Joining host Leila Latif are Hannah Strong and David Jenkins.
Truth & Movies is the podcast from the film experts at Little White Lies, where along with selected colleagues and friends, they discuss the latest movie releases. Truth & Movies has all your film needs covered, reviewing the latest releases big and small, talking to some of the most exciting filmmakers, keeping you across important industry news, and reassessing great films from days gone by with the Truth & Movies Film Club.
Studio One’s recent renovations have added major technical innovations in the control room. A 20-year old 72-channel Neve recording console has been replaced with an 84-channel upgrade. With each of the players or instruments miked individually, engineers are granted even greater flexibility during the final mixing process. Having access to stems of each instrument gives the creative team flexibility to edit different cuts of score much more easily if a scene is trimmed or extended in the final cut.
“The more stuff we do separately now – recording strings separately from brass, percussion – that helps in the editing process, because you can make edits work,” Dudman explains. “You can steal stuff from other cues to make the edit work.”
Studio One is capable of holding a 100-piece orchestra or choir at any one time, and the increase in recording channels available now means that, more often than not, each player is individually miked.
“One of the nice things about the studio is that you can do things separately, put them back together and no one would know,” enthuses Barton. “That’s often such a critical factor in what we do. In the dub, if the brass is interfering with the dialogue for some reason and you can’t understand a line because there’s some French horn thing over it, rather than pull down the whole music fader and get rid of it all, you can just take out the offending piece, as it were, or duck it down.”
“There are times where you know in advance that stuff’s going to change,” Dudman adds. “The composer has written to one version of the picture. They’re already four versions down, but there’s no time to re-score it.” As a result, whole sections of music may be recorded to include what’s known as an artificial stop halfway through a musical cue, followed by an artificial start . “That gives you a clean out and clean in,” he continues. “Then you might just do a patch section that will work for the later cut and the music editor will join them all together. That’s a much more time efficient way of doing things.”
While Studio One’s control room has seen significant changes, very little has been altered in the live room itself. In order to preserve its signature 2.3 second reverb and rich sound favoured by composers and directors alike, the 4,844 ft room has seen its Art Deco walls remain largely untouched, save for being washed. Unwilling to risk impacting the acoustics, its floor has been sanded and re-oiled as varnishing it would have altered the sound too much.
“I’ve always thought of the acoustics and science of recording as sort of part science, part voodoo,” Barton adds. “What we didn’t want them to change was the voodoo, which is working very nicely.”
As well as retaining the sonic qualities that have made the space so desirable, Abbey Road also acts as a technological time capsule of sorts. Modern mixing desks and equipment are optimised to utilise old microphones and equipment, some of which are as old as the building itself.
“We never throw anything away,” Dudman states. “The Neumann U87s, we’ve got maybe 30 of those and they’re all from the 80s… Then you’ve got all the classic valve microphones, which are 70 years old – the U47s that were used on Beatles vocals. We now use those on brass and solo vocals. The rest of the chain has improved so much that when those were first invented, you didn’t hear how good they were… We’ve also got the old mixing consoles, so depending on what kind of vibe you’re after, you can move the desk into Studio One and stick 16 mics through it if you want. Nothing’s fixed in that respect.”
The use of older recording equipment can sometimes be necessitated by the time period in which a particular project is set, as was the case during Barton’s work on an episode of the12 Monkeys television series set in 1944 that required source music that sounded “authentically old”. The priority first and foremost, however, is always quality above all else.
“Ultimately, we’re always just trying to make stuff sound good,” Barton concedes. “It’s not necessarily about sounding realistic. It’s often hyperreal. Some of the old microphones have this really interesting thing where their high frequencies aren’t as pronounced. We often use words that don’t really mean very much, but they mean something to most engineers. We often say audio sounds ‘warm’ – because of the way that the early tech was designed, it tends to have those pleasing things that are part of the sound of what we like.”
There is, of course, an undeniably mythic quality to the hallowed studio spaces that remains perhaps Abbey Road’s biggest draw – even to those who might not be aware of it.
“That’s one of the things people say, they walk in and it does do something,” Barton enthuses. “Yes, it’s the old equipment and the combination of the cutting edge as well, but the walls do a thing. There’s a thing there, and you can’t quite put your finger on it. We had a fascinating session a few years ago with a children’s choir in Studio One… The moment they started singing, their director was like, ‘I haven’t heard them sing this well’. I think it just has that effect. You walk in and you have to bring your a‑game. People just do so instinctively.”
It is a great challenge and lets students show off their creativity and skills.
Change the prompt and use this project for block schedules, exam days, or advanced classes icebreaker / team building 1st day of class to check out the skills in the room.
Must be created in class / today
At least 1 minute
No longer that 3 minutes
Individual or group
Must be turned in by end of class
Prompt must be said
Prop must be used (if given)
Include: 5 Sec. Slate / Title/ Credits
1 edit per group
You may break copyright (If not for an out of class competition)
Prompt ideas can be idioms, simple phrases, or basic words. The key is that the prompt can be interpreted multiple ways so student films will have great variety.
London has long been a powerhouse of film,
television, and digital media, a city where creativity meets
craftsmanship. In the heart of this vibrant landscape
standsSoundstage Studios, one of the capital’s premier
destinations for film and video production. Whether you’re an
independent filmmaker, a global brand, or a production agency
seeking a world-class space, Soundstage Studios offers the
facilities, expertise, and flexibility to bring your vision to
life.
From fully equipped soundstages and green
screen setups to end-to-end production and post-production
services, the studio is designed to meet the evolving demands of
modern media. And with a central London location, tailored booking
options, and a dedicated in-house team, it’s never been easier to
elevate your next shoot.
Interested in working with us? You
can get in
touchvia phone on+44 (0)20
8961 7890— we’d love to hear about your
project.
Who Are We?
AtSoundstage
Studios, we’re more than just a film studio –
we’re a creative hub where vision meets execution. With established
roots in the heart of London’s media scene, we’ve built a
reputation for delivering seamless, high-quality production
experiences to clients across the film, music, advertising, and
content creation industries.
Our team includes experienced directors,
producers, DOPs, editors, and sound engineers, all committed to
pushing creative boundaries while maintaining technical excellence.
Whether you’re producing a broadcast commercial, a viral campaign,
or a cinematic short, our crew is on hand to support every stage of
the process.
We’re trusted by global brands, major-label
artists, and independent filmmakers alike. Why? Because we combine
cutting-edge facilities with reliable, knowledgeable on-site
technical support, something that sets us apart in an industry
where time and quality are everything.
Tip: Come Prepared, Leave
Empowered
Our dedicated tech team is on standby
throughout your shoot to assist with everything from rigging and
lighting to camera systems and audio feeds. They’re not just
technicians, they’re problem-solvers, offering live troubleshooting
and set assistance to keep your shoot running
smoothly.
Tip: Simplify the
Setup
Unsure about kit compatibility or power
requirements? Our studio tech specs are transparent and
pre-published, and we offer a pre-shoot tech consultation to help
you arrive confident and ready to roll.
At Soundstage Studios, we’ve designed every
aspect of the space to support your workflow, so you can focus on
what matters most: making something great.
What We Offer?
At Soundstage Studios, we provide a full
spectrum of film and video production services all under one roof.
From initial concept development to the final cut, our studio is
equipped to support projects of every scale, whether you’re
producing a high-end commercial, a music video, or a branded social
campaign. Below is an overview of what you can expect when working
with us:
Category
Services Offered
Studio Facilities
– Fully equipped soundstages with adaptable
layouts
– Green screen and infinity cyc
walls
– Customisable set design and construction
options
Equipment Hire
– 4K / 6K / 8K cinema cameras (including RED
and Blackmagic)
– Full production crew, including directors,
DOPs, and gaffers
– Location scouting and shoot
logistics
Post-Production
– High-spec editing suites with
industry-standard software
– Colour correction and grading
– Audio design, mixing, and
mastering
This setup ensures clients can see our core
offerings at a glance while reinforcing the studio’s end-to-end
capabilities.
What Makes Us Different?
At Soundstage Studios, we don’t just offer
space and equipment, we offer a creative partnership. Here’s what
sets us apart from other production studios in London:
Prime Central London
Location.Conveniently situated with
excellent transport links and on-site parking, our studio is easily
accessible whether you’re arriving with a full crew or just a
creative brief.
Flexible Packages for Every
Budget.From indie productions to global
campaigns, we offer customisable pricing structures to suit
projects of all shapes and sizes, without compromising on
quality.
Client-Centred
Collaboration.Our ethos is simple: your
vision, realised. We work hand-in-hand with each client to ensure
every production runs smoothly, creatively, and on
schedule.
In-House Creative
Direction.Need help shaping your concept?
Our team includes experienced creatives who can assist with
everything from storyboarding and shot planning to brand
integration and campaign consistency.
