Get Your Films Into Festivals

Want to get your film in a festival? Panelists Eduardo Aguirre, Famor Botero and Priscilla Rojas shared 5 useful tips and their most valuable experiences with the students to guide them towards successful submissions to Film Festivals.

1.Be passionate

When you are making a film, know why you are making the film, know why the story is so important to be told and tell the story with passion. Gather a team that is also equally passionate about the story. That passion and honesty cannot be paralleled by any other motive and shows in the film.

    2. Tell the Story Behind the Story

There isn’t only the movie in the story that matters, the story behind the making of the movie matters just as much. Keeping a record of the behind the scenes stories and sharing them, not only engages the audience, but also makes the story personable. Sharing the personal story that goes into making the film creates a personal relationship with the audience.

   3.  Press Kit is Important

Most important assets of a press kit are posters and trailers. They should never be overlooked. Posters are the first glimpse of the movie that the audience see. The audience reacts to posters before they even get to the story. The same goes for the trailers. No matter how good the film is, if it doesn’t have an audience, it doesn’t matter.

  4. Choose Film Festivals Wisely

As important as it is to get your work in front audiences, it is also important to pick the platforms wisely. Always do research before submitting your work to any festival. It is not only to keep a good reputation but also to stay away from potential scams. 

   5.  Do Not Limit Yourself

Successfully completing a film is a huge accomplishment, but getting into festivals is not the end of the road. No matter how your previous film goes, what kind of response it gets, do not stop there or limit yourself. Give some more and make some more, be out there and do what you are passionate about and never limit yourself.

Written by: Astha Shrestha