Unofficial Festival News

Pardon my language, but...

F*ck it!!

I'm so sick of waiting for these festivals to update their stupid websites n' make "official" what we've known for weeks. I guess they like to dole out news gradually?

Anyway, I figure since this blog technically isn't public then... *insert day-time talk show "My Teenage Daughter is Out of Control" sass* I DO WHAT I WANT!  *strutting back n' forth in an ill-fitting belly shirt, middle fingers waving* DEY DON'T OWN ME! 

So here it is, our unofficial festival announcement!  (Hmm... Somehow I always imagined I'd start this post more gracefully... ;)

First, let's pull the Toronto Band-aid, since that's the one people keep asking about. Everyone who saw the film was super duper confident we'd get in, and rather shocked when we didn't. Even though a few months ago we were warned of some potential politics that might help or hinder our chances (that I won't get into), we didn't actually expect a 'no'.

The good news is, our producer was given a sincere apology (ie: a phone call - not a form letter) - not that they owed us one - and was told that they discussed DE a lot internally and considered it right until the very end. The reason they didn't put it in was because they felt that "the *removed - spoiler* scene was too literal and sentimental for a festival film."

Fair enough. I'll be the first to admit that it's totally sentimental. But it's also very beautiful. I'd even go as far to say that it's one of my favourite moments in the movie! So, we have no regrets there. :)

TC took notes, and provided us with their feedback, which was as follows:

* They liked the ambiguity leading to the climax.
* Knew *removed - spoiler* early, but didn't seem to care - which is positive as it shows they enjoyed the film.
* They praised everyone's performance, except one actor's.
* Felt it was a strong first feature for Jim.
* Nice tonal execution.

Jim n' I were actually very pleased to hear all this, because ultimately they could've just said, "We didn't think it was a strong film." End of story. But instead it sounds like they genuinely enjoyed it, which is good.

However, given their "too sentimental" reasoning for not including it, now everyone in the know is quite convinced that the perceived politics played a part. (Holy alliteration, Pac Man!) And to be honest, if I were in the programmer's shoes, I hate to say it, but I probably would've played the same card.

All that being said, our film has been accepted into a number of other festivals where it won't get as lost in the hubbub as it would've in Toronto. While all the details have yet to be ironed out, it looks like we have a very exciting month ahead.

Our premiere will be at Cinefest in Sudbury on Sept. 18th. They have offered us a gala, which I believe is sponsored by CTV. I think only Jim n' I will be attending this festival. Eep!

On Sept. 22nd, we head to Calgary, where we have been invited to open CIFF!! This is a pretty big honour and sounds like it'll be quite the "world class event". (Or so they tell us. ;) Everyone, including D&B, will be in attendance for this one. I was checking out pics on FB from their opening gala last year and it kinda freaks me out with all the media and whatnot. As a writer, I'd think I should be able to by-pass all that nonsense and just duck inside the theater. But since I'll be walking the red carpet alongside Jim, there's probably a good chance I'll end up on camera at some point. Ugh. I think I might be sick...

From there, we head to Edmonton on the 25th for EIFF. I'm not sure if we have a gala there or not? This is what I mean about "unofficial" announcement. Some dates n' details might be subject to change. But as I discussed with Jim (who was opposed to me sharing any of this news with all three of you) I feel like we're stringing people along by not saying anything. So as I said above, f*ck it. I figure the people who bother to read this blog deserve to get some details before things are officially announced. Why else would you come here?

Anyway, after Edmonton comes Vancouver. No date set for that yet, and no idea if we'll have a gala either. Apparently our distributer doesn't want to have a gala in Van for whatever reason, and has the power to veto it if they offer us one. (Just like he vetoed us attending the Atlantic festival in Halifax, because he didn't like their conditions.) It'd be a shame not to have a gala in Van, since that's where most of our actors n' crew are from. We don't understand his logic.... but what are ya gonna do?

So there you go! Now you're as in the loop as we are. ;)  Apparently we've submitted/are submitting to some other festivals that happen later on, but we won't know about those ones for quite a while.

When the time finally comes, I will officially announce our festival news on FB with any relevant links n' whatnot. Until then, for the sake of Jim's sanity, let's just pretend this blog post never happened....

Have a great weekend!