From: S B (email suppressed)
Date: Thu Jun 11 2009 - 23:20:01 PDT
>I know the phrase was put in scare quotes for irony, but I would be cautious
>about using the term "hate mail" in regards to filmmaker responses.
-- Granted, I used a very loaded term, and I completely understand its direct connection to racism, sexism, etc. I never said that disappointment (or as you say 'frustration') isn't legitimate. I simply feel that calling a programmer a motherfucker is a form of harassment and I have no tolerance for such behaviour. These immediately sent angry replies are sadly increasing in our experience @ Images and are simply unnecessary IMHO. We all know that not every film can be screened in a festival. We also know that by engaging with a submission process of any sort, there's a chance you'll get a green light and a chance you'll get a red light. If a red light is going to trigger a hateful response I would kindly suggest not engaging the possibility in the first place, or at least get a good therapist before submitting! :) >I know that the curator side of me has been privy to some pretty scorching emails, a sour newspaper article and one particularly brutal phone call, but some complaints and frustrations are legitimate. Are you saying that the frustration should allow for a scorching simply because of an exchange involving a gatekeeper with power? I understand it's emotional terrain, absolutely, but not one in which angry venomous missives are deemed acceptable and a part of the process. >Curators are gate-keepers, of a sort, and that creates a power relationship that is sometimes difficult to maneuver (and which has caused the artist side of me to behave shockingly on occasion... apologies to those I have scorched). Curator's decisions are often called into question (each town has their grumblings when a festival line-up goes up; some grumblings are publicised on this list, or worse, in newspapers), but the investment that a filmmaker has in a piece of work is much stronger than any festival programmer can have towards that one particular piece and the response may reflect that. One would hope that email responses would have more grace, but it is difficult and emotional terrain to navigate. >The strange part of this thread has been about the notion of "feedback". One of my most mortifying early experiences was when I supplied comments and critiques to an artist much more experienced than I when I rejected his piece from a screening series I was involved in. His email response (rough in tone from exasperation), was that he had supplied his film to be considered, not critiqued. I think that's an important point to hold onto. The notion that there needs to be feedback in the submission process carries the danger of the the idea that the filmmaker is somehow an amateur (room for improvement) or that something went wrong with the film along the way (too much orange 3 minutes in?). It also forgets that curation isn't just about selecting the "best" work, but about creating an experience for an audience. Again, the curator doesn't have as strong a relationship to one piece as the filmmaker does. Her or his investment is in a series of work that work together in some way. Do we expect feedback and critique when we've gotten in? I disagree. Sure, curation isn't not just about the best getting in, and putting together a program with an arc, an 'experience' - means that some very strong work gets left out because it doesn't fit into the program flow, trajectory, 'experience'. I feel feedback is an important part of the process, as a filmmaker, as a festival director and a programmer. I agree, you can't offer it up automatically, but I think when makers ask for feedback its important for the programmer to offer their thoughts and insights and yes, I love feedback and/or critique if I'm screening BUT Chris it's not an automatic part of the process but if someone wants it, what's wrong with that?? >A simple "you're in" or "you're out", put nicely, is really the best way to go. But notification is a must, especially if the filmmaker has paid money to submit and ESPECIALLY (often not considered), if the filmmaker only has a limited number of prints to traffic around. Not knowing if you're in a festival because the festival is too ______ (insert excuse) to notify you makes it very difficult sometimes to figure out how to ship the print around. Fortunately most of the festivals that have inhabitants on this listserv are very good about notification. Agreed. >I think, in general, there's a ten percent rule: 10% of works submitted get into a festival and your work gets into 10% of the festivals you submit to (unless you're a BIG name, in which case you only have to write scorching emails to the 10% that turn you down). Scorch on if you must. . . But remember, each festival/programmer has a solid memory -- and talks to others in our small world all the time! Yours, Scott __________________________________________________________________ For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.