Impressions of my imagine: the 26th Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival April 28, 2010
Posted by joost in : festivals, film, netherlands , comments closedIt’s April, which for me always means one thing: attending the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival! Yes, that festival of those creepy posters ™ on my wall. imagine: the 26th Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival (as it is officially called) took place from the 14th to the 24th of April. My home festival, which returned home quite literally this year by taking over the Kriterion cinema again – ten years after the last time. Two important things were different for me in the way I experienced the festival this year.
First of all I didn’t think I would be able to attend this year’s edition due to work commitments. Only a few days before the festival started I knew for sure that this suddenly would be possible after all. Before that moment I had deliberately chosen not to look at the films in detail – why rub salt in the wounds by exploring what films I would miss? So I found myself at the festival watching a bunch of films which all were kind of an unexpected treat to begin with. I hardly had any expectations because I read through their descriptions once or twice, ordered the tickets (thanks H.!), somehow managed to dodge the travel chaos due to the volcanic ashes and started watching the films.
Secondly I made a conscious choice not to try to watch every single film of the festival “just because I could”. After seeing a record 52 films at last year’s edition, I pondered whether my overall impression of the festival and the films would be better if I would try to identify and avoid the stinkers in advance. As often said before, one of the reasons why I am not a fan of monthly cinema passes (subscriptions) is that I think it leads one to see more mediocre films. Choosing to watch films more selectively hopefully leads to more awareness and attention and a more positive impression. This lead me to select about two thirds of this year’s festival slate, 33 films out of 50 or so.
The return to the Kriterion cinema turned out to be a successful one. Compared to the last edition one decade ago there were three screens now instead of the two, and the bar area has been enlarged considerably too. All the action (except the Night of Terror) took place in this one location that was all about the festival, with posters adorning all the walls, DVD’s and T-shirts on sale, and Mr. Horror spinning tunes in the evening. The crowds were sparse and low-key in the early afternoon hours, gearing up in the late afternoon, leading to a packed entrance, hallway and staircase in the evening, but never turning into revolting crowds and chaos. My compliments go out to the festival organisation and volunteers who were always on the ball, and who for instance swapped screening rooms and redirected the audience when there was a bigger demand than initially expected.
My favorite films of imagine: the 26th Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival
Which of the films stood out and which are the ones that I will remember and talk about long after the festival is over?
Focus, plans, ambitions for 2010 January 13, 2010
Posted by joost in : directing, festivals, film, london, producing, reflection, screenwriting, work , comments closedThe start of a new year is always a good moment to write down plans and ideas. My ambition is to…
- Write and direct two decent short films
- Work on ideas for feature films, both my own screenplays and developing others
- Plot a strategy towards making the jump from shorts to features
- Develop a more visual style when it comes to composition and camera work. Don’t think along the lines of flashy music videos, but masters like Kubrick, Tarkovsky and to a lesser extent Michael Mann.
- Keep promoting “Rule 2“, this year American festivals in particular
Specific goals and focus for the start of this year:
- Finish (post-production of) I/O recontextualized by early February and try to get it screened for the BSC in the Pinewood Studios.
- Fully write my sci-fi/philo-fi/AI short (currently only an outline and lots of notes) and then start preproduction. Shoot date late February..?
- Chase freelance production related jobs (1st AD, production assistant, runner)
- Further develop our idea for iFeatures? We received word last week that our feature film proposal did not make it through to the next round. Pity! But at least this means I have clarity when it comes to how that will (not) impact my year. The three of us will get together soon to talk about alternative options for our proposal.
- Explore an opportunity to help shape and develop a new documentary. Can’t/don’t want to tell too much about it at the moment since it is still early days, but in the coming weeks I will be reviewing some preliminary footage, do additional research and give my view on what could potentially become a documentary.
November activities December 2, 2009
Posted by joost in : LFA, festivals, film, reflection, screening, screenwriting, work , comments closedAn overview of what I have been working on in the last month:
- 1st AD-ed for two days on a low-budget music video in Crystal Palace. It’s an indie production so it will probably end up on myspace or youtube.
- Collaborating with a VFX artist in America to (finally!) work on a morph sequence in my arty short I/O recontextualized.
- I have written an outline for a new sci-fi short, only to find out that none other than Spike Lee is working on a feature length version of a story that is quite similar!
After a couple of days I went back to the drawing board and started working on ideas for a different sci-fi short (or philo-fi as someone called it). - Written an evaluation of the festival strategy and effort for Rule 2 so far and plotted a strategy for American festivals for the coming 6 to 9 months. Had a meeting with the principal of the LFA about this and expressed my frustration and disappointment with their lack of support and failed promises. We have agreed on how to move forward from here, with the promise that the LFA will work with me to reach set goals. Given the past experiences I am skeptical, so I am approaching it the SMART way.
- Rule 2 was part of the competition section of the Tehran International Short Film Festival. I have tried to find information on how the screening went down but unsurprisingly it turns out to be difficult to learn more than the opening announcement and closing awards ceremony (no luck on that front btw). Still pretty cool to have done so well.
- Toyed with some ideas for potential feature film projects. After some chats I have decided to team up with two of my mates, the plan is to submit an application to a funding and development scheme in December. I will be attached as producer on this project if it takes off.
Rule 2 festival news October 29, 2009
Posted by joost in : LFA, festivals, film , comments closedI’m still sending out my graduation film “Rule 2” to festivals. Recently I received exciting news from Iran, my film has been selected for the Tehran 14th International Short Film Festival! Their website is a bit outdated, but there’s a general news announcement here.
This means so far the film has been shown at the following festivals:
- British Society of Cinematographers – New Cinematographers Night
- LFA Graduation Ceremony/Showcase 2008 (won: Film of the year)
- 15th Barcelona Independent Film Festival
- Future Film Festival, London
- Eat Our Shorts 2009, London
- Accidental Festival 2009, London
- Cannes Film Festival – Short Film Corner 2009
- 14th Tehran International Short Film Festival (in competition)
Next up: American film festivals!