By Antonia Opiah
After the close of our 2011 run last year, we at the Beneath the Earth Film Festival asked ourselves, “What happens to all the films on the festival circuit once their run is over?”
We quickly came to the realization that if a filmmaker isn’t part of the lucky 1% that get distribution, once he’s off the circuit no one really sees his film again. We also realized that even those that get into festivals are likely not seen by a vast number of people. Filmmaker Tod Miro, for example, spent a year on the circuit and estimates his film was seen by about 1,500 people.
Consequently, we decided to make a big change in our submission requirements. This year we’ve been accepting films from as far back as 1990 onward, looking for cinematic gems who may have sailed through the circuit like a ship passing in the night, not having reached a fraction of their potential audience. If this sounds like you or a filmmaker you know, consider submitting to our 2012 competition.
The final deadline is soon, 8/31/12 to be exact and we’re offering Hope for Film readers a $20 discount off the submission.
– Just submit here: http://beneathearth.com/2012-film-submissions.html
– And enter this discount code: hope082012.
– You can learn more about us here http://beneathearth.com/about.html
– And watch our nifty call for entries video here http://youtu.be/LTpH9HF5pgE
We’re looking forward to seeing all the great films that get submitted this year!
Bio: Antonia Opiah is co-founder of the Beneath the Earth Film Festival, an online film festival that’s using the Internet and its grand jury of film reviewers to get filmmakers noticed. The festival observed that many films come and go on the circuit without reaching their fullest potential of an audience. To remedy this, BTEFF accepts films from as far back as 1990 onward with the hope of unsurfacing and resurfacing cinematic gems.