Sustainable Production
Practices.We’re committed to reducing our
environmental footprint, using low-energy lighting, offering
digital documentation workflows, and encouraging reuse and
recycling wherever possible.
When you choose Soundstage Studios, you’re not
just booking a facility – you’re gaining a trusted partner
dedicated to making your production the best it can be.
Who We’ve Worked With?
Our studio has played host to a wide range of
productions from fast-paced commercial shoots to cinematic music
videos and award-winning short films. We’re proud to have
supported:
Global Brands. From fashion and tech to automotive and lifestyle,
we’ve worked with international companies creating campaigns for
television, online, and social media platforms.
Major Label Artists. Our soundstages and green screen facilities have been used in
music videos for chart-topping acts, offering the flexibility and
scale needed for high-impact visuals.
Independent
Filmmakers.We actively support the UK’s
independent film scene, providing professional-grade space and kit
at competitive rates for emerging directors and
producers.
Creative Agencies and Content
Studios.Whether it’s branded storytelling,
product launches, or social content, agencies choose us for our
collaborative approach and consistent delivery.
“Soundstage Studios is a rare find — the
team are technically spot-on and creatively switched-on. It’s the
kind of place that feels like part of your crew, not just a
facility.” — Creative Producer, London-based agency
Want to see what we’ve helped
create? Get in
touchor explore our portfolio for examples of
recent work.
Ready to bring your vision to life? We’d love
to hear more about your project. Whether you’re after a full-scale
production package or just need to hire a studio for the day, our
team is here to help you find the right fit. We offer:
Studio tours by appointment – Come and see the
space, meet the team, and discuss your needs in person.
Free consultations with a producer – Get
expert advice on planning, budgeting, and creative direction before
you even start shooting.
Flexible booking options – Whether it’s a
one-day shoot or a month-long production, we tailor our packages to
fit your schedule and budget.
Why Soundstage Studios?
Whether you’re a filmmaker seeking a reliable
space to shoot, a creative agency managing high-stakes campaigns,
or a content creator aiming to elevate your visuals, Soundstage
Studios is built for you. With industry-leading facilities, a
hands-on team, and a deep understanding of the production process
from concept to delivery, we offer a professional, end-to-end
solution right in the heart of London.
From the moment you walk through our doors to
the final cut, you’ll have a partner committed to bringing your
ideas to life with precision, creativity, and care. At Soundstage
Studios, your production is in expert hands.
For movie lovers, films are more than entertainment — they’re a source of inspiration for daily life, including how we design our homes. If you’ve ever dreamed of bringing the magic of your favorite movies into your living space, a movie-themed home makeover is the perfect project.
Whether you prefer a full room transformation or subtle design details, your favorite films can guide your home improvements. From subtle design details to full cinematic spaces, here are creative ways to give your home the Hollywood treatment. Whether you love classic dramas, sci-fi thrillers, or whimsical comedies, these ideas will help turn your home into a space worthy of the big screen.
1. Create a Home Theater Room
A personal home theater is the dream of many film enthusiasts. Even without a dedicated room, you can transform a corner of your living area into a cozy, cinematic space.
Home Theater Essentials:
Dark-colored walls for a true theater atmosphere
Large flat-screen TV or projector and screen
Comfortable seating such as recliners or sectional sofas
Blackout curtains to eliminate outside light
Movie posters or framed film art as decor
A popcorn machine or snack bar for the full experience
For added impact, incorporate design details inspired by your favorite films or genres.
2. Harry Potter-Inspired Reading Nook
A reading nook inspired by the world of Harry Potter brings a touch of magic to any home.
You don’t need a castle to create a cozy, enchanted space.
Ideas for a Harry Potter Nook:
Dark wooden bookshelves filled with classic novels
Faux brick wallpaper or stone-effect details
Warm, ambient lighting with lantern-style lamps
House banners or symbols from your favorite Hogwarts house
Antique-inspired accessories like globes, hourglasses, and quills
This is ideal for a bedroom corner, under-stair space, or lounge area.
3. Sci-Fi Inspired Living Room
Fans of films like Blade Runner, Star Wars, or Tron can design a living space with sleek, futuristic style.
Sci-Fi Living Room Tips:
Neutral or monochrome color palette (black, grey, white, silver)
Clean lines and geometric furniture
LED strip lighting or color-changing smart bulbs
Glass, chrome, or metallic furniture finishes
Abstract art or space-themed wall prints
Smart home features such as voice-controlled lighting complete the high-tech feel.
4. The Holiday Cottage-Style Makeover
For those who enjoy romantic comedies and cozy spaces, a cottage-inspired makeover like the English home from The Holiday brings rustic charm to your home.
Cottagecore Makeover Elements:
Neutral tones with floral or vintage accents
Distressed, vintage-style furniture
Exposed wood beams or faux alternative
Cozy throws, blankets, and layered textiles
Soft lighting with candles or table lamps
This look works beautifully in bedrooms, living rooms, or kitchens.
5. Superhero-Themed Gaming or Entertainment Room
Superhero fans can showcase their passion with a gaming or entertainment room inspired by Marvel, DC, or other franchises.
Superhero Room Makeover Tips:
Bold color schemes using reds, blues, golds, or blacks
Wall-mounted posters or framed comic book art
Floating shelves for collectibles and action figures
Gaming chairs or comfortable seating for movie marathons
Themed lighting such as neon signs or backlit shelving
This is ideal for a spare room, basement, or entertainment corner.
6. Great Gatsby-Inspired Dining Room
Inspired by The Great Gatsby, an Art Deco dining area adds sophistication and glamour to your home.
Art Deco Dining Makeover Ideas:
Geometric patterns on walls, floors, or accessories
Deep jewel tones like emerald green, navy blue, or burgundy
Metallic finishes in gold, brass, or chrome
Statement lighting such as chandeliers or pendant lights
Luxurious materials like velvet upholstery and marble accents
Perfect for hosting elegant dinner parties with style.
7. Pixar-Inspired Kids’ Room
Children who love Toy Story, Up, or other Pixar classics will enjoy a playful, movie-themed bedroom makeover.
Pixar Kids’ Room Makeover Tips:
Wall decals or murals featuring favorite characters
Toy Story-inspired bedding and soft furnishings
Decorative balloons or clouds inspired by Up
Display shelves for Pixar toys and collectibles
Bright, fun lighting to create an imaginative space
A perfect way to make their room both playful and personal.
Final Thoughts
A movie-themed home makeover allows you to bring your love for cinema into your living space. Whether you prefer a full room transformation or subtle design details, your favorite films can guide your home improvements.
From building a personal home theater to recreating iconic movie styles, the possibilities are endless. Start small, plan your theme carefully, and enjoy turning your home into your very own Hollywood-inspired retreat.
Almost everything in film is subjective, but with our annual list of 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee, we try to be as objective as can be.
It is largely about numbers: How many submissions does a festival receive? How much money, if any, does the festival pay in travel costs? How much does it offer in prizes? How many distributors, other industry representatives, and news outlets attend?
It’s also about specifics: Who are those distributors? Is the festival Oscar qualifying? Does it offer a screenwriting competition? Great panels? Interesting guests? Rides to the airport? Food?
We’re especially interested in ratios: We think a moviemaker’s best ROI will be found at a high-quality festival with an inviting submission-to-acceptance ratio, where you’ll have a good chance of getting in and meeting people who can help you — not at a loud party, screaming over a VIP rope line you’re not allowed to cross, but in pleasant settings where you can enjoy real human moments.
So we love hidden gems, and festivals that not only look great on paper, but show heart in person.
Each year, we prepare our list of 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee through questionnaires submitted by festivals, fact-checking with filmmakers who attend them, and, as often as possible, our own visits. We don’t bother including the biggest festivals on this list, because if you’re savvy enough to read MovieMaker, you’re probably also familiar with Berlinale, Cannes, Sundance, SXSW, Toronto, Tribeca and Venice.
We’ve also skipped a number of very prestigious festivals that receive so many submissions — and accept so few — that they’re real longshots. As always, festivals that are Academy Awards qualifying in at least one category have an “A” next to their name, and those with screenwriting competitions have an “S.” And like we always say, not every festival on this list will be perfect for everyone, but we’re sure at least one will be perfect for you.
So with that, here’s our list of…
50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee 2025
Denzel Washington at the American Black Film Festival. Photo by Bobbi Broome /ABFF
A perennial on this list, ABFF is one of the most respected festivals focused on Black artists, and has drawn a who’s who of A-list attendees including Issa Rae (the 2024 festival’s creative director), Halle Berry, Ryan Coogler, Kevin Hart, Will Packer, Anthony Anderson and many more. This year’s event will include Nia Long and Larenz Tate, who will reminisce about Love Jones, which premiered in 1997, the year founder Jeff Friday launched the festival. ABFF draws 5,000 visitors annually and has received backing from Warner Bros. Discovery, NBCUniversal, Sony, and many more. Some filmmakers’ travel costs are covered through the HBO Short Film Award Competition and the Black & Unlimited Fatherhood Project Director’s Showcase, and the latter includes a $10,000 cash prize, the largest prize offered at the festival. Many distributors have been known to attend, including from Warner Bros, HBO, TV One, Starz, Onyx Collective and Netflix.
