Well, we’re right smack dab into the film festival game, and it’s such a neurotic, crazy, uncertain state to be in.
At this point, we still have about 15 submissions pending. So far, our record is 2-9, with 6 rejections coming in a row last week (ouch). I mean, I’ll keep getting back up, but at least give me a second to catch my breath.
A couple of the rejections were surprises and those stung a little (OK, a lot). The Kansas International Film Festival in Kansas City said no and I had high hopes for that festival since we have a lot of people in the Kansas City area and we WON THE AUDIENCE AWARD there 5 years ago. Hmph. Wait a difference 5 years makes, huh?
And the ImagineNATIVE Film Festival in Toronto also said no, and I had high hopes for that festival, too. Since, you know, we’re a Native film (though I think our story might not have been “Native” enough for them, since my characters are just regular people dealing with an unreal situation — zombies. They probably like stories about Native people being “Native”).
Other than that, the other rejections were just festivals I thought might find us interesting (like the Coney Island Film Festival, which had a horror category). But no.
So, yes, it was difficult not to be bitter about all of it. And not so much because these festivals said no to the film, but the reality that we might not do as well at the festival game as I had hoped. This isn’t my first rodeo, and it’s an exhausting process. I just hoped it might be different this time. But it’s not going to be, and I just have to face the fact. That doesn’t mean our film isn’t great. it just means it doesn’t fit into the festival niche.
But that’s really irrelevant, we just have to keep trying to get our film out there any way possible. Festivals are only one means, but that in itself is a long shot.
For instance, we just got another rejection today, from the New York Film Festival, which I was completely expecting but only submitted to because it was free. They got 1,300 submissions and will only screen 35 films. Of those 35, about 20 films were invited from other festivals, such as Cannes. So the odds of getting into the NYFF purely by submission is almost impossible. (Former Variety film critic Todd McCarthy, who was a programmer for the festival this year for the first time, writes an interesting article about the process on his blog.)
Another festival that I dreamed of screening at was Fantastic Fest in Austin, but that’s not going to happen, either. (UPDATE: 8/24: Got the rejection e-mail today.) And it says right on their Web site that only about 35 percent of their programmed films are culled from submissions. The rest are invited or shown as “special screenings,” i.e. premieres, etc. Again, almost impossible.
Add to all this the uncertainty, the hysterically neurotic state that this puts the filmmaker in. It’s like exposing a raw nerve only to have people thump it over and over and over.
But I’m not alone. The message boards at Withoutabox.com, the film festival submission Web site that most festivals use, is littered with filmmakers airing their woes and frustrations about the festival system (and it’s nice to see people who relate, because I can’t seem to get anyone to understand how maddening and frustrating this is).
Mostly, filmmakers there rant about how a lot of festivals are lax in letting you know about your submission, although they are all too happy to take your submission fee (usually about $50 a pop). They may say they treasure independent filmmakers and truly independent visions, but how some of these festivals treat filmmakers sure leaves a lot to be desired. (And I know, I know, it’s a LOT of work to put on a festival, but come on…)
It takes a lot of determination, guts and stamina to play the festival game. We’re actually really just getting started. It’s an up-and-down numbers game, and hopefully some of these other festivals want us. But if not, I have to focus on the positive, and there is actually A LOT of that with our film.
First, there’s the already mentioned Southern Winds Film Festival, and we’re thrilled to be screening there. It’s going to be a really fun time. Also, we got invited to screen at a couple of other places, including in Arizona with one of our diehard supporters, Keith Moses, who runs a festival for the Colorado River Indian Tribe. It’s support like this that will help us triumph.
Because I’m not looking for stardom. That will never happen. I just want to get my movie seen, however and doing whatever it takes. I’d go door-to-door showing it, if I could.
But for now, we’ll concentrate on other things. We’ll take the bad with the good, one moment at a time, just like everything else in filmmaking. Why should this be any different?
See you in the ticket line,
-r.
