NY Film & Video Festival Day 3 – Continued

The New York International Independent Film & Video Festival handles their submissions slightly different than most film festivals in terms of submission fees, from what I understand $300-$350 more. However, you are guaranteed a screening for that amount. That’s not to say any film submitted gets into the festival, but if you are turned down your money is returned. This higher fee also doesn’t guarantee you an audience for your film; the block of films I saw tonight consisted mainly of people connected with each film. Still, if you are a first time director wanting to get started showing at festivals, buying a slot at NYIIFVF is a great way to get a festival credit associated with your film.

My film choices for Sunday night consisted of:

SPPD: The Pig is Dead (28 min) Director: Florian Seidel (Germany) A dead boar that swallowed a man was found at a ‘Grosse Freiheit’ wearing a t-shirt and other funny gadgets. A cellphone rings out out of the pig’s stomach at the pathology. Two bored detectives begin to investigate. But only with the help of a medium are they able to track down the murderer. 11 webepisodes – very odd, hard to follow, but they committed to a visual style.

Trapped(93min) Director:Gavin Rapp & Ron Hankison (USA) Trapped is the story of a carefully planned high-stakes business swindle and murder plot that goes terribly wrong. Or does it? Starring Corbin Bernsen (L.A. Law, Major League), Tom Atkins (My Bloody Valentine, Lethal Weapon) After the film, I said to two filmmakers in their 20’s, “I wonder how they got Corbin Bernsen to do that part?” and they said to me “Which one was Corbin Bernsen?” Which actually answers my question.

I didn’t attend the after party at ONE (1 Little West 12th Street) I kinda lost my steam since these two films showed an hour later than scheduled and I’m not good yet about maneuvering East to West.