AMERICAN DOCUMENTARY AND ANIMATION FILM FESTIVAL (A)
Palm Springs, California / March and/or April 2026 / amdocfilmfest.com
AmDocs draws some heavy hitters — Sean Penn’s Ukraine documentary Superpower was among the films in 2024 — but it has an inviting submission-to-admission ratio that makes it an especially appealing option for filmmakers who can easily make the 90-minute trip from Los Angeles to Palm Springs. The fest works with filmmakers on travel, offering discounted rooms or participation in its popular Homestay Host Program. It also notes that while a significant number of industry representatives attend, they tend to prefer to keep low profiles and discretely seek out filmmakers who capture their interest. Jockeying is generally discouraged: The festival emphasizes that every film is different, and that moviemakers should support each other by turning out for one another’s films, rather than seeing them as competition. That said, there is a Film Fund Pitch Competition that has helped filmmakers with both financial support and access to industry decision makers: Past AmDocs films have gone on to get industry representation from entities including HBO, Showtime, MTV Films and PBS.
The festival, which just celebrated its 49th year, is another regular on this list thanks in large part to its Oscar qualifying status, screenwriting competition, and generous hospitality, which includes covering airfare and lodging for moviemakers with feature films in competition and a travel stipend for other films. Distributors in attendance have included Oscilloscope Laboratories, A24 and Tubi. Additional industry representation has included 3 Arts Entertainment, Big Picture Casting, Rose Locke Casting, Vanishing Angle, Seed & Spark, Buffalo 8 and more. It is known for promoting Southern talent, and especially women and people of color, as well as for adventurous programming, including the dialogue-free Finnish feature Giant’s Kettle, which played the latest edition.The festival also hosts parties galore.
Especially popular with writers, AFF manages to be packed with events and laid-back at the same time. You’ll meet people at parties, waiting in line for tacos, and walking down the street. Guests this year will include indie icon Christine Vachon, who will receive the Polly Platt Award for Producing, and Living Single creator Yvette Lee Bowser, recipient of the Outstanding Television Writer Award. The films are always top-notch, and placing high in AFF’s screenwriting competition will likely get you the attention of agents and managers. The festival has a challenging submission to acceptance ratio, but getting in means being in the presence of a bevy of distributors and sales agents, including Netflix, Magnolia Pictures, The Coven, Vertical Entertainment and Cinetic Media. The festival also offers airfare and lodging reimbursements of up to $1,000 to the winning films in each category. Adding to the hospitality, each accepted film is assigned a local filmmaker liaison who can help with transportation, screenings, panels, parties, and introducing you to local flavor.
Blackstar describes itself as a “care-centered festival exclusively for Black, Brown, and Indigenous filmmakers globally, that is focused on liberation — not just representation.” It stands out for how many things it does right, including helping with travel costs for filmmakers and offering screening fees — $600 for features and $300 for shorts. Distributors known to attend include NEON, AmDOC/POV, Comcast/Xfinity, NBCUniversal, The New York Times and Netflix, and it is known for some of the best parties and panels around, as well a huge prize package for the BlackStar Pitch for non-fiction short films: the winner gets $75,000, and the runner-up $25,000. It also has a not-impossible ratio of submissions to accepted films.
This festival, established in 1980, just wrapped its latest edition — so you have plenty of time to apply for next year. If you can make your way to South Korea’s second-largest city — known for beautiful beaches, bustling markets and serene temples — the festival helps with three nights of lodging for invited filmmakers. It welcomes distributors from across South Korea, and past guests have included representatives of Blackmagic Design, the Korean Film Council, and more. Films come from all over the world, including Italy’s “The Birthday Party,” by Francesco Sossai, which earned Academy Award qualification last year by winning the Grand Prix in International Competition. Other 2024 highlights included a talk by Emmy-nominated director Vanessa Crocini, who also served as a jury member. With filmmakers’ permission, their films continue to be shown long after the festival ends: Following the main festival in April, BISFF organizes screenings in Busan and other South Korean cities. The 2025 edition of the festival was just starting as we went to press, and has ended by the time you read this.
Lining up at the Calgary International Film Festival. Photo courtesy of Calgary International Film Festival
CALGARY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (A)
Calgary, Alberta, Canada / September 18-28 / ciffcalgary.ca
Calgary is one of the fastest-rising film hubs in the world — it just cracked the top five big cities on our annual list of the Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker — and the festival reflects its growing importance. The programmers’ excellent taste includes programming the world premiere of the comedy Micro Budget, a story of disastrous DIY moviemaking that anyone in film will enjoy. The festival helps with travel costs for many filmmakers, and gets good press turnout, as well as industry attention from entities including the National Film Board of Canada and Raven Banner Entertainment. Its Industry Week panels have included insights into casting, approaching actors for indie films, punching up scripts, and rolling with industry ups and downs. The festival also hands out around $30,000 in prize money each year.
The Chilliwack Independent Film Festival awards ceremony. Photo courtesy of Chilliwack Independent Film Festival
CHILLIWACK INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL
Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada / November 19-23 / ciff.ca
Chilliwack, a largely agricultural community of roughly 100,000 people that’s about a two-hour drive from Vancouver, is surrounded by stunning rivers, meditative hiking trails and snowcapped mountain peaks, which means you can start your day with nature and then get down to the business (and pleasure) of film. Last year, for example, director Lawrence Jacomelli went out to watch eagles snatch salmon from a stream in the hours before Chilliwack world-premiered his grindhouse homage Blood Star. Last year’s event also included a screening of Longlegs, shot in Vancouver, and two very substantive talks with its director, Osgood Perkins, who explained how he shot the film and The Monkey in the region. Chilliwack thrives at highlighting the adventurous work of local and Canadian filmmakers — Jerome Yoo’s Mongrels, shot near Chilliwack, won 2024’s Best Feature Film award, and Matthew Rankin’s French and Persian Universal Language, Canada’s latest Oscar submission for the Best International Feature Film Oscar, won Chilliwack’s Best of Fest award. The fest also cares deeply about the next generation of indie film: It gave the Best Fraser Valley Film award to “Rat King,” made by students at Chilliwack’s GW Graham Secondary. The festival has many intimate, unpretentious parties and panels where you can meet industry representatives. Those who attended last year included representatives from Elevation Pictures, Raven Banner Entertainment and The Coven, one of the companies behind Terrifier 3. Chilliwack is a fast-growing place and fast-growing festival with an inviting submission-to-admission ratio.
CINEQUEST (A, S)
San Jose and Mountain View, California / March 2026 / cinequest.org
This Silicon Valley festival is dedicated to using technology to boost filmmaking, distribution and exhibition, but has a very human touch: Cinequest vows to treat every filmmaker like a star, and it’s a true discovery festival that offers an inviting admission-to-submission ratio and programs roughly 90 percent of its films from submissions. Distributors in attendance, always seeking the next new thing, have included A24, IFC, HBO, Roadside Attractions, Magnolia, Netflix, Oscilloscope and more. Other industry attendees include producers, managers and sales agents, and the hospitality package offers hotel deals, food and drink, lounges, and more. The fest also offers transportation allowances on a case-by-case basis. Even the biggest skeptics of technology will benefit from learning more about it, and Cinequest obliges with panels on subjects like AI and creativity, as well as traditional talks about storytelling and producing.
Known for crowd pleasers and huge prize packages — it hands out 35 awards totaling more than $130,000 — Cleveland draws a wide array of terrific films to the sprawling and historic Playhouse Square. In addition to programming films, it pairs them with local nonprofits to encourage robust discussions about their subject matter. Representatives of Cleveland’s own Gravitas Ventures are known to attend, as are industry representatives from AMC Networks, ESPN, and more. It offers travel stipends for both features and shorts, and this year’s smart programming included Wendy Lobel’s feature documentary Anxiety Club, about comedians dealing with anxiety, and Cincinnati filmmaker Maureen McEly’s “Golden Hour,” a tightly devastating five-minute short about loss and digital exploitation. Cleveland also offers a reasonable submission-to-admission ratio, so a great film has a good chance of getting in. Its latest edition wrapped in April.
Hollywood’s love affair with Coronado Island goes back more than a century, when the Hotel del Coronado, the festival’s presenting sponsor, began establishing itself as a playground for movie stars — among the guests over the years were Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin, Clark Gable, Mae West, Katharine Hepburn and many more. Each year the festival basks in that history while looking to the future. It has a very inviting submission-to-acceptance ratio, generously puts up invited filmmakers, and provides prizes ranging from $500-5,000. Last year’s honorees included biopic masters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, who received the Screenwriting Award at the Leonard Maltin Industry Tribute Gala that is hosted within the festival, and Jane Seymour, who recalled her journey from chorus girl to superstar as she accepted the Legacy Award. Screenings include Oscar contenders as well as inspired and idiosyncratic docs, many of which nod to the San Diego area’s strong ties to the military and veterans. Distributors known to attend have included Searchlight Pictures, A24, Amazon Studios and Tangled Bank Studios.
