Hope is in the Mail.

How so? I think nearly every filmmaker is refreshed with a feeling of hope and possibility when we finally get our film festival submission in the mail. Along with a DVD of our film, a stamp and a delivery confirmation notice we include a mental request/prayer  for the fulfillment of our dreams. In that submission is another chance. Another possibility. And it feels good.

But in that piece of mail is also another query. A request for permission. A request for approval. Please Mr. Film Festival Programmer, please tell me that I am good enough.

Hope is good. Deferring to the opinion of someone we don’t know isn’t. We  may try to keep these two emotional states separate but they often overlap. If our film is accepted we are good enough. If it isn’t accepted, we wonder, perhaps we are not good enough.

Festival Programmer After Watching Your Film

Film festivals and screenplay contests? They’re all subjective. Catch someone on a good day and WHAM! you’re in. However, submit your romantic comedy to a festival programmer who’s just been dumped by his or her significant other and your film dredges up painful memories.  

Dear Mr. or Ms. Filmmaker,

Thank you for your submission. Sorry. We couldn’t find a place in our festival for your film at this time…because it made me remember that bitch who dumped me. Your film threw me into a tidal wave of despair and hopelessness that not even the finest recreational drugs could free me. I watched your protagonist and his lover suffer together through tremendous odds– and ultimately find love. I was appalled. How could you submit such a film to me in my time of pain? Asshole. Better luck at the next film festival!

So how do you separate hope and desperate request for permission to follow your dreams. I think you start by being smart-er. I often lament my decision to “…wait for Sundance” to submit my film. It was damn dumb. In the process of waiting I missed several smaller, but in my case, more receptive film festivals. This oversight includes the Hollywood Black Film Festival. Ugh! 

Focus on the RIGHT Festival

But it makes sense. Isn’t it smarter to focus our attempts? If I am Black, doesn’t it make sense to first submit my film to a film festival comprised of my peers? If I am Indian, shouldn’t I consider the Indian Film Festival?  If I were gay or lesbian, wouldn’t it make sense to submit to OutFest? If I were a woman living in San Diego, wouldn’t it make sense to submit to the San Diego Women’s Film Festival? Media attend every film festival. Remember,  every film festival your film is accepted to is part of your theatrical release.

We can manifest a better, stronger and more potent brand of hope when we focus our efforts on realistic choices. With hard work you can drum up as much press at the Hollywood Black Film Festival as you would at Sundance or SXSW. In fact you may be able to drum up more media attention (especially locally) because your film won’t be regarded as little at a niche film festival.

I write this because I had an epiphany after I mailed off my submission to the BFI London Film Festival. It’s a submission fee free film festival. with my submission safely in the hands of the United States Postal Service, guaranteed via International Priority Mail, I felt a twinge of hope stir in my bones. I had to be careful not to equate that hope with acceptance. I don’t need the London Film Festival to accept me. However, I would like for the festival to accept my film.