Do film festivals discourage independent film-makers?

Source: Tribeca Film Festival

Film festivals draw in independent film-makers with the promise of grand levels of exposure and the lure of awards.

Documentary makers often invest money and time attempting to promote their film via festivals.

Festivals often have entry policies that require that content submitted must not yet be published anywhere else, including online.

So while waiting for the outcome of one festival entry, a film holds back on alternative promotion and distribution.

This can result in the film-maker relying on a festival win or bust.

Some say that there is no longer a place for the independent film-maker in the festival and film-makers should instead turn their attention to online exposure.

Adrian Ortega, maker of Bodycrash, says festivals have become an in-crowd event.

"There is so much politics involved, if they don't know you, or you aren't already established, you're pretty much not going to get in" he said.

This sentiment is shared by the director of Suspended Warehouse, Andres Matos Cardoso.

Andres Matos Cardoso, director of Suspended Warehouse

"The problem is that now days the festivals have a group of curators who don't really take risks" said Cardoso.

"They just support on eachother's choices...the Coppola family have a movie premiere at every festival in Europe" he said.

Cardoso says that production companies are self-interested and do not make great business partners for independent films, discouraging them from alternative promotion.

"Production companies try to tell you not to put your film out there [online] but they just want the film to sell in 5-10 different places, depending on how much money they want to make, and then they pass on to the next project" said Cardoso.

"They don't give the same importance to your work as you do," he said.

Adrian Ortega went straight to the internet with his documentary, Bodycrash, which looks at Melbourne clubbing subcultures.

"I just said 'forget festivals, put it online' and it's done so much better online than it could have ever done at a film festival" he said.

Bodycrash, source: Vice

"Within the first day I got about 1000 views, and most of those were probably from family and
friends, but then a big online magazine reposted it and as soon as they did I received about 8000 views in one day" said Ortega.

When asked about the measure of success for an independent film, Ortega shirked the notion of financial gain.

"It's all about exposure," he said.

"If you're making films just to make money then you're in the wrong industry."

Cardoso agrees.

"For most of the people doing movies, it's not about making money, it's about having enough to do the next project" he said.

Kylie Eddy is co-founder of Lean Filmmaking and General Manager of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival.

Eddy believes that online promotion and festivals can happily co-exist.

Kylie Eddy, source: Lean Filmmaking

"We love films to be screened at festivals, yet I think the two can co-exist, as they are a completely different experience" said Eddy.

"Seeing a film, with an audience, in real life, it is a shared experience. It's quite magical and fantastic. Yet, it does involve people all going to a certain place and congregating at the same time. It's quite hard logistically to make that happen. So, why not let people experience film the way they want to?
At a film festival or online" she said.

Perhaps festivals and online promotion can co-exist, but some festivals will need to change their terms of entry for this to happen.

The restrictions put forward by some festivals delay film-makers from engaging with their audience online and other potential markets for their film.

If the goal of a festival is genuinely to encourage new talent then such constraints must be removed. Otherwise, film festivals risk evolving into elitist events.

What do you think?
Would you enter your film in a festival, or do you think internet is best? Share your experiences and thoughts in the comments below.