CUCALORUS FILM FESTIVAL
Wilmington, North Carolina / November 19 -23 / cucalorus.org
Cucalorus is not a festival where you’ll be wined and dined by distributors, handed prize money, or granted Oscar eligibility. But because all those things are off the table, you might get something more valuable: friendships that can turn into partnerships that can result in art for the sake of art. And great art — once you stop worrying about rewards — often, ironically, brings rewards. We can also promise you’ll take home priceless recipes for cheese grits and fried cornbread, a renewed sense of worth, and memories of laughing very hard while at the festival’s beloved venue, the community theater Jengo’s Playhouse. Chief instigating officer Dan Brawley will make sure everyone has fun watching weird, daring, inspiring films, paired with music and comedy and performance art pieces. And you can pay tribute to the late, great David Lynch by checking out the local locations for Blue Velvet, one of many masterful movies shot in Wilmington.
DENVER FILM FESTIVAL
Denver, Colorado / October 31 – November 9 / denverfilm.org
Known for hospitality — including generous help with transportation and accommodations — Denver draws an impressive guest list which last year included The Bear co-showrunner Joanna Calo and media outlets including Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Vanity Fair and more. Distributors in attendance included Vertical Entertainment, and the awards-season lineup included September 5, The Brutalist and Nickel Boys. The festival is also generous with cash prizes: its Music on Film-Film on Music Documentary Grant Program, for example, provides $20,000 annually in finishing funds for U.S.-based documentaries, specifically for licensing, scoring, and composition. Last year’s event included acting workshops, live podcast recordings, and private dinners for select filmmakers. The submission-to-admission ratio is fairly welcoming.
“Three Sessions” filmmaker Erica Michelle Singleton (center)speaks at an El Dorado Film Festival Q&A. Photo courtesy of El Dorado Film Festival
El Dorado is named for a lost city of gold — perfect for a festival where hidden treasures abound. A brand-new addition to our list, El Dorado is a former oil-boom town of less than 20,000, located between Little Rock (120 miles north) and Shreveport (95 miles southwest.) You could easily overlook it. But just off the main commercial drag is the South Arkansas Arts Center, the elegant home of the El Dorado Film Festival, and just a few minutes away is a revitalized, elegant downtown filled with history. On our trip to the latest edition of the festival, we found ourselves captivated, again and again: by a 40th anniversary screening of the horror classic Fright Night, featuring a Q&A with star (and El Dorado native) William Ragsdale; by daring, thoughtful films by University of Central Arkansas filmmakers; and most of all by an entrancing walking tour by raconteur and South Arkansas Historical Preservation Society curator Darrin Riley, which featured the secret histories of Gone With the Wind and True Grit, which was based on the novel by El Dorado native Charles Portis. The tour ended with a treasure trove of Hollywood memorabilia that a local resident collected over the decades without anyone knowing. This is the kind of small, intimate festival where you see a producer on the rise pull a student filmmaker aside to talk to him for an hour. We also got inside tips on financing and distribution from Vanishing Angle vice president Ben Wiessner, and feasted on snacks from a friendly local, Delaine Gates, who later turned out to have been the drama teacher for multiple filmmakers in attendance, including festival executive director Alexander Jeffery. The movie lovers of small-town America deserve more events like this. And we haven’t even told you about the secret speakeasy hidden in a comic-book store.
Three days of fun, smart, spirited films in a borderland city packed with the stories of three cultures: Texas, Mexico, and the fascinating places where they intersect. But that may be underselling it: El Paso also has a close rapport with nearby Las Cruces, New Mexico, another fast-rising film hub. This is still a smaller, intimate festival with a very favorable submission-to-admission ratio, so a great movie has a great chance of being accepted. Those who get in will find themselves quickly embraced by a film scene that emphasizes cheering everyone on and raising all boats. It assists filmmakers with airfare, lodging and local transportation, as well as very good food. Festival founder and artistic director Carlos F. Corral — himself a local filmmaker — keeps the good feelings going, sometimes surprising filmmakers onstage with awards during their Q&As. It’s also known for cut-to-the-chase workshops and panels presented by the El Paso Film & Creative Industries Commission at Visit El Paso. Recent films to screen at the fest include the festival darlings Breakup Season by H. Nelson Tracey and “Heart of Texas” by Gregory J.M. Kasunich.
Evolution Mallorca International Film Festival founder Sandra Lipski. Courtesy of EMIFF
EVOLUTION MALLORCA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (S)
EMIFF draws fabulous guests, is set in one of the most beautiful locations in the world, and has an attractive submission-to-acceptance ratio. What’s not to like? Guests to this paradisiacal event on the shimmering Balearic islands capital of Palma are drawn to unforgettable vistas and event venues, and also to its theme of “bridging cultures — bridging people.” Festival founder Sandra Lipski, who has ties to Los Angeles, Spain and her native Germany, both embodies and evangelizes the idea that film can connect people to bring about important changes on a global scale. The festival fulfills that idea with in-depth talks on subjects like how to shoot films sustainably. It has welcomed distributors including Magnolia Pictures, IFC Films, Roadside Attractions and A24, and past award honorees have included Mads Mikkelsen and Ana de Armas. The festival is generous in helping toward travel costs and with prizes, handing out nearly $30,000 in in-kind grants from Mallorca’s production and equipment rental house Palma Pictures. It’s a regular on this list for reasons that go well beyond its gorgeous setting.
Moviemakers Mike Flanagan, left, and Chris Stuckmann at Fantasia. Photo by Julie Delisle, courtesy of Fantasia.
Spanning two weeks, Fantasia is a testament to the power of seeing a film in a theater with an audience. Some of the most daring movies we’ve ever seen — like Alex Phillips’ All Jacked Up and Full of Worms and Scooter McCrae’s shocking Black-Eyed Susan — were in packed Fantasia screenings, where everyone buckled in and committed to bold, cathartic viewing experiences. The Fantasia audience, known for meowing when the lights go down, is one of the most sophisticated on the planet, knowingly laughing at every subverted trope or particularly audacious kill. Founded in 1996, the festival is generous with travel costs, lodging and ground transportation, and has drawn such industry movers and shakers as Arrow Films, Elevation Pictures, IFC, Mongrel Media, Music Box Films, Raven Banner Entertainment, Shudder, Universal Pictures, Vinegar Syndrome, XYZ Films, Yellow Veil and more. Artistic director Mitch Davis is one of the best in the festival world, known to elegantly extrapolate, in English and French, on the history and importance of genre filmmaking. Last year’s event included special book events for Kier-La Janisse’s Cockfight: A Fable of Failure and Heidi Honeycutt’s I Spit on Your Celluloid, as well as a retrospective on the Canadian genre classic Cube with director Vincenzo Natali in attendance, and artist talks with Mike Flanagan and Gary Pullin. The festival also hosts the international co-production market Frontières, which welcomes big, bold pitches.
Porto Alegre means “joyful harbor,” and Fantaspoa offers just that: a place for filmmakers to party and unwind at a genre-focused festival with an emphasis on audacious films. Last year’s lineup included the world premiere of Michael Pierro’s brutally efficient automation-and-alienation horror movie Self Driver. The festival helps with lodging and local transportation, as well as food and drinks. (In its application for this list, let it be known that it put an exclamation point after the latter.) Festival director Joao Fleck personally selects films for the festival’s press partner to pitch to news outlets.And while the festival makes no promises about industry attendance, distributors-in-the-know do pay attention to its lineup: See page 14 of this magazine, which explains how Ethos Releasing found Neal Dhand’s Dark My Light via Fantaspoa. The festival is also known for seeking long-term friendships, noting that it doesn’t like to program a film and never see the filmmakers again — its goal is to hang with them through long careers. It also offers a quite inviting submission-to-acceptance ratio.
This is a young festival, only in its third year, but it is making a mark with its emphasis on “showcasing and advocating for personal, ambitious regional cinema,” a pledge placed prominently on its homepage. Film Fest Knox is notably one of the very few festivals that can promise a theatrical run: The winner of the American Regional Cinema Competition plays on big screens to general audiences thanks to the fest’s partners at Regal. The fest offers $18,000 in total prize money, which includes $5,000 to the winner of its Elev8or Pitch competition and smaller prizes for second and third place. Another welcome attribute is an appealing submission-to-admission ratio, and the fest provides generous help with travel costs. Last year’s attendees included C. Mason Wells, director of distribution for MUBI. Selected films included Tracie Laymon’s Bob Trevino Likes It and Yen Tan’s All That We Love.
