We have gotten questions about the film’s festival journey so we’d like to share a little bit about our perspective on film festivals and why we enter them.
The film entered its first festival in 2019. A festival is the way we can get the film in front of a jury of professionals and filmmakers to get their opinion of the film. Each festival has a rubric and a specific way the film is judged based on the category it has been entered into. The film freeway platform has a bio of the team, a film poster, and some images, as well as a director’s statement.
We decided to use the Film Freeway platform to enter festivals to get feedback and to share the film more widely. And frankly, personal feedback is hard to come by, but we did get some important advice early on and redid our sound edit. Otherwise, the first step is to be awarded an official selection “laurel.’ A laurel is a festival branded “ribbon.” This is good feedback because it means that you were “officially’ selected above other films in your category, for a higher award. Our film is in the documentary short category most of the time, which is a fairly competitive category. Usually only a certain percentage of films are awarded a selection and in the case of “IMDB qualifying film festivals,”only 1/3rd of films can receive an award and some receive multiple awards so the pool for official selections and winners is comparitively small. A selection also depends on the kind of festival the group is running, and if it is monthly, bi-monthly, yearly, in person or online. Each festival treats awards, screenings and talk backs differently. It just depends. We’ve met some really nice people at film festivals.
We do not win all of the festivals we enter. It is a competition. Festivals exist to showcase films but also to generate and create publicity for mostly independently produced films. Film festivals are one of the main ways creators can display their films to large audiences. An award becomes really useful and is your proof that you can make films and that you are a credible filmmaker. For example, if a filmmaker is trying to obtain a production grant, the team will have a much greater chance of getting the grant if they’ve already won awards and proven that they can make award-winning content, rather than someone who hasn’t won anything. And we want to make our second dyslexia focused film.
Each festival, like most competitions, has an entry fee. We started entering “close to home” festivals we could drive to, and then the pandemic hit and this turned the world, as well as film festival situation, upside down. We knew that screenings might be online and festivals might be canceled but we kept plugging away. But we’ve screened a few, in person and online. And here we are, four years later, with three festival wins, some “almost won” awards, and some selections. The idea has always been dyslexic awareness and dyslexic advocacy. Once we are finished with the film festival process, the film will permanently land on a platform but we are not sure when that might be or what that might be. Until then, watch our socials for online and in person screenings and talk backs as we get the film out to the world.
FESTIVAL Selections
Onyko Films Awards
July 1, 2023
Selected
Golden Giraffe International Film Festival
April 30, 2023
Selected
Naples Film Awards
April 10, 2023
Award Winner
Hollywood on the Tiber Film Awards
April 10, 2023
Bestlov Film Festival
April 1, 2023
Selected
8 & Halfilm Awards
April 9, 2023
Hong Kong Indie Film Festival
March 3, 2023
Berlin Shorts Award
March 3, 2023
Semi-Finalist
London Indie Short Festival
March 27, 2023
Vesuvius International Film Fest
February 25, 2023
Award Winner
Green Mountain Christian Film Festival
September 30, 2021
Selected
UFVA Conference
June 15, 2021
Selected, screened, talk back
Social World Film Festival
June 23, 2021
Sweden Film Awards
December 2, 2020
Finalist
NY Inspirational Film Festival
August 5, 2021
Waco Family & Faith International Film Festival
December 7, 2020
Semi-Finalist, screened in Regal-Hollywood cinema with talk-back
Peak City International Film Festival
September 4, 2020
Semi-Finalist, screened online
Tokyo Lift-Off Film Festival
May 19, 2021
Selected
Helsinki Education Film Festival International
August 7, 2020
Selected, screened online
DyslexiaStories 