Sugar rush hour from Bianca Consunji on Vimeo.
This is admirable filmmaking: a documentary exactly as long as it needs to be, and not a second more. There are filmmakers out there who would try to make a feature-length doc out of this but documentarian Bianca Consunji sums up a man's life in two exquisite minutes. I don't know if this was submitted to film festivals but it could play a ton of them.
At some point in the near future I may write up a semi-serious response to this video, but for now – just watch.
A thoughtful, fascinating look at the history of creativity and innovation. This is part three of a series comprising four ten- (or so) minute episodes. See them all at everythingisaremix.info.
Ronen's Adventure: Trapped in an iPhone from Ronen V on Vimeo.
Clever, clever stuff from Ronen V in New York. I quite like one of his other videos too: How to Cook Beef Stroganoff and Fight Off a Ninja.
Thanks to @rebfef for the link.
The Ballad of Friday and June (2009) from Jollyville Pictures on Vimeo.
This was a big favorite of mine on the festival circuit last year. It's short, funny, poignant, heartfelt, and other adjectives that mean "wonderful."
Now you can watch it in its entirety online and see what I mean.
Breathe. Focus. Octopus. from Jon Gann on Vimeo.
If you ever wanted to see the kind of short film a festival programmer would make, here's your chance. Jon Gann is the driving force behind the D.C. Shorts Film Festival. Jon and his team made this film as part of the Washington D.C. edition of the 48 Hour Film Project.
A smart move from the Festivus Film Festival; this series of YouTube videos presents volunteer screeners talking about the films they pulled from the stacks and got through to programming. It's a great way highlight the films in your festival, present yourself as an organization that keeps its filmmakers' interests in mind, and draw attention to your event in the process. There's a bunch of these on the Festivus FF Youtube channel.
Seven excellent minutes from filmmaker Zak Forsman on why you want to show up at festivals and what you should work to get out of them. This video starts a "virtual panel session" from filmmakers in the Workbook Project.
This is a great example of what I call "next-level" humor in short films. So many comedies make jokes that only play on the obvious and go in the expected directions. Trevor's in Heaven lulls you into thinking you know what's going to happen next and then slaps you around for a bit, always escalating the humor to the next level. Just watch.
A clever bit of marketing from the Atlanta Film Festival -- interviews with indie film insiders (including yours truly) on the streets of Austin during SXSW, singing the praises of both Atlanta and Atlanta Film Fest. Fest director Gabe Wardell and his peeps shot the video using tiny Flip cameras. Festivals often use video to promote their events through film trailers and the occasional "festival trailer," but creative projects like this one really accentuate the fact that there are other ways to use the medium.
And speaking of video projects, I'm long overdue to plug parts 3 and 4 of Mark Potts' series of ads for the Film Festival Secrets book. I'll embed each of them here soon but if you were too lazy to go look for them yourself I didn't want to deny you the pleasure of watching them any longer. Part 4 is fabulously tasteless.
For those of you on the outside of this particular in-joke, here's the Wikipedia entry on the mumblecore "movement."
Though most of you have likely torn through all four of these, I feel like parcelling them out one at a time here on the blog. Savor them. Promos by Mark Potts of Singletree Productions.
Creating Reminders for Film Festival Deadlines from Film Festival Secrets on Vimeo.
The first of a series of video tutorials on useful tools you can use to make your life on the festival circuit easier. With Sundance and Slamdance announcing their slates, a number of filmmakers are looking into their festival options for the rest of the year -- only to find that the deadlines for many Spring festivals have already gone by.
Don't miss any more deadlines! Use these free web tools to send yourself automated reminders when the dates approach.
Nice to see that Susan is making movies again after all of the effort that went into selling and promoting Four-Eyed Monsters.
Current is establishing itself as a combination web/TV documentary powerhouse, and films like I Heart Global Warming are cementing that reputation. If you're a doc filmmaker and you haven't considered Current as an outlet for your material, tune in to I Heart Global Warming and see what Current is up to now.
 | The Better Film Festival Submissions Toolkit has a very simple purpose: to help you improve the way you submit your work to film festivals.
Divided into 7 core tasks with a discussion of each task, the 16-page Toolkit is designed for quick reading and gives you concrete, actionable tasks to make your film submissions package better. Best of all, you'll get the insight you need to better understand what programmers look for and how to submit with confidence. |