What if an ’80s slumber party were a film festival? That’s our best description of FilmQuest, where an almost all-filmmaker audience gathers in a wholesome, clean-living Utah mountain town to watch some of the most wonderfully depraved movies ever made. People who meet at the fest one year have been known to return the next as collaborators. But the best part of FilmQuest is watching long late-night shorts blocks, where your brain melts into the insanity of one shocking film after another. It’s a mind-bending, cult-like experience, and a total joy. Festival founder Jonathan Martin is the charisma machine who holds it all together, making everyone feel like an honored guest and instant friend. Also, we never visit Provo without eating the delicious, creative ice cream at Rockwell, down the street from Velour, the festival’s screening venue.
One of the world’s most respected documentary film festivals, Full Frame is known for excellent curation and making filmmakers feel appreciated even before they arrive. In addition to offering hotel accommodations and screening fees, it assists with travel planning so documentarians can focus entirely on the festival experience. Thanks to Full Frame’s hospitality, roughly 60% of the films at the fest have a filmmaker present for a post-screening Q&A. It also offers several awards that each include a cash prize of $5,000. Distributors in attendance have included ESPN, Netflix, HBO, Working Films and more. Oscar-nominated Nickel Boys filmmaker RaMell Ross was among recent jurors. The festival isn’t easy to get into, but those who are accepted can expect a very welcoming experience among fellow filmmakers at the top of their craft.
Located in an utterly charming city on Ireland’s West Coast, the fleadh (Gaelic for “festival,”) rejects red carpets. Instead it offers dreamy, walkable streets where you’ll bump into filmmakers from all over the globe. Besides inviting screening venues, it provides a relaxed, informal environment for buying and selling films. The Film Fair, which runs parallel to the fleadh, draws a wide range of industry representatives from Shudder, BBC Films, Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, Lionsgate, RTÉ, Sky Cinema, Studio Canal, MUBI, Netflix, and more. Last year’s screenings included the Irish premiere of Rich Peppiatt’s unconventional music biopic Kneecap, which won three awards, including the Audience Award, and the festival presented its Galway Hooker award to Brian Cox. You can clear your head with walks along the gorgeous unspoiled coastline or the ripping River Corrib.
Demi Moore arrives. Courtesy of the Hamptons International Film Festival
HAMPTONS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (A, S)
East Hampton, Southampton and Sag Harbor, New York / October 3-13 / hamptonsfilmfest.org
HIFF could easily coast on its starry awards-season guest lists — its “In Conversation With…” series has included everyone from Steven Spielberg to Martin Scorsese — or on its storied East End locations. It could also rest on its prize packages, which total more than $100,000, including cash and in-kind goods and services. But as easy as it would be for the festival to kick back and bask in being an awards-season stalwart in a rich people’s playground, it also makes a serious effort to discover and promote new talent. This is a hard festival to get into, but make the cut and you’ll have the chance to gather in a casual, close-knit setting with agents, managers and producers who can help bring your next script to the screen. Distributors in attendance have included A24, Apple, Cinetic, Dark Star, Focus Features, NEON, Netflix, and many more.
Interior Chinatown creator Charles Yu and castmembers Ronny Chieng, Chloe Bennet, and Jimmy O. Yang at the Hawai’i International Film Festival. Photo by Sthanlee B. Mirador, courtesy of Hawai’i International Film Festival
Located in one of the most breathtaking locales of any festival, HIFF offers a one-of-a-kind hospitality and celebration of Asian-Pacific and international film. Unsurprisingly, the festival doesn’t have a hard time attracting great guests: Last year’s included legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins, as well as Hong Kong superstar Sandra Ng and Boba Fett himself, Temuera Morrison. It’s also a big industry draw, attracting distributors like Netflix, Fox Searchlight, Amazon, Well Go USA, Sakka, and Film Movement. Recent jurors have included Chris Kekaniokalani Bright (screenwriter of Lilo & Stitch), and prizes for filmmakers total more than $20,000. HIFF is also known for presenting the NETPAC award, which promotes Asian and Pacific cinema by celebrating exceptional talents. And its submission-to-acceptance ratio is more favorable than you might expect, given the obvious appeal of the location. You’ll want to allow yourself plenty of time for hikes, bikes, kayaks, surfing and rock climbing.
A screening at Indy Shorts. Courtesy of Heartland Film
HEARTLAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Indianapolis, Indiana / October 9-19 / heartlandfilm.org
The nonprofit arts organization Heartland Film puts on both the feature-focused Heartland in the fall and the shorts-focused Indy Shorts in the summer, and both are among the most friendly festivals you’ll find anywhere on the planet. The organizers, starting with Heartland Film president Michael Ault, take care to welcome everyone and show off the best of Indianapolis — including the sprawling Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, site of many screenings. The other excellent venues include the Living Room Theaters, one anchor of the thriving Bottleworks District. Heartland has a welcoming submission-to-admission ratio, and while Indy Shorts is tougher to get into, both are well worth the trip, and both festivals are generous in helping with travel. Major distributors to attend have included Netflix, National Geographic Documentary Films, Searchlight Pictures, Lionsgate, Paramount Pictures, IFC Films, NEON, Prime Video and Magnolia Pictures, and both festivals offer generous prize packages: about $60,000 for Heartland, and $35,000 for Indy Shorts. The latter is Oscar qualifying, and Heartland re-showcases the three grand prize-winning films from Indy’s Oscar-qualifying categories: Documentary, Live Action and Animation. Heartland regularly shows award-magnet films — last year’s included Emilia Perez, September 5 and A Real Pain — in addition to DIY standouts. Indy Shorts is known for a mix of crowd pleasers and very adventurous programming, like the Finnish “Bright White Light,” an animated Finnish film documenting near-death experiences. Both Heartland and Indy Shorts are among the very few festivals on not only this list but also our list of the 25 Coolest Festivals in the World.
You want to screen your films for the HollyShorts audience: This is a very strong discovery festival that draws not only distributors — including Netflix, Lionsgate, Short of the Week, Omeleto, ESPN, and more — but also agents from Gersh, CAA and WME. Representatives from Monkeypaw, Vanishing Angle, LB Entertainment and the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge have also attended. And HollyShorts welcomes representatives from several festivals on this list, like NewFilmmakers Los Angeles and the Evolution Mallorca International Film Festival. Jurors have included Rosario Dawson, Rachel Brosnahan, Matthew Modine and David Dastmalchian. And the stunning prize package is valued at more than $175,000, including a $60,000 Panavision camera package and $10,000 in Kodak film stock. Company 3, meanwhile, gives out $80,000 in color correction work. The festival also spawned the short film streaming site BitPix and the festival offshoots HollyShorts Comedy and HollyShorts London. Last year’s films included Victoria Warmerdam’s “I’m Not a Robot,” which went on to win the Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film. The festival, which just celebrated its 20th year, is the real deal in every possible sense.
This filmmaker-focused festival offers an intimate, rejuvenating setting near Hot Springs National Park where documentarians can celebrate each other’s work and strategize about the future of documentary filmmaking. It offers a fairly welcoming submission-to-admission ratio, generous help with travel costs, and access to a wide swath of industry representatives, including such distributors as ESPN Films, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and NatGeo Documentaries. Other industry attendees have included the Southern Documentary Fund, Kartemquin and Reel South. Last year’s films included a who’s who of celebrated docs, including No Other Land, winner of the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. The festival’s Wellness Series invites filmmakers to fully appreciate the beauty of the locale with hiking, yoga, and meditations.
Julien Dubuque promises “communication, filmmaker appreciation and respect” to all, epitomizing unpretentious Midwestern hospitality. It’s a budget-friendly, centrally located festival known for free transportation to and from the surrounding airports (including Chicago), bountiful free food, and lodging that includes the highly regarded HomeStay program, in which filmmakers can stay free in locals’ homes. The fest is designed to be walkable and offers free shuttles, and festival executive director Susan Gorrell goes out of her way to be accessible to all. Representatives from LeoMark Studios and Circus Road are among the industry professionals who have attended. The festival also hands out more than $20,000 in prize money, and its panels include daily coffee talks about filmmaking and industry insights, as well as a discussion where filmmakers can hear firsthand from jurors about how they select winning films. Finally, the admission-to-submission ratio is fairly welcoming.
This high-prestige festival is selective, yes, but not impossible to get into with a great, bold film — and the benefits of attending are obvious even aside from its stunning location along Lake Maggiore and the Alps. Locarno provides generous assistance with lodging and ground transportation, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in prizes. You’ll also be a part of history at this fest, founded in 1946, when you join the 8,000 people who gather each night to watch films on one of Europe’s largest screens on the Piazza Grande. Among the many ways Locarno incubates talent is its Locarno Academy for young people, and it champions the film experience with its Open Doors programs for regions where independent cinema faces its greatest challenges. The festival unsurprisingly has a huge industry presence: Distributors known to attend include MUBI, Bande à Part Films, RTS Radio Télévision Suisse, France 2 Cinéma, StudioCanal, Sony and more. And the press team stands out, offering five press agents covering France, Germany and Austria, Italy, Switzerland and International, for films that don’t have their own publicist.
