There are three
annual events that Gretchen and I rarely miss; Living Traditions, the Salt Lake
City Jazz Festival and the Utah Arts Festival.
But over the last three or four years, it’s been so hot during the Arts
Festival, we started to take refuge from the heat in the library auditorium and
discovered, “The Fear No Film” film festival.
Last year none of the festival’s stage acts were either, “have to see”
or even, “want to see”; so we reasoned why pay however many dollars for
admission when all we’d be doing would be eating at the food court?
So last year we
went downtown late Saturday afternoon, had a nice early dinner, walked to the
library and settled in for what turned out to be nineteen short films from
around the world.
The “Fear No
Film” film festival is a juried show that receives hundreds of entries from
across the United States as well as Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa,
Canada, Mexico and South America. A
number of films are selected and formed into six or seven programs that are sub
categories of a yearly theme. And, as I
stated in a facebook post either late Saturday night or early Sunday morning
after we got home, there is no reason for Utah filmmakers to feel insecure or
that their work is inferior, it quite simply isn’t!
The vast
majority of the Utah entries that we saw were superior to ANYTHING coming
out of Europe or anywhere in the United States.
(Side note: The animated work coming out of BYU continues to be
absolutely AMAZING; as good, or better than anything you’ll see before
Pixar’s latest feature length offering.)
The Utah
independent film community has a lot to offer; Sundance quite obviously comes
to mind when you think independent film in Utah, but did you know the Salt Lake
Film Society is one of the most successful and viable art house theatres in the
country?
The day after
our “Fear No Film” experience, I singled out two or three facebook filmmaker
friends and asked if they’d submitted any of their recent works and one of
their replies has lead me to today. Many
of you know this guy’s work, it’s good, probably better than anything I saw
that night, but he didn’t know where or when to submit.
The primary
purpose of this facebook page is to bring the whens, who’s, what genre, wheres
and costs associated with Utah film festivals to as many filmmakers as the page
can reach. It’s secondary purpose is to
act as a venue for promoting premiers, special screenings and college or
university showcases. I have some
favorite film venues e.g., Ft. Douglas Post Theatre, Brewvies, The Tower and of
course the Broadway; as we turn out in greater numbers for events held at these
venues, their status in the community will only become more secure.
No selling shoes
or purses, if you are looking for an actress over seven feet tall with tattoos
who will double as a grip and makeup artist, go somewhere else; this page is
just for information on festivals, special public screenings and university and
college showcases around the state.
This
page will only work if first, everyone who joins is willing to post accurate
information on every Utah film festival they come across; and second, if you
invite every director, writer, producer, makeup and hair artist, lighting guy,
sound guy, actor and indy film lover on your friends list. I’ve sent out invitations to everyone on my
list, will you do the same and together we can create an invaluable resource
for the Utah independent film community.
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