I watched Terry Bonos’s short doc about the Swansea Bay Film Festival - and I am horrified by the way they were treated as film makers - more so, I was horrfied by the way their film was treated at the festival.
I have been a curator, and editor, a seection official, a jury member at quite a few festivals, I have been organising conferences, workshops, festivals as an employee, as a consultant and as a volunteer for most of my adult life - so I have seen my fair share of Festival action - but I have never seen anything as it has been documented it in the short doc.
I do however have a few general remarks - things I thought about whilst watching.
Usually, for festivals - people submit their productions for different reasons. Sometimes, productions are submitted by the producers - so they need to sell the productions, get an audience.
When filmmakers submit their productions to festivals - their need is usually completely different to that of a producer, usually to get a professional feedback from their colleagues, to do some networking, and to generally get to rub shoulders in the industry in the sense of “Professional Education” so to speak.
But as we know there are so many forms of love as there are people - so to is the case with film festivals.
Some festivals are merely tourism motors. They draw a few big stars, to lure a holidaying audience to a town. Usually, the municipality is part of the organising committee, everything is trimmed to look extremely glossy, the value of these festivals, is that a very big audience gets to see your production, if you have a sweet spot in the schedule, so you stand a good chance to carry home an award - which might look good on your CV - or in the case of the Swansea Bay International Film Festival maybe less so.
Some festivals is aimed at a professional audience. The idea of these festivals is to get professional feedback, make partnerships for future projects, talk about co-productions, exchange solutions for common problems. Because the audience is a professional one, it might be that the production is only screened in a clip, or a short version, because professionals tend to get the idea, and can judge craftmanship. Usually, festivals like these have packed programme libraries, where people watch the full version of the productions they saw discussed at length in the public screenings. At these festivals, film makers walk around with DVDs of their productions and share them colleagially (unthinkable at a sales type festival, where copyright etc. is a huge issue). These festivals or conferences, tend to not give away awards, but the under the table, non-official commisionning, selling and buying is a huge factor.
Then there are festivals who are in it for the money. Usually, almost 2/3 of people walk away with some award, one way or the other - and the submission fees are quite steep. So, if you need an award, that might look cool on your filmography, this is the kind of festival you need to enter. Here, screenings take place in small rooms, the audience is not too big, the jury meetings are not public and generally no-one really knows who decided about the awards, but strangely, everyone is happy to get one. The festival Gala is given a lot of emphasis.
Then, there are the festivals that draw huge attention from the Press, huge attention from a broad audience, and on the sidelines, business is made. Usually, these festivals expect a film to be premiered there, the charge for submission is quite high, it is rather long (in comparison to other festivals) and the business that is made, is far away from the filmmaker. It is more aimed towards selling licences etc. For documentaries, this kind of festival is a little different, because usually, if you need partners in a production, the earlier they can join in, the more eager potential partners are - so theoretically, you need to pitch, and you need to have the chance to pitch your idea. I do not mean a set out “Pitching Session” but I mean - the right people should be brought together, and the line at the coffee stand should be long enough for you to get chatting. Also, you need to be more communicative than most other filmmakers.
- Enough of that - my point is, there are many different festivals, with many different profiles. To survive as a festival - a festival needs to have a clear profile. So when, as a filmmaker you submit your production to a film festival - you have to be absolutely clear whether the festival profile suits your film, and your needs.
Here are a few tips for filmmakers I would look at before deciding whether I want my production screened at a festival.
1) If there is a submission fee for my production, what do I get in return?
The thing filmmakers forget, and what festivals enjoy, is that sometimes you fall into awe of a festival (and the possibility to be screened there), and forget that you are practically paying for a service. With the submission fee are they guaranteeing it to be screened to a professional selection committee (who are they?, how many eyes decide whether my production is good enough for the festival, what is the selection process?) - or do they simply read the submission form, and see whether it fits into the thematic storyline of the festival. What costs are then occured, and will the return be worth it? So, I paid the submission fee, they screened it to a few people who seem to know what it is all about, and now they ask me to make copies, pay for printing fees, pay for an advertisement in the catalogue, etc. etc. Once your film is selected, the festival is in debt to you - because they get to write your production on their flag as a mark of quality… They are now filling their catalogue, their screening rooms etc. with your production.
2) No submission fee (yeah, right)
This is the kind of festival I would generally submit to, but be careful of the obligations, before submitting. Now, once your production is selected, you might be responsible to actaully attend the screening on your own cost, you might have to make copies for the screening and programme library - just be aware of these costs before submitting. Know what your return is on your investment beforehand, and know whether it is worth it. In this solution, I usually find, that the exchange is bigger - the festival has your production to put in their programme, and you have the chance to be screened in the festival, and take part in it. What you make out of the participation is completely up to you.
I made a film about MS, then certainly, at the Womans Health Film Festival they will have a spot for my film. Ok. This is one way of doing it. Just know, that the audience is going to ask you questions about MS, and not about the craftmanship. You will also not find many buyers, many commissioning editors or distributors at these festivals - but hey, you spent three years on the topic, it might be nice to share your experiences. (Histoy Film Festivals, Science Film Festivals, etc. etc.) Know what you are in for, and know whether that suits your needs.
Usually festivals like these take almost any film as they need to fill quite a few cinemas. So, the general quality is not too high, and the professional standing of these festivals are dubious - to say the least, but your film is screened about the audience. Usually, after the screening you might be given 15 minutes to answer audience questions. Here are a few examples of those “How did you convince that interviewee to take part?”, “Was is difficult to film in the wind like that?” … See where I am going?
Festivals that I can vouch for, are very few - and I would not call them festivals, but more conferences. I have learnt, through hard experiences, that places like IDFA (excellent Festival) have become irrelevant, because the main goal of this highbrid festival (audience & sales) was the chance to pitch productions to Commissioning Editors. Commissioning Editors (or the ones that matter) however tend to not go to these festivals anymore - as they are literally stalked, hunted down and cornered by filmmakers, in every thinkable moment to listen to pitches for great productions.
I do not think that Terry and his partner actually spent time to a) see whether their production was right for Swansea, or b) what kind of festival Swansea actually was (other than international). these things are easily checked, and should be done before submitting a production. It just tends to make sure that everyone - both film and festival is in a win win situation.
My ten cents, thanks for reading.