Established in 1983 to promote the films, videos, and digital mediaworks of Asian and Pacific Islander artists, the festival just wrapped its 41st edition. It follows core values that include serving as an agent rather than an impediment of change, and prioritizing community building over individual ego inflation. It also emphasizes “R3:NEWAL” — Regeneration, Reciprocity, and Renewal — to help filmmakers connect with and inspire each other. It is generous in assisting with travel costs, and has drawn industry representatives from NBCUniversal and Sony, among others. Recent films have included the world premiere of Nobuko Miyamoto: A Song in Movement, from the Japanese American National Museum and PBS SoCal. The festival has a very encouraging submission-to-acceptance ratio and hands out a bevy of awards, including for emerging filmmakers.
Perhaps the most unique of any film festival, this short-film competition requires that all entries be made in Louisiana. They vie for a $25,000 prize that goes up to $50,000 if the film is shot in Caddo Parish, where Shreveport is located, or nearby Bossier Parish. The entrants are whittled down to 20, who attend a weekend of screenings and other events that include street parties, food tastings, live comedy and much more. Though it’s a competition, the feeling is extremely convivial and collaborative — you frequently see the director of one film pitching in to be the cinematographer or cameraperson on a friend/rival’s short. While everyone is hoping for the $50,000 (or $25,000), many smaller prizes are handed out as well. It also welcomes filmmakers at all experience levels, from people who’ve never made a film to people who’ve made many, so it’s an ideal opportunity for those looking to break in. Festival founder and executive director Gregory Kallenberg and director Chris Lyon make everyone feel welcome, even remembering details like your favorite drink. If you aren’t from Shreveport, you’ll go home wishing your town had an event that brings the community together like the Prize.
Mammoth Lakes Film Festival attendees. Courtesy of MLFF
Devoted to finding unique, innovative and personal stories, MLFF packs screenings with audiences hungry for risky films, especially from previously overlooked filmmakers. Its commitment to diversity includes diversity of thought, style, and inspiration, and the festival cares more about heart than pedigree. Festival director Shira Dubrovner and her team create a warm atmosphere that includes trips to the local hot springs. Distributors in attendance have included Greenwich Entertainment and Indican Pictures, and last year’s guests included producer Tim Moore of Clint Eastwood’s Malpaso Productions and Oscar-nominated May December co-writer Alex Mechanik, who took part in a Saturday morning panel and also met with 10 screenplay competition finalists. Festivals can be gateways to other festivals, and that’s very much the case with the highly regarded Mammoth Lakes: programmers from Slamdance, Sundance, and Tribeca all attended last year. The submission-to-admission policy is selective but reasonable, and Mammoth Lakes also offers a total of more than $40,000 in cash and other prizes. The latest edition just wrapped.
Closing night at the Miami Jewish Film Festival. Photo by Ray Rivero, courtesy of MJFF
Welcoming more than 50,000 film lovers a year — about a third of whom are not Jewish — the festival is a platform for connection and cultural exchange through storytelling. It isn’t the easiest festival to get into, but selected filmmakers receive a standout experience that includes very generous travel packages and the opportunity to explore attractions like Miami Beach and the Wynwood Arts District. Distributors known to attend include Greenwich Films, Menemsha Films, and Briarcliff Entertainment, and the festival notes that three to five films are picked up for distribution from the festival each year. The festival also offers a large prize package totaling more than $60,000, including $18,000 each for the winner of the Grand Jury Prize and Documentary Achievement Award. (The winners should be substantially of Jewish interest and/or produced in Israel.) Another major prize, the Torchbearer Jury Prize, awards $10,000 to a film centered on the Holocaust, and the resilience and fortitude of victims and survivors.
Montclair, an affluent bedroom community for many who commute to Manhattan, has one of the most receptive audiences of any festival: It is filled with industry and media veterans who have seen it all and are up for challenging material — and reap the emotional and intellectual rewards of engaging with it. The festival’s reputation for stellar programming and proximity to NYC helps it draw a large industry presence, including such distributors as Netflix, A24, Focus Features, NEON, Lionsgate, and more. It also draws a large media turnout and packs its juries with journalists from the likes of EW, The Associated Press, and Rolling Stone. Attendees look forward to thoughtful filmmaker Q&As, some of which are led by Stephen Colbert, whose wife, Evelyn McGee Colbert, is president of the board of Montclair Film. The festival’s devotion to uplifting new talent includes giving the $5,000 Mark Urman Award For Fiction Filmmaking to an early-career filmmaker.
Nashville is now not just a music but film-and-TV industry town, which is reflected in the turnout for this highly respected, fairly selective festival: In addition to distributors like Oscilloscope and Paramount+, it has been known to draw production companies like Monarch Media and Riverside Entertainment, as well as agents from UTA and news outlets including USA Today. It helps narrative and documentary feature filmmakers with a $500 travel stipend for airfare and local transport, while covering their lodging. The fest’s Creators Conference includes a mix of locals and Hollywood visitors for panels on subjects like indie film success and film and TV music — this is Music City, after all. Another highlight is the Pitch Competition, in which 10 finalists pitch their ideas for feature films or shows to industry representatives. One recent festival success story is Tracie Laymon, whose screenplay Bob Trevino Likes It was a finalist in the 2022 Screenwriting Competition and became a film that debuted at SXSW last year, kicking off a long festival run that included Nashville before the film’s theatrical release in March. Laymon returned to Nashville last year as a Pitch Competition juror, sharing her experiences and expertise. The festival also offers cash prizes that include at least $2,000 for the winners of the Narrative, Documentary, Music Documentary and New Directors Feature categories.
A Nevada City Film Festival screening. Courtesy of Nevada City Film Festival
Located in the gorgeous and bewitching Sierra Nevada foothills, this festival works tirelessly to cultivate and promote rising and mid-career filmmakers, with a special emphasis on discovering and sharing bold short films. Like many of our favorite festivals in beautiful locales, it offers the chance to simultaneously boost your work and relax and reflect in thought-clearing, restorative environs — the town offers a storybook blend of Victorian architecture, Gold Rush history, and abundant trees. The strong support for moviemakers includes screening fees, splitting online revenue, lodging, good food, and travel stipends, and the career-enhancement opportunities include workshops that have, in past editions of the festival, covered subjects from documentary ethics to horror and sci-fi filmmaking to the roles of producers, music supervisors, editors, distributors and more. Every award includes money, totaling $10,000. But the best part of the festival may just be meeting fellow artists and film lovers under the maples, elms and dogwoods.
We can promise that filmmakers will get media coverage from this festival — because we’re among the outlets that provide it. Every month we feature interviews with NFMLA filmmakers on moviemaker.com, where they go in-depth on their inspirations and approaches to storytelling. Unlike the other festivals on this list, NFMLA holds events monthly, often focusing on a different slate of underrepresented filmmakers. Examples include the InFocus: Middle Eastern & Arab Cinema Program, InFocus: Indigenous Cinema, and Indigenous: Veteran Cinema Program. Co-founder and executive director Larry Laboe makes everyone know they’re appreciated and welcomed, and the joys of playing NFMLA include screening at a 500-seat theater, pre- and post-screening receptions, and industry meetings for those whose films are official selections. Distributors known to attend include A24, Amazon, Kino Lorber, Lionsgate, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery, 20th Century Studios, Max, Paramount and more.
Leave extra room in your luggage if you think you might win something: The Granite State festival hands out 20-pound-plus engraved and polished granite bricks as awards. That’s one of many distinctive traits of this festival, held during one of New England’s prettiest times of the year, when the leaves are exploding with color. The winner of the Grand Jury Narrative Award receives a private industry meeting with Oscilloscope Laboratories, one of many distributors known to attend. Others include Metrograph Pictures, Factory 25, A24, MUBI, Music Box Films, Roadside Attractions and more. As part of its commitment to growth, the festival recently merged into The Music Hall, a non-profit arts institution that has been a festival partner since 2004.It offers a reasonably inviting submission-to-admission ratio, and works with filmmakers to assist with travel when possible, including by offering luxury coach travel for some New York City-based filmmakers.
