Review by Mark Withers, Director of Bonobo

From being selected to attending the festival, what was the communication with the festival like? (min 50 words): I received very good transatlantic communication via a number of emails, keeping me up-to-date with progress and what I should prepare for the festival screenings along with promotional materials, whilst ‘looking into’ the possibility of me being able to attend after initially stating I couldn’t afford to go to Canada.

Where did the films screen? In a cinema, conference suite, city centre, out of town etc – please add information on the quality of the presentation. (min 50 words): My feature film played twice within the space of 48-hours and on a weekend, at two different city centre cinemas – one was a multiplex within a small mall and the other was in the main auditorium of a quality independent cinema with about 300 seats, perhaps more. Each film ended with a Q&A and the screen sizes were good with a decent 2K projection. My only complaint, in regards to one of the two screenings my film received, was the sound levels were too high, or rather the mid-range levels were coming out too harshly… but I presume audience members didn’t really notice.

How was the festivals marketing? Did they look to promote films individually, did you see a programme or free guide? (min 50 words):They promoted themselves well on social media such as Facebook and Twitter, giving almost daily updates a good six-weeks prior to the start of the festival in mid-September. Sometimes they mentioned individual film titles (including my picture ‘Bonobo’) and in Calgary they had printed a great many full colour quality brochures/festival guides for free.

How well was the festival attended? By filmmakers, industry professionals and audiences. (min 50 words): The screenings (that I attended) where all a good three-quarters full at least and seemed to be mostly participated by be non-filmmaker members of the public, of all ages from the Calgary region. A lot of the feature films had at least one filmmaker representative there in person. I did not meet any industry people in regards to sales.

How was the hospitality from the festival? Did they pay for any travel or accommodation, was there filmmaker events and parties, were you made to feel welcome by the organisers? (min 50 words): The people overseeing the show were very welcoming and friendly with a seemingly genuine enthusiasm for film. They paid for my round-trip flight from London to Calgary, had a driver meet me at the airport and then later return me, plus put me up in a nice hotel for 5-nights, all at their expense. On the closing night there was a closing gala party with free drinks.

Was there an awards presentation? If so where was this held, what were the physical awards like, was there any other prize (cash or other)? (min 50 words): Awards were presented after the film festival had ended and there was later a write-up on the official festival website, along with social media links, listing the winning films, actors, directors, etc. As this film particular film of mine did not win anything I never saw what any of the trophy’s looked like nor what/if the financial award was. 

What was the programming like? Was it a diverse line-up? (min 50 words): The programming was diverse as there was a healthy mix of obscure titles without ‘stars’ (such as my film) including midnight movie screenings, some of which had just premiered at TIFF and pre-release studio titles with ‘names’ to bring in the non-filmmaking community and boost overall festival interest and ticket sales. The vast majority of films were in the English language (US, Canadian, UK) but definitely several non-English sub-titled films played too.

Any other information you would like to add.: For a festival that was free to enter, this was a great one to be accepted in to especially considering they got me out there to support my film, that came away as ‘hands-down the most controversial film of the festival’ apparently. 
Calgary itself is a small city, but very clean with good friendly people.

www.calgaryfilm.com

Review by Seanie Sugrue, Director of Misty Button

From being selected to attending the festival, what was the communication with the festival like? (min 50 words): Fantastic! However, I learned the hard way that it’s important to keep an eye on your spam mail. I received a phone call one day from the festival director Sibyl, asking if we were still interested in the Soho IFF. She had already emailed me twice and I’d missed both emails because they went straight to my spam. From that day on the communication was great.

Where did the films screen? In a cinema, conference suite, city centre, out of town etc – please add information on the quality of the presentation. (min 50 words): Village East Cinemas in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It is one of the nicest independent movie theaters in New York City. It’s a 390 seater from the 1920’s with the only 70mm projector in NYC. Being from New York we packed the place which created an incredible theater. There are also 150/200 seat theaters downstairs that they also used. 

How was the festivals marketing? Did they look to promote films individually, did you see a programme or free guide? (min 50 words):There’s was a free programme and the festival also had a strong social media presence for the month leading up to the festival and during. They had all the filmmakers make a short promo video which also helped a lot. 

How well was the festival attended? By filmmakers, industry professionals and audiences. (min 50 words): We had over 300 people at our screening, but if you didn’t know people in New York you wouldn’t get that turnout from the festival alone. You do have to push it a lot yourself too, which I suppose is normal. For an out of towner, the smaller theatres downstairs might be a better fit and they do programme films accordingly. 

How was the hospitality from the festival? Did they pay for any travel or accommodation, was there filmmaker events and parties, were you made to feel welcome by the organisers? (min 50 words): The hospitality was great and they have a lot of volunteers to help things run smoothly. They don’t pay for any travel but this was just year ten and the festival is getting bigger and bigger, so maybe down the road, they will. There was an exclusive bar down the street where all the filmmakers went with discounts for the festival.

Was there an awards presentation? If so where was this held, what were the physical awards like, was there any other prize (cash or other)? (min 50 words): There was an event gala to close out the festival with physical trophies. It was held at an event space in Chelsea. If you want to see what the award looks like check out the Misty Button Instagram page, we have it posted all over it. No cash prizes but winning here will give you a lot of ammunition to pitch to distributors. 

What was the programming like? Was it a diverse line-up? (min 50 words): I flew in from LA to catch the screen and had to head straight back, but it seemed to be a very diverse lineup. There was also an award for best international film. They seemed to program a lot of dramas, but our dark comedy was received well. 

Any other information you would like to add: In my opinion, unless you have an A-lister, a chance of winning an Oscar and a multi-million dollar film, the odds of getting into Tribeca or a top five festival are stacked against you. For rising film-makers, I highly suggest submitting to Soho and not throwing your money at Tribeca yet. 

www.sohofilmfest.com