Part 4

Festivals

Question One: Which are the feature film festivals that have important shorts sections?

First, let’s begin with some of the bigger feature film festivals with shorts sections.

As one of the UK’s leading feature film festivals, the BFI shorts section is one of the more important in Britain.

Likewise, the Edinburgh international film festival has seen shorts screened there from many popular British Directors.

The world’s leading International film festival. The Cannes Film festival broadcasts an array of Short Films from all around the globe. Former festival winners include Scottish Director Lynne Ramsey, whose short film Gasman won the Jury prize in 1998.

It must acknowledged, however, that these

festivals are HUGE

Competition is therefore very tight, as having a Short Film screened there gives aspiring directors a very good chance of having your work shown to both the press, and perhaps producers.

Look where it got Lynne Ramsey!

Here is an example of a lesser known feature festival with a shorts section. While a director is far less likely to be noticed, it is by far easier to have your short screened at a place like this than places like Cannes and the Edinburgh film Festival.

How do festivals market and promote themselves?

Other Means of Marketing them include:

Film Magazines

Local Media Print (for smaller festivals)

Line Up Promotion

News Letters

Festivals may also be marketed toward their target audience. A festival for Young Adult filmmakers, for example, will use marketing to appeal to young adults

Somewhat childish font indicates demographic

Why Is It Important to be shown at one?

They’re one of the most popular forms of short film exhibition

As primarily a demonstration of a director’s artistic capability, short film festivals can determine whether or not a director goes on to make a feature.

The people in possession of the power to make this judgement attend these festivals

HOWEVER:

• It is very unlikely that a director will be given a chance to make a feature of their idea from the short film they make:

• Competition is high!

• It does still serve as an ultimate means of promotion, however.

Who attends them?

It depends on the type of festival you’re attending!

Who attends them?Edinburgh/London style Festivals Smaller, Independent film Festivals

Producers

Film aficionados

How are They Supported?Edinburgh/London style Festivals Smaller, Independent film Festivals

AdvertisersCharging a fee

Charing a fee for entry

What have you noticed about the structure/style of the sites?: Edinburgh

Sparse amount of text: visually striking

Social Media contact

Options bar: easy to manoeuvre around the website Colour pallet: whites, blues, blacks –

suggestive of modernity, development, technology. Stylish.

Dates for festival

Information about submission

Information about competition

London independent

Dates for next festival

Options bar: easy to navigate around website

Featured films

Colour pallet: again, a focus on whites, blacks, silvers. Conveys a sense of modernity and style. Perhaps the production values here, being blockier than in Edinburgh’s, are indicative of the festival’s lower budget when set against the more mainstream festival

Film Wreaths

Information about sponsors: more thanIn Edinburgh, smaller festival therefore needs

What are other key national festivals?

• Cambridge film festival

• Seagate Foyle Film Festival

• Encounters Film Festival

What are other key national festivals?

• Sundance Film Festival (USA)

• Interfilm Berlin(Germany)

• Venice Film Festival

What are other student film festivals?National International

Gijon international festival for young adults

Online Short Film Festivals

• With the emergence of the digital age, online consumption of short film have become growingly popular.

• This growing popularity certainly has led to theemergence of Online Short Film Festivals.

Examples of Online Short Film Festivals

Online Short Film Festivals

• While these film festivals are still relatively small, they offer a variety of new opportunities for short film makers.

• As perhaps the foremost means of social communication, Online Short Film Festivals represent a good way of advertising new directorial talent, as viably it can be exposed to a far wider audience than

• It is also far easier to consume short films online, considering the length of short films in comparison to the effort one makes in attending a Short Film Festival.

The End