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Truly Free Film

Brooklyn’s Answer To SXSW? Complete With A DIY Film Festival!!

The democratization of culture and the tools to create and share it is definitely been one of the more exciting trends of the recent past. We see it in all spheres and aspects of our daily life, but what symbolizes it best? Many friends and pundits characterize it as a dumbing down, but I truly perceive it as quite the opposite. People everywhere are asking all of us to look and reach up, to aspire to more, to inspire each of us to cross into new realms.

Maybe this is most felt on the streets of Austin during SXSW (although the committed might nominate Burning Man), but it is refreshing to know that NYC is not going to abandon the terrain of the wild, weird, honest, and true to that Texas town. We’ve got on own thing going down in Brooklyn.

rooklyn has emerged as a new creative epicenter of culture, and Northside is the festival that curates this talent into a 4-day experience of Music, Art, Film, and Ideas, showcasing the best regional and national talent all within the walkable radius encompassed by Williamsburg and Greenpoint. It’s June 16 -19th and I plan to be there. In fact, I will be one of the judges of the film component. But it is not just film, per se. It is lo-fi, hi-ambition, DIY variety.

DIY filmmaking is very much a part of this mission. It’s now a given that many of the most exciting films at major American festivals are the product of a handful of friends working on a shoestring (some of them right here in Brooklyn), and it’s time festivals gave these films the dedicated platform they deserve.

Last year, with the first-ever Northside Film Festival, copresenters like Rooftop Films, IFC, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Film Comment screened exciting local and upcoming films; this year, alongside these special feature presentations, Northside’s new DIY Film Competition will shine a spotlight on the exciting new voices working with the materials at hand.

The submissions guidelines:

The L Magazine presents: The Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Film Competition, Northside Festival’s first juried screening series. Open to all filmmakers with ingenuity and a hands-on approach, the winners will receive an exclusive screening with Rooftop Films plus cash and equipment rentals! For more information on how to submit your own dynamic short or brilliant feature before the May 1 deadline hits, please visit northsidefestival.com and click “Submit Your Film.” The films must have been made after January 1, 2008.

Categories
Truly Free Film

Good Seminars For NY Filmmakers

While I am enjoying my morning coffee, sifting through the 250 emails I did not get to yesterday, I stumbled across New York Women In Film & Televisionhttp://www.nywift.org/‘s seminars for the month, and I have to tell you I was impressed. What a great resource for all filmmakers! Check it out…

NYWIFT‘s April 2011 programs

Thursday, April 7, 2011
The Creative Business of Screenwriting

Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Career Focus: The Actors Fund Work Program (AWP)

Wednesday, April 13, 2011
The It Factor: A Branding and Image Workshop

Thursday, April 14, 2011
Unions, Guilds and Locals—Oh My!: An Evening with Costume, Makeup and Hair Designers

Tuesday, April 19, 2011
The Ultimate Confidence Building Workshop: Communicate With Conviction

Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Next Generation Docs: Social Media and Cross-Platform Storytelling

Friday, April 29, 2011
Women Documenting Life: A Celebration of Women Filmmakers to Mark the 40th Anniversary of New Day Films