I could not agree more -- yes, the audience is hungry for political films -- movies that are relevant and say something.
However, when it comes to a critical part of the industry -- films festivals -- a huge chasm exists between this audience and festival programmers.
Because I primarily make political films and theater, I'm super familiar with this terrain. Last year, my short film which leaned heavily into the transgender issue, got over 2 million views on YouTube and TikTok, with thousands of comments from grateful viewers -- on the flip side, I submitted this same film to dozens of film festivals and to date have a 0% acceptance rate from 17 festivals -- not one film festival has accepted our film.
Of course there could be numerous reasons for this, however, I can't help but think that in our politically charged times, that when it comes to this particular political issue, film festivals are placating sponsors and playing it safe by staying away from politics.
James, as my post indicated, the film festival that I program--and the success of the political films in that program--is one of the things that gives me hope for political films in the marketplace. So if anything, I think film festivals are far more open to political content than other areas of the industry. If you're having success with your short online, that's also something to embrace--and as you note, has given you access to a huge audience in its own right. I don't think online distribution and film festival exhibition are mutually exclusive, but some content just seems to lend itself to one over the other.
I could not agree more -- yes, the audience is hungry for political films -- movies that are relevant and say something.
However, when it comes to a critical part of the industry -- films festivals -- a huge chasm exists between this audience and festival programmers.
Because I primarily make political films and theater, I'm super familiar with this terrain. Last year, my short film which leaned heavily into the transgender issue, got over 2 million views on YouTube and TikTok, with thousands of comments from grateful viewers -- on the flip side, I submitted this same film to dozens of film festivals and to date have a 0% acceptance rate from 17 festivals -- not one film festival has accepted our film.
Of course there could be numerous reasons for this, however, I can't help but think that in our politically charged times, that when it comes to this particular political issue, film festivals are placating sponsors and playing it safe by staying away from politics.
James, as my post indicated, the film festival that I program--and the success of the political films in that program--is one of the things that gives me hope for political films in the marketplace. So if anything, I think film festivals are far more open to political content than other areas of the industry. If you're having success with your short online, that's also something to embrace--and as you note, has given you access to a huge audience in its own right. I don't think online distribution and film festival exhibition are mutually exclusive, but some content just seems to lend itself to one over the other.
Anthony, have you heard about a little film called “American Thief “? ;)