NOFF’s passion is to nurture Southern filmmakers and amplify their voices around the world, and it does that not just by showcasing films, but providing grants and funding. Its key initiatives include South Pitch, the Emerging Voices Directors Lab, and the Southern Producers Lab, all of which provide chances for regional filmmakers to tell their stories. The festival also welcomes key representatives in funding and grant programs, including the Catapult Film Fund, Tribeca Studios, and Sundance Institute, and evangelizes about talented filmmakers to other festivals including BlackStar, Tribeca, DOCNYC, Cleveland, Atlanta, Maryland, SFFilm, and Provincetown. (Yes, festival people talk to each other.) The festival also facilitates meetings between artists and industry representatives to create career launchpads. Distributors in attendance have represented entities including Searchlight Pictures, NBCUniversal, Black Public Media, POV/American Documentary, and MSNBC Films. Additionally, last year the festival offered more than $50,000 in prizes, including $10,000 each to winning documentary and narrative pitches. The festival also provided camera rental packages in partnership with Panavision, Light Iron, and Keslow Camera. It offers help with travel costs, keeps things as walkable as possible, and pays screening fees of $125 to $250. It’s not an easy festival to get into, but those that do can expect strong support. Last year’s films included A King Like Me, Matthew Henderson’s look at New Orleans’ Zulu Club, the nation’s oldest Black Mardi Gras krewe, and the world premiere of Zac Manuel’s Ghetto Children, a celebration Southern rap culture, as well as RaMell Ross’ Oscar-nominated Nickel Boys and Edward Berger’s Oscar-winning Conclave.
The one and only Nicolas Cage at the Newport Beach Film Festival. Photo by Travis Garcia, courtesy of NBFF
Say yes to everything if you get into this award-season festival, which celebrated its 25th anniversary last year and provides a glamorous, fashion-focused escape from the frenetic pace of nearby Los Angeles. You’ll see A-listers feted at spectacular settings like the Pelican Hill Resort, which hosted a sunset Q&A with Ewan McGregor for the festival’s latest edition, and attend unforgettable events like a yacht party or open-to-everyone retrospective between Carol Burnett and designer Bob Mackie, held at the Fashion Island shopping mecca. The long-list of celebrity honorees last year included Nicholas Cage, Colman Domingo, Margaret Qualley, Christoph Waltz, Terry Crews and Peter Saarsgard, who followed up an incisive Q&A by introducing his gripping journalism drama September 5. But in addition to seeing many stars, you’ll also find programming gems like last year’s short film “Reunion,” Zainab Jah and Timothy Naylor’s complex story of a West African immigrant meeting the former child soldier who destroyed her family. The festival has an appealing submission-to-acceptance ratio and offers very discounted hotel and transportation options. Co-founder and CEO Gregg Schwenk does a lovely job of making sure everyone feels comfortable and welcome, paying close attention to details. Screenings are packed with audiences known for thoughtful, engaged questions, and the many parties include exceptional food from local restaurants.
OUT ON FILM (A, S)
Atlanta, Georgia / September 26-October 6 / outonfilm.org
The festival just held its first Queer Film Summit, featuring four days of panels and workshops on artistry, yes, but also on the cold realities of getting your movie made. It offered detailed discussions on fundraising, contracts, and marketing, among other crucial details. The festival also offers expansive Q&As, featuring as many representatives of a film as possible, and is generous with travel assistance. Out on Film also gives any filmmaker who can’t attend the chance to tape a Zoom Q&A that promotes their screening and stays up on the festival’s YouTube channel. Not only Oscar but also BAFTA qualifying, the festival strives to make all guests feel recognized and appreciated from the moment they arrive. It also offers an attractive submission-to-acceptance ratio. Last year’s lineup included director Andrea James’ Becoming a Man in 127 Easy Steps, based on the one-man show by Scott Turner Schofield, and Didi Paulini’s Transcendence.
Colman Domingo at the Provincetown International Film Festival. Photo by Mae Gammino, courtesy of PIFF
Years ago we praised PIFF for “exquisite taste in an exquisite place,” and we honestly can’t improve on that. Cape Cod’s Provincetown, aka PTown, is an LGBTQ+ and arts capital known for elegantly preserved homes, excellent food, and fascinating history — it’s where the pilgrims first landed. It’s also home to a thriving, well-curated film festival blessed with John Waters as its patron saint. He’s known for campy and magnificent fundraisers. It has attracted distributors including HBO, Warner Bros. Discovery, Magnolia Pictures, and Strand Releasing, and last year’s award recipients included Colman Domingo, Joel Kim Booster and Andrew Haigh. Attendees have included Eugene Hernandez, director of the Sundance Film Festival, and manager and producer Adam Kersh, whose clients include Sean Baker. We’ve had some of our favorite film experiences in PTown, including watching B-movies at a drive-in event hosted by Waters. The festival is particular about what films it selects, which results in a slate of challenging films without a dull one in the bunch.
If you’re wondering what Salute Your Shorts looks for in submissions, you can read a thoughtfully detailed piece from festival co-founder and artistic director Erin Brown Thomas on page 18. Many festivals embrace the idea that festivals are like going to camp, but Salute Your Shorts takes that idea further than most: Brown Thomas even invites filmmakers to bonfires at her home. (And of course the fest shares a name with an early ‘90s summer camp-focused Nickelodeon series.) The intimate-getaway feel extends to screenings: They’re held on one screen, in one building, with one courtyard, on one weekend. Attendees are offered catered food between showings to encourage them to stick around. As much fun as the festival has, it’s very serious about craft, offering talks with such indie film inspirations as Mark Duplass, the Vanishing Angel team, and Oscar-winning duo The Daniels. Refreshingly, the focus is on creativity, not how to break into the industry. Past jurors have included Tony Hale and Lego franchise producer Dan Lin, chairman of Netflix Films. Agents and managers also make low-key visits to search for new talent, and an Oscar-qualifying theatrical run is among the prizes. Notably, the fest is led entirely by filmmakers.
(L-R) Tait Fletcher, Cassidy Freeman and Yolonda Ross in a Santa Fe International Film Festival panel on acting. Photo by Sasha Ewing, courtesy of SFIFF
SANTA FE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (A)
Santa Fe, New Mexico / October 15-19 / santafe.film
Located in the No. 1 smaller city on our 2025 list of the Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker, SFIFF highlights both the best of its fast-rising film community and the best of cinema worldwide. Visit the festival, which earned Oscar-qualifying status last year, and you may seriously consider a move to New Mexico, drawn by the laid-back Southwestern chic of its parties and the artistic passion of the many ex-Angelenos and New Yorkers who move to the Land of Enchantment to live out DIY dreams. (They can pay the bills working for companies like Netflix, NBCU, and AMC, all of which have a substantial local presence.) It’s not surprising that the festival draws agents, managers, and distributors — last year’s Distribution Panel included representatives from Magnolia, Utopia Distribution and Oscilloscope. The prize packages are vast and include a $90,000 prize package from Panavision and Light Iron for the Best Narrative Feature winner. You’ll screen daring films in venues like the modern Violet Crown and the classically styled, George R.R. Martin-owned Jean Cocteau Cinema and Coffee House. (Martin also co-owns the Sky Railway, located near the two theaters and featured in Oppenheimer.) The festival is generous with travel assistance, and we suggest taking some side trips: You won’t have to travel far to see locations for productions like Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, AMC’s Dark Winds and the upcoming Young Guns 3: Dead or Alive. Last year’s honorees included Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston. Santa Fe is a town where everyone you meet seems to embrace film, all the way to the top: Highlights of last year’s SFIFF included a party at the sprawling hacienda-influenced Governor’s Mansion.
Amy Adams takes a moment with a fan at SCAD. Photo courtesy of SCAD
This festival run by the Savannah College of Art and Design — one of our Best Film Schools in the U.S. and Canada — draws an astonishing guest list each year of A-listers who turn out to promote their awards-contender films and share practical advice with SCAD students on their way into the industry. Last year’s honorees included Amy Adams, Jerry Bruckheimer, Kevin Costner, Felicity Jones, Richard Linklater, Best Actress Oscar winner Mikey Madison, Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner Zoe Saldaña — and we’re not even halfway through the list. The festival hosts packed screenings in elegant venues like the 1,100-seat Trustees Theater, and guests shouldn’t miss the chance to tour SCAD’s massive Hollywood-style backlot. The prizes include $10,000 to the juried winner and $5,000 to the audience award winner of the LGBTQIA+ Shorts Program, presented by Amazon MGM Studios. The festival’s hospitality is unmatched from the moment you arrive in Savannah, which always ranks high on our list of the Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker, thanks in no small part to the career opportunities offered by SCAD. This isn’t the easiest festival to get into, but the filmmakers who are admitted are treated quite graciously.
