I feel a responsibility to blog about the Encounters International Film Festival. Not only does it have a first-rate programming team, it is a vital date in the networking calendar for any emerging filmmaker.
It provides the opportunity for three important things:
- Submitting your film: This is one of the best dedicated short film festivals in the country for connecting filmmakers to industry. The quality of the programme is respected industry-wide so getting your film screened here guarantees a stamp of quality.
- Even if your film doesn’t get in (it is extremely competitive), it is worth going to the festival to watch as many shorts as possible. In simple terms, you are watching films made by your peers and they are your competition (as well as being part of the wonderful creative community, of course). You may leave the theatre thinking you can do better, but at least you will have checked the temperature of short filmmaking in that year. In turn this should feedback into some of the the decisions you are making around your own project.
- Networking: The short film family is a small one, and most of them will be there at this festival. Having a drink with someone, introducing yourself, and persuading them (tactfully!) to watch your film is part and parcel of the whole process. People remember both names and faces, and are more likely to click on an email in their inbox if they recognise your name. That’s just human psychology.
There are other important things of course; the industry events, the special screenings, the opportunity to chinwag with distributors and programmers from other festivals, the retrospectives and fantastic animation programmes. I think I saw around 100 shorts last year, most of which were really inspiring. I won’t pretend I like everything (who does?) but the opportunity to gorge is difficult to resist, especially when you have the Watershed cafe adjacent to sit and digest what you've with friends afterwards.
It takes a huge amount of effort and planning to sustain a festival year after year and this one is of national importance. It respects the short film as an art form in its own right and puts it centre stage. It is important that it is outside London and should be supported at all costs.
To this end, the Vision+Media film department supports attendance through its Festival Bursary fund. If you get a film into the programme then please get in touch with us via [email protected] to enquire about support for attending the festival. Like I said above, even if you don’t get in, you really should consider going down, it's a real eye opener.
Submissions for the 16th Encounters Short Film Festival are now open.
