Sheffield Doc Fest
Hussain Currimbhoy
Festival programming
120 films per year: around 30 short films
every year
Student made productions UK and
international
From new and established filmmakers
Oscar recognised festival
What
do we look for?
Applies for short film, documentaries etc
45 mins short film – too long
15 mins short film usual limit
20 mins short film perfect
Films that appeal to both delegates and
public creative films that have a strong aesthetic honest enquires: films that
treat their subject with dignity and the audience with intelligence a new look
at a know issue films that we can help launch
You are making your film with your subject
Were not idiots were here for a reason
Films should treat you with respect and not
dumb things down too much
We prioritise new films
What
example do I look for in short films
Films that fit with a strand: Music, art,
gay & lesbian, sports, resistance, country themes.
Can pair with feature films
Variety of styles: not just cinema variety,
1st person, essay style.
Hussain’s
tips
Watch lots of documentaries and fiction
films, animations anything!
A lot of writers I know read a lot
WATCH AS MUCH AS YOU CAN – be engaged with
your art form
Consume consume consume
Be inspired by what you know
Film whats inside you, film whats around
you immediately
a)
it comes from you
Understand why you are making it. Do not
loose sight of why you are making a doc.
Think about your style BEFORE you start
shooting:
To me sound is as important, if not more
important!! Sound hits you psychologically more than visuals
Find a natural end to your story, if it’s a
competition or someone’s giving birth, try to find a natural way for it to end.
Ask a
question regarding cliff hangers
Practice!!
Interviews
Leonard Retel Helmrich – the documentary
road AMAZING SHOT
Became famous with his incredible, unique
shots with no budget using bamboo sticks n other stuff
Documentary is evolving and developing
Theres a new phase which we’ve embraced
since 2008 and its about digital film making where we’ve called them
interactive at doc fest. A documentary doesn’t need to be a 1 n half hour film
or 15 minute short film.
Digital interaction:
Interaction with the documentary, so there
are pages where you can press next to interact with the documentary, for
example welcome to the pinepoint. About someone’s life. It Has archived
footage, old images, where you can click to the next page, it can be really
long if you want it to be. Loads of animated images. These type of new
documentaries are shown at the doc fest on computers for the audience to
interact with.
Exmaples of documentaries:
Out my window (nfb)
Prison valley (arte) france
Collapsus (submarine/vpro) Holland
Galata bridge (florian thalfor……)
The arbour
Welcome to the pinepoint
New documentary is interactive – you need
web designers, code writers, a different team to a normal documentary film.
A lot of festivals have rules
-
I will screen a film that’s
played in a film, on TV, in a previous festival or even online but Cannes for
example has to have first premiere. At the festival we get Q&As.
-
Films that are more than 18
months years old then I will priorities new films.
Will there be film festivals in the future?
Due to films being available so easy online. I believe traditional film will
still have a place in the future.
Best example I can think of using new
technology – a Swedish film of a gay couple who are married, but both have
girlfriends, filmed using a camera but would use his ipad to film these real
raw shots of the gay couple arguing.
(you should know mark cousins)
Crowd funding – is the future!! If they
like your film they will fund you. You can go online and raise money.
- Indie gogo
- Kickstarter
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