From: Jason Halprin (email suppressed)
Date: Sat Sep 22 2007 - 16:51:32 PDT
Ah yes, I didn't look carefully enough at the entry form, and stand
corrected. It does appear that Media City has a "newness" requiremen.
Of course, for a film shot in 1929 that you have just rediscovered, you
can always slap a new shot at the end and declare it a 2007
production;).
I've always viewed most "International" film fests as being entirely
different than those that focus on experimental work, including SF
International and Montreal (not to mention Chicago IFF). I was
focusing on those with an experimental bent in the list I drew up, not
just an experimental category.
To get back to your original query, in addition to what Roger and Chris
have said on this topic, many curators of festivals seem to be open to
showing older work. Their real criteria is whether or not there has
been ample opportunity for the work to have been seen in the local area
of the festival. There is always the opportunity to look at the entry
guidelines of a festival and contact the director about work that does
not seem to fit, but you are interested in showing (Dominic- you
already know all of this, I keep writing for the benefit of some of the
students/younger folk on this list).
As for competitive festivals (or portions thereof), rules need to be in
place, and a qualifier that the film must have been made in the last
2-3 years seem no less arbitrary than say that it must be under 30
minutes.
If anything, the attraction I see in putting a two year limit on the
entries is that the main portion of a festival should be where
innovative new work can be seen. Sidebars, tributes, retrospectives,
etc. are great, but what I would really like to see is more individual
screenings within festivals that focus on historically unseen work. I
guess the catch-22 there is that if the work hasn't been seen very
often, how should I know it's worthwhile (or even exists?).
-Jason Halprin
Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2007 15:39:34 -0700
From: DOMINIC ANGERAME <email suppressed>
Subject: Re: MEDIA CITY 2008
Hi Jason..when I downloaded the entry form for Media
City it asked what date the film being entered was
made and there were two boxes (one to be Checked) and
the dates were 2006 or 2007.
Now suppose I found a film that my father made in 1929
in the attic that no one had ever seen and it was a
masterpiece...I could not enter it into a festival
because it is not new...or a new Oskar Fischinger film
was found made in the 30's, etc. that too would be
excluded...
I agree with giving younger and newer filmmakers an
opportunity to show their work at festivals and
encourage them to do so....I also feel the opportunity
should be given to older films, some that have never
been seen by anyone, the same opportunity.
I have entered hundred of Festivals over the past
twenty five years and the vast majority have on the
entry forms that films over two years old are not
acceptable.
The Montreal International Film Festival also has the
same regulation....it is stated on the download....
The Media City Festival on line description does not
indicate that a film cannot be more than two years old
however the application form seems to indicate that
you cannot.....
PS I am still entering the festival and not checking
the boxes marked 2006 or 2007 and marking the film the
correct date...I will see what happens.
Dominic Angerame
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