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Film
Festival 101
Okay,
maybe if you live in New York City or even Philadelphia
you would already have taken and passed Film Festival
101: How to get the most out of a film festival. But
it’s only our third year here in Cape May, so this
is a basic film festival primer (or a refresher course,
for those who attended the last two years).
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What is a film festival and what
makes it different from going to see the latest blockbuster?
Surprise: a film festival is not just about seeing
films (although there are over 50 films showing between
Thursday and Sunday). It is about the audience making
contact with the filmmakers behind the movies.We have
two “sidebars”—which are special film
programs brought to the festival from other festivals.
This year there are a host of famous producers, distributors,
and actors as well as film directors. Before or after
each film there will be someone who will talk about
the making of the movie. You will come away with the
kind of insider information you can’t get in
the lobby of a megaplex.
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Film festivals show films that you
may never get a chance to see anywhere else.
For example, on Saturday from 10 AM to 5 PM at the
Beach Four you can watch dozens of short films—animation,
documentaries, experimental, and short fiction—all
for just $10. That’s 7 hours of wild, beautiful,
funny, moving, crazy, and sometimes just plain weird
independent films made by over 100 New Jersey film
artists. You won’t like all of them, but you
will remember many of them because they will make
you think, see different images, and open up parts
of your imagination you didn’t know existed.
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Film festivals are about having
fun.
This year there are two late night parties at the
Congress Hall Boiler Room that go on until the early
hours. At Friday’s Gala reception there are free
gin cocktails, wine, and champagne. Entertainment:
superstar Tiffany Evans, the 10-year old sensation
who premiered her very first music video at last year’s
festival returns to help us open our Gala by performing
live. Actor William Baldwin and the people behind
the recently enacted New Jersey film financing initiative
will receive the Governor’s Award for their outstanding
contribution to Jersey Film Arts. The opening film
this year is a Mid-Atlantic region premiere of Little
Kings, a comedy about Italian-American families. Had
enough? Not quite: to recover from Saturday’s
parties there is the closing Cinema Café Brunch.
Coffee, food, and films with the filmmakers talking
about their work. Our special guest this year for
a retrospective is world famous animator Emily Hubley.
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How do I get tickets? Do I have
to buy the whole package or can I pick and choose?
Tickets and festival passes are for sale all day and
part of the night at the film festival office and
at the door. Individual event tickets can be purchased,
based on availability of seating. Pass holders are
guaranteed that they will get into each and every
event.For more info, see
Tickets.
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It must cost a lot to attend a film
festival, right?
On Saturday during the day there are six features
playing back to back for only $10 a film. Saturday
afternoon at the Congress Hall ballroom there is a
special screening of JIM IN BOLD co-sponsored with
GABLES followed by a panel discussion. At Convention
Hall there is a jointly sponsored screening, with
NJ Audubon Society and Cape May Bird Observatory,
of Winged Migration followed by a Q&A with some
of the world’s foremost experts in avian migration.
For $50 you get the Friday Gala, performance and award
ceremony, and film premiere. For $25 on Saturday night
you get to see one of three new independent films
(with questions and answers—Q&A—after
or before) followed at 10 PM with a screening of the
documentary Boardwalk: a love letter to the Wildwood
Boardwalk all included. Sunday’s brunch complete
with films and filmmakers is only $30 and you won’t
get a chance to get closer to these talented people
than when they are just across the brunch table from
you.
Back
home to Cape May NJ State Film Festival
info@njstatefilmfestival.com
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