Film Festivals: Positive Reviews & Deserved Boos: Pt. 21 - Festival Reviews REVIEW!

AN ONGOING SERIES ABOUT ONE SILLY LITTLE MAN’S FILM FESTIVAL SUBMISSION EXPERIENCE

Film Festivals: Positive Reviews & Deserved Boos: Pt. 21 – Festival Reviews REVIEW!

Article by Justin Bowler

For those of you who don’t know, this is an ongoing review series about my film festival submission experience. These festival reviews are not based on whether or not I was accepted to their festival, it is based merely on my interaction with them as a filmmaker inquiring about their festival and if my genre film is the right fit. I send them three questions, and they are “Yes or No”. It’s pretty easy. Yet, for some reason, some fests, despite multiple inquiries, can’t/don’t/won’t respond.

Filmmakers submit their films online to festivals. They can pay upwards of $100 just to be considered. Yet, they never get confirmation that their film was actually watched. They never speak with anyone from the fest. They don’t know who is judging the film. It could be someone well versed in cinematic theory, who has studied film for years, dissected scenes for hidden nuances, and has a few degrees in writing, film studies and art. OR it could be some random guy who “really likes” going to movies, sees a lot of Hollywood blockbusters, and has opinions on which Transformers movie is the best of Michael Bay’s work. Sadly, filmmakers are forced to “trust the system”. It can be very sketchy. Some festivals take the time to make sure it isn’t, whereas others just don’t want and/or care to make it otherwise

Check out my friend Paul Osborne’s documentary Official Rejection. It will give you some real insight into how unfriendly some fests are to filmmakers. Sadly, it will blow your mind. Some fests only watch the first few minutes of your film, some don’t watch any of your film. Yet, they all accept your submission fee. It is an eye opening and sad realization.

Let me set the scene. I have a short film called OH, THE EFFING HORROR. (That’s right, the title is meant to be shouted.) Check out the trailer HERE.

Clearly, it is a genre picture. It’s a horror/comedy, or “Horr-omedy”. In addition to the gore and general subject matter, it contains nudity. Finally, with a run time of almost seventeen minutes, it may be too long for some festivals to program. All three of these points give rise to questions I have for festivals.
– First, do they program horror films? (The majority of the fests out there are NOT horror fests, so I would like to know if they even consider the genre in their short film competition.)
– Second, do they accept films with nudity? (Plenty of festivals have to keep it family friendly. I don’t have a problem with that, but, I would like to know that before I shell out my $45.)
– Third, is a seventeen minute run time too long? (Many fests have time limits for their shorts, but don’t always post that info on WithoutaBox.com or FilmFreeway.com.) (For you newcomers, these are the two websites used for the majority of festival submissions.)

My journey began by contacting festivals through the informational email they listed on WithoutaBox.com or FilmFreeway.com. In my email, I stated who I was, the answers I was seeking and inquired who could answer.

This is a look back at the past twenty weeks to see, in short form, who received POSITVE REVIEWS and who received NEGATIVE REVIEWS.

LEGEND:
Black – Positive Reviews
Bold – OH, THE EFFING HORROR Acceptances
Red – Negative Reviews
Purple – Undecided Review

Week 1.
Cheyenne ZombieFest Horror Film Festival – 6th Annual Festival
Miami International Science Fiction Film Festival – 4th Annual

Week 2.
Socal Clips Indie Film Fest
Brightside Tavern Film Festival

Week 3.
Die Laughing Film Festival
Slamdance Film Festival
Seattle International Film Festival- 43 Annual

Week 4.
Los Angeles Film and Script Festival
Tally Shorts
Fantastic Planet: Sidney Sci-fi and Fantasy Film Fest

Week 5.
Long Beach International Indie Film Fest
Fic Autor
Green Bay International Film Festival

Week 6.
Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival
CinePlay Film Awards
NO RESPONSES AT ALL
Challengers International Film Festival
Oregon Short Film Festival
Dreamers International Film Festival
Malta Film Festival
London Classic Film Festival

Week 7.
Dam Short Film Fest
ICE Film Festival
RiverRun International Film Festival

Week 8.
Julien Dubuque International Film Festival
Media Film Festival
International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival
Atlanta Shortsfest
Austin Revolution Film Festival

Week 9.
Atlanta Film Festival
California International Shorts Festival (CISF) (Winter)
NO RESPONSES AT ALL
Liverpool Independent Film Festival
Cinemagic London

Week 10.
Dawson City International Short Film Festival
Zed Fest Film Festival & Screenplay Competition 2016
Short. Sweet. Film Fest
San Luis Obispo International Film Festival

Week 11.
Northeast Film Festival Horror Fest
Depth of Field International Film Festival
Washington DC Independent Film Festival
New York City Independent Film Festival

Week 12.
Chhatrapati Shivaji International Film Festival
Columbus International Film + Video Festival
Newport Beach Film Festival

Week 13.
Dallas International Film Festival
Kew Gardens Film Festival

Week 14.
Pacific Coast Premiere
Omaha Film Festival
Big Easy International Film Festival

Week 15.
Maryland International Film Festival
International Filmmaker Festival of World Cinema – London

Week 16.
Dances with films
Southside Film Festival
Update: Omaha Film Festival

Week 17.
Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival
Nashville Film Festival
FirstGlance Film Festival

Week 18.
Oaxaca FilmFest
Crimson Screen Horror Film Fest
West Chester Film Festival

Week 19.
Hoboken International Film Festival
NYC Downtown Short Film Festival
Love Horror Short Film Festival

Week 20.
NO RESPONSES AT ALL
Lisbon International Film Festival
Lake George Film Festival
Illinois International Film Festival
New York State International Film Festival

If you would like to know more, check out the past articles for this series with the links below. If you would like to find out more info about my genre film, follow it on Instagram @OhTheEffingHorror for instant updates.

Once again, I’d like to hear your stories about festival submitting. If you think there is more to be said about any of the festivals I have reviewed, then I would love to hear it.

Thanks for joining me, check back Friday to find which fests are fab and which fests are effed. (See what I did there?)

Let’s stay positive!