesses of the stories directly. Obviously, this contradicts the glamourous festivals of red carpets and dress codes, which are likely to remain in our nostalgic golden past. Four Reasons to Attend Film Festivals 1. Do a deal The primary reason for submitting your film to a film festival is to have it screened in front of acquisition executives who will ‘discover’ your film and make you an offer on the spot. If you are attending one of the smaller festivals, it is unlikely that this will happen. Film buyers travel through the major and mini-major festivals and would only consider a side trip to your screening at a smaller festival if you carefully planned the publicity surrounding your screening. They might reasonably ask why you had not been accepted into a larger, more convenient festival. 2. Filmmakers attend film festivals to win awards If you read bios of filmmakers, you will often see the phrase ‘an award-winning filmmaker’, but the names of the awards are never mentioned. That is because there are only three awards worth naming on a CV. Unit 4 | Documentary ProductionFestivals & International Market !3 | Shamita Harsh The most prestigious award is the Oscar™. Even a nomination is mentioned on a filmmaker’s CV. The Academy has carefully presented itself to the industry as a credible event, although in recent years it has become known as a marketing contest with the cleverest and most expensive marketing campaigns winning the awards. Following that, the Palme d’Or at Cannes is highly esteemed. Its cachet has become established because it is judged by very high profile industry jurors at the most important film festival of the year. The third most sought-after award is the Golden Bear presented at the Berlin Film Festival. Many festivals offer awards to any filmmaker attending their festival as a means of attracting entries. A friend of mine, Dov Simens, had a 20-minute live action short starring William Forsythe. He submitted to the Montreal Film Festival knowing that they had a 35mm live action science fiction short film category and gave out gold, silver and bronze medals. There was one other entrant – Dov won the bronze. A few weeks later he did the same thing at the Cincinnati Film Festival and now calls himself a multiple award-winning filmmaker. 3. Sit on a panel / do Q&As If award winning is not your thing, then get yourself invited to sit on a panel. Not only will it help you hone your public speaking skills, but you can then claim that you were directly involved with the festival. Alternatively, agree to a post-screening Q&A. Audiences are always keen to ‘meet’ the filmmakers and a personal appearance will help sell tickets. 4. Filmmakers attend film festivals to get reviewed Film journalists really do not enjoy film festivals. Suppose your first film festival is a small regional film festival, a mom and pop film festival. The local weekly newspaper will have a film journalist who creates the weekly centre spread on movies from the press kits supplied by the major distributors. But with the film festival approaching, s/he will have to watch all the films entered into the festival and write reviews. As a producer, you want a good review, and hope and pray that the pictures you sent to the festival with your press kit are attractive enough to get printed in the newspaper. The film journalist for this small weekly newspaper also has career aspirations. S/he would like to work on one of the daily papers, or get a job reviewing films on a radio or television station. Because the newspaper is so small they also have to cover the horse racing, but a festival really gives them some hope of a ticket out of Smallsville. Unit 4 | Documentary ProductionFestivals & International Market !4 | Shamita Harsh Journalists have learned that they should always print a superlative in their review, even if they hate it, because they know you will quote their review out of context. For example: ‘Elliot’s first film is a fine example of how not to make a movie’ becomes ‘Elliot’s first film is a fine example’. When you quote the journalist out of context they then can include your quote in their portfolio. If their quote makes it onto your poster, be certain you include their name and publication and send them a copy! Inside some documentary film festivals in India Cinema is an integral part of art and culture, and also a medium that reaches out to a vast audience. The ability to communicate a message to the viewer through an audio visual channel makes movies unique among other arts. With time, films have become a lucrative business, and the artistic sentiment has been overshadowed by commercial cinema. But there are still platforms which celebrate the fascinating art form that cinema is and are aptly called film festivals. In order to allow cinema devotees to explore the art of films, and have access to the hidden gems of the art form, we have handpicked a few film festivals from across India. Mumbai Film Festival (MAMI) Mumbai is the home to the Indian film industry, and hundreds of talented film makers who give their best to create magic on the celluloid. What better place to celebrate cinema in India than the city of dreams itself. Source: nri tribune Unit 4 | Documentary ProductionFestivals & International Market !5 | Shamita Harsh Organised by the Mumbai Academy of Movie Imaging (MAMI), the festival is held in October-November. It showcases a variety of cinema like independent and art house films, alongside movies from Bollywood and Hollywood.The best of world cinema is brought to Mumbai, in an event where the likes of Aamir Khan and Tarantino find an equal platform. Mumbai women's international film festival Women have been an integral part of Indian cinema, be it as actresses enchanting the audience, or film makers known for their handling of human emotion.