Tha Biz-nizz

FESTIVAL

PRAXIS (Goldsboro, NC) – PRAXIS is an independent festival which “appreciates the hard work that goes into creating something from almost nothing.” This is a free festival (in both submission and attendance) and seems like a place that just truly appreciates good filmmaking. We also know that they like UNCW student work as evidenced from Shannon's email as well as photos from the website displaying past students at the event.

Cucalorus (Wilmington, NC) – Cucalorus is a festival here in Wilmington, NC. Although it's local, don't think it's a small festival. Cucalorus is actually a highly respected festival with submissions from all over the world. This last year they had a handful of portrait documentaries play, which leads me to believe that they like and will program them. I did however see a lack of documentary shorts, which is not necessarily a bad thing, and does not mean they wouldn't program Colestine. A huge positive is that this festival is local and easily attended.

VISIONS (Wilmington, NC) – VISIONS is a film festival located right here on the UNCW campus. It is relatively inexpensive ($10 to submit a film early) and if you're film is selected for screening, you're already in town to see it! There is a Documentary category  and just like with Cucalorus don't feel that this festival is low-key just because it's local, it gets work from all over the country!

NextFrame (Philadelphia, PA) – NextFrame is an international touring student film festival. That means if your film gets accepted it will play in several different locations, a definite plus! They seem to program a fair amount of narrative, documentary, experimental, and animation works which makes the chances of getting in in any format good.

Hearts and Minds (Wilmington, Delaware) – Hearts and Minds specializes in documentaries about “people, events and movements of great historical and social importance.” Our portrait documentary has a good chance of being programed as portrait documentaries are one of the main categories accepted!

San Diego Black Film Festival (San Diego, CA) – A Festival which specializes in that films that, “must be directed, produced, or principally acted by an artist of African descent in the USA or in any country, or by a person born in any country in Africa, or whose subject matter relates to African American culture or any cultures of Africa (including Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Morocco, etc.) regardless of race.” Well known and renown, acceptance here would mean great things even though it is costly. A bit of a pipe dream perhaps, but still achievable with our little portrait documentary!

Urban Suburban Film Festival (Philadelphia, PA) – Another great opportunity for the African American filmmaker. Relatively inexpensive and well known. Has showcased short portrait documentaries of odd running lengths (15, 29, 37 minutes) and features a max run time of 75 minutes.

 Website

www.colestinefilm.com

Etching Out the Story

Editing is hard.  No scrap that, editing a documentary is hard.  I know the story, I knew it before I began filming, but I never would have predicted how hard it has been this semester to find a way to tell this story.  But in the words of Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, "Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it."  And that is what I have done.  I took my stone to where it could be somewhat recognizable to what I was trying to relay to the viewer, but I was unable to enunciate clearly, because of lanes and avenues I would travel down was not pertinent to my sculpture, I had to get back on track.


So I stepped away, forgot about the film and acted like I didn't have one to make.  I was no longer a filmmaker.  And after a week of not thinking about it, I came back and I found myself on the right track.


The things that are left to do for this film is the title and end sequence, Brian gave me a website for some really awesome fonts and I am hoping to find one that is grungy & elegant at the same time.  I gave my files to Deanna and she is working on the sound and then there is music, which I am willing to write myself, but I will not get to any of my other classes or finish any homework, because I really get in the zone when I write music, I will not sleep or eat, and I can't afford to do that now, but if I have to I will, I will just have to be more responsible.  My goal is to have everything finished by the end of November, so I can relax a little more going into December.