Tuesday 15 January 2008

FILMZOOMER - SUBMISSIONS

Leeds Young People's Film Festival

The 9th Leeds Young People's Film Festival is now accepting submissions for the 2008 Festival, taking place on 27th March - 4th April 2008.

We are now looking for exciting and innovative films made BY children and young people from across the UK. The films can be shorts in any genre (fiction, documentary, animation) and in any format. With an established reputation as the leading young people's Film Festival in the United Kingdom, we want films that will excite and motivate our audiences and that showcase the best and newest young filmmakers from around the UK.

NYFA (National Young Filmmakers' Award) is for short films made BY children and young people (up to 19 years old) in the UK. Selected films will be entered into competition where a jury comprising of young people and industry professionals will award £250 prizes to the chosen films in two age categories.

Deadline for entries is Friday 25th January 2008.

If your film is completed, please send it in now!

Download the entry form

FILMZOOMER - AWARDS

IndiePix Announces First Annual Nonfiction Filmmaking Awards

IndiePixFilms.com, the internet-based distributor of independent films, recently announced a collaboration with award-winning Producer, AJ Schnack, and Thom Powers, Documentary Programmer of the Toronto International Film Festival, to present the first annual awards for ‘Excellence in Nonfiction Filmmaking’.

The nominees for the Outstanding Achievement Award, which will be chosen by a committee of established representatives from 12 top Film Festivals (see list below), will be announced at the Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2008 with the IndiePix Nonfiction Awards Ceremony to be held in New York City at the IFC Centre Cinema on March 18, 2008. The co-chairs of the event will be AJ Schnack, Producer/Director of the recent festival favourite "Kurt Cobain: About a Son", and Thom Powers, the Documentary Programmer of the Toronto International Film Festival, as well as Curator/Host of the ‘Stranger than Fiction’ series.

In addition to the Outstanding Achievement Award, the Nonfiction Awards ceremony will acknowledge great achievement in specific crafts including Filmmaking, Producing, Editing and Cinematography. The nominating committee, which consists of 12 programmers from North America’s top film festivals, has identified eight categories of excellence (see list below) and 76 eligible films. Voting will take place over the four weeks from February 15 to March 15. The nominating committee will send invitations to hundreds of top filmmakers, distributors, programmers and writers asking them to participate in the voting process. Voting will be conducted by secure internet transaction on the IndiePixFilms.com website and the winners will be announced on March 18.

IndiePix, AJ Schnack and Thom Powers have joined forces because they recognise the need for such an award within the independent film community: “Rather than looking to outside groups for validation, this is an honour from within the community from voters who understand the intricacies involved in Nonfiction film production,” said Thom Powers, co-chair of the Nonfiction Film Awards.

AJ Schnack, Producer/Director, continued, "Many of us who are involved in Nonfiction filmmaking, and who are part of the process of presenting those films at the top festivals, are dismayed that craft in Nonfiction films is not explicitly recognised and honoured. We believe that the time is right to acknowledge the skill and innovation of filmmakers who go far beyond 'reality television' to bring us their understanding of the world and to recognise the vision and innovation of the filmmakers and craftspersons within the broad field of Nonfiction.

"IndiePix, as a forward-thinking company that has proven dedicated to celebrating the best in independent film, is the perfect partner for this project," concluded AJ Schnack.

Bob Alexander, President of IndiePixFilms, said: "Over the last year, we have had the opportunity to work with a number of Nonfiction filmmakers whose dedication to the art and craft of their films is unparalleled. We are very pleased to be able to contribute to the organisation of these awards, to support the concept of superior craft in Nonfiction filmmaking, and to bring our full suite of internet technologies to support this event." Danielle DiGiacomo, the coordinator for Documentary Films at IndiePixFilms, will be the point person for the company's involvement.

The Outstanding Achievement and Excellence in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking Awards will be presented at the IFC Centre Cinema in New York City, on March 18, 2008.

Award Categories for “Excellence in Nonfiction Filmmaking”:

Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Filmmaking
Outstanding Achievement in an International Feature
Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature
Outstanding Achievement in Direction
Outstanding Achievement in Producing
Outstanding Achievement in Editing
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
Outstanding Achievement in Graphics and Animation

Members of the Nominating Committee:

Thom Powers (Chair), Toronto International Film Festival
Phoebe Brush, Full Frame Film Festival
Matt Dentler, South by Southwest
Sean Farnel, Hot Docs
Tom Hall, Sarasota Film Festival
David Kwok, Tribeca Film Festival
Cara Mertes, Sundance Film Festival
David Nugent, Newport International Film Festival and The Hamptons International Film Festival
Rachel Rosen, L.A. Film Festival
Sky Sitney, SilverDocs
David Wilson, True/False Film Festival
Brit Withey, Starz Denver Film Festival

Visit the Non-Fiction Awards web site – www.indiepixfilms.com/awards for more information about the Awards for Excellence in Nonfiction Filmmaking

FILMZOOMER - FESTIVAL SUBMISSIONS

2008 Edinburgh International Film Festival

Submissions are open for the 2008 Edinburgh International Film Festival. Shorts, features, animation, documentary and music video that will be no older than 12 months by June 2008 are eligible. You can download the relevant forms and regulations from our site or you can submit your film via the online submissions service withoutabox.com

The deadline for all features, animation and shorts is 18 February 2008. For Mirrorball the deadline is 2 April 2008.

Register free with Film UK - Additional Promotion for your Film

If your film is a British production completed between 31 July 2007 and 31 May 2008, and is live action, fiction short or feature, then please register with Film UK when you submit your film. Yes, this means completing an additional form but it's a FREE promotional opportunity for your film. The keystones of Film UK are The Guide to British Film, a directory of all the fiction films made in the UK in the last 12 months, and during the Festival, the Film UK section of the Videotheque where as many of the films in the Guide as we can get our hands on are available to view on VHS or DVD.

www.edfilmfest.org.uk/submissions

Edinburgh Int Film Festival
88 Lothian Road
Edinburgh
EH3 9BZ
62nd Edinburgh International Film Festival 18-29th June 2008