Anxiety Club documentarian Wendy Lobel on a hike to Devil’s Bridge during the Sedona International Film Festival. Photo courtesy of Wendy Lobel
Wherever you are in your career, you’ll benefit from a trip to Sedona – for the films, great panels and exquisite parties, yes, but also for the meditative hikes through jaw-dropping scenery, up red rocks and over must-see landmarks like Devil’s Bridge. The festival is generous with travel assistance and draws big, well-informed crowds — Sedona is known for artists, retirees and spiritual seekers of all ages, which results in lively and thoughtful Q&As. One highlight of the latest edition was the world premiere of Shattered Ice, a film about a teenage hockey player’s suicide that provoked a moving panel discussion that included the film’s cast, director Alex Ranarivelo, and screenwriter-producer Jake Miskin, who wrote the film to encourage open talks about mental health after losing friends to suicide. Another standout was Wendy Lobel’s previously mentioned Anxiety Club, about standup comics’ coping with anxiety. The festival also programmed a striking number of films about resisting Nazis, and the perils of collaborating with them, including the outstanding documentary Riefenstahl. And attendees got to see a lively panel about choosing film festivals that included your friends at MovieMaker, as well as the Festival Formula’s Katie and Ian Bignell and New York Film Academy’s Crickett Rumley. Festival executive director Patrick Schweiss is an excellent ambassador for the festival and booster of other nearby attractions, inclined to point out that you might want to tack on time to see the Grand Canyon, about two hours away. Sedona is also known for vortexes believed to be centers of healing energy — or maybe it’s the sense of peace that comes from a terrific festival?
VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada / October 2-12 / viff.org
Drawing nearly 100,000 admissions last year, this fairly selective festival is known for high-quality discussions at its Q&As, which feature films from all over the world. Besides playing Oscar fare like Anora and Conclave, it hosted world, international, North American or Canadian premieres for more than 70 feature films, and covered the full cost of airfare and hotel accommodations for 50 feature filmmakers. Other draws include its Hospitality House, which serves free food and drinks, as well as good conversations with fellow artists, along with stunning mountain and water views. Distributors known to attend include major Canadian distributors like Elevation Pictures, Mongrel Media, FilmsWeLike, Photon Films, and Game Theory. VIFF also offered discussions of subjects ranging from adapting IP to rethinking documentary marketing and redefining genre moviemaking. Guests included Longlegs and The Monkey filmmaker Osgood Perkins, who shot both films locally, and Furiosa production designer Colin Gibson. The fest expanded its global reach last year by collaborating with the Swiss and Taiwanese governments to bring representatives of their film industries to Vancouver.
A classic example of the kind of smaller festival where you can really get to know people and make true connections. Case in point: Years ago, indie filmmakers Gregory J.M. Kasunich and Lauren Noll met at the festival and hit it off. Though neither is from Waco, they were inspired by its small-town feel, and devised a film set there. “Heart of Texas,” follows a diner waitress (Noll) whose dreams of winning a singing contest on the radio are threatened by an accident with an undocumented co-worker. It won Waco’s 2022 screenplay contest, and its $6,000 production grant to shoot locally. The film debuted at WIFF last year. It went on to play at several other festivals on this list of 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee and to qualify for the Oscars. “Waco Independent Film Festival was the spark that made ‘The Heart of Texas’ possible,” Kasunich tells MovieMaker. “Winning their screenwriting competition and receiving their grant gave us the resources to bring our vision to life and share it with the world. Without them, our Oscar-longlisted journey never would’ve happened.” The festival has also welcomed distributors like Dark Star Pictures, Summer Hill Films and Crafty, and last year’s guests included The Walking Dead star Chandler Riggs, supporting his role in the film Breakup Season. Waco also has a very inviting submission-to-acceptance ratio.
Amanda Seyfried, left, and Aya Cash discuss acting at the Woodstock Film Festival. Courtesy of Woodstock Film Festival.
The festival proudly states that its location, the Hudson Valley, has the largest number of artists per capita in the country. Looking at its guest lists, that certainly feels true: Last year’s attendees included Walton Goggins, promoting his film The Uninvited, Amanda Seyfried and Aya Cash, who discussed the craft of acting, and Seyfried’s First Reformed director, the inestimable Paul Schrader, who received the festival’s Honorary Maverick Award. (Past attendees have included Ethan Hawke, Ang Lee, Richard Linklater, Darren Aronofsky, Mira Nair and Jennifer Connelly.) Woodstock draws distributors including Disney+, NEON and Netflix, and is generous in providing travel assistance. There’s a strong emphasis on developing relationships between the industry and the many local artists and filmmakers in the thriving and fast-rising regional film scene. Last year’s films included the Oscar winners Anora and No Other Land. If you want to preview the festival before attending, check out its lively YouTube channel, featuring panels, Q&As and livestreams.
Liked Our List of 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee 2025?
Little White Lies was established in 2005 as a bi-monthly print magazine committed to championing great movies and the talented people who make them. Combining cutting-edge design, illustration and journalism, we’ve been described as being “at the vanguard of the independent publishing movement.” Our reviews feature a unique tripartite ranking system that captures the different aspects of the movie-going experience. We believe in Truth & Movies.
There’s something about film noir that never loses its edge, especially for older adults who first watched those shadow-soaked tales, crisp dialogue, and twist-filled plots. Even now, many seniors return to black-and-white stories about crime, passion, and betrayal.
Whether they are unwinding at home or meeting friends for movie nights in assisted living communities, film noir still sparks lively chats, stirs emotion, and creates comfort. It offers more than memory; it preserves a bridge to a time when a movie could captivate without a single splash of color. That recollection alone can brighten an ordinary afternoon.
The Timeless Charm of a Gritty Story
Film noir stands apart thanks to storytelling that is raw, candid, and frequently unpredictable. For seniors, these narratives remain current because they refuse to gloss over life’s shadows. Rather than neat conclusions, film noir often leaves viewers pondering the aftermath. Imperfect leads and hard choices mirror reality in ways that still hit home.
Older audiences respect that these films skip the sugarcoating and instead probe the deep feelings people wrestle with—love, grief, regret, and hope—inside an absorbing, suspense-driven plot. Each twist feels like a new discovery, even on the tenth viewing.
Memories Wrapped in Black and White
Watching film noir can feel like opening a well-worn time capsule. The music, clothes, cars, and neon streets summon vivid memories of another age. Many seniors came of age during or soon after the genre’s golden years, so revisiting these movies unleashes a strong rush of nostalgia. Recognizable faces—Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Mitchum—seem like long-time companions.
These films do more than entertain; they carry viewers back to the first time they saw them, whether in a crowded theater downtown or on a television with family. They recall popcorn aromas, marquee lights, and the thrill of neighborhood premieres.
Sharp Dialogue and Clever Characters
Another hallmark of film noir is its razor-sharp dialogue. The lines crackle with wit, subtext, and flair. Seniors enjoy hearing characters speak decisively, using each word with intent. There’s a confidence and clarity in the way detectives, dames, and villains talk that still resonates.
Those quick exchanges offer sheer amusement yet also give the brain a pleasant workout, urging viewers to track each hint, secret, and double-cross woven through smoke-filled bars and rain-slick alleys.
A Break From Today’s Fast-Paced Films
Many modern movies bombard audiences with rapid cuts, booming sound, and layers of digital spectacle. Film noir, by contrast, moves with deliberate calm. It invites the audience to settle in, watch shadows shift, and allow the plot to breathe.
Seniors often welcome that measured cadence, where characters pause to think, and scenes linger long enough to absorb mood. It provides a quiet respite from today’s sensory overload and recalls a period when solid storytelling ruled the screen.
Conclusion
Film noir endures for seniors not only because of the era in which it was produced but because of the emotions it still evokes. With iconic characters, polished dialogue, and authentic emotional weight, the genre remains as compelling today as when it first emerged. In every dance of shadow on silver, there is a timeless allure that keeps drawing older adults back to these unforgettable stories.
Your challenge is to tell an entertaining story with a beginning, middle and end in exactly 1 minute with 1 continuous shot. That’s right!
This project is inspired by Orson Welles’, (of Citizen Kane and War of the Worlds), famous 1 shot scene from Touch of Evil. Many movies and shows have taken on the challenge over the years and there is always a little nod to the originator, Orson Welles.
Films like Birdman with Michael Keaton, and 1917 by director Sam Mendes and his DP Roger Deakins are wonderful modern examples of feature length films. Below are some of the best known professional examples, and some fun student examples of how this filmmaking concept has been implemented throughout the years.
When you start your project think about creative camera placement and angles, choreography, actors, props, framing and, of course, a good story.
Your edit will be SO easy because you cannot edit the contents of the story. You can only trim the beginning and the end to meet your 60 second timeframe. Pay attention to timing, use a stopwatch.
Feel free to add some audio, and effects on top but do not cut your footage.
Task 1 Come up with a story with a beginning, middle and end
Task 2 Use a stopwatch to time it out. Choreography, props, camera angles, etc.
Task 3 Trim the front and back of the film but nothing in the middle. Feel free to add any
additional effects, music, voiceovers, ADR, and/or sound effects to create a film that is truly entertaining.
Final Destination: Bloodlines review – an absurd, grotesque film for our absurd, grotesque times
About Little White Lies
Little White Lies was established in 2005 as a bi-monthly print magazine committed to championing great movies and the talented people who make them. Combining cutting-edge design, illustration and journalism, we’ve been described as being “at the vanguard of the independent publishing movement.” Our reviews feature a unique tripartite ranking system that captures the different aspects of the movie-going experience. We believe in Truth & Movies.
