By Roberta Valdez
This year’s Newport Beach Film Festival runs from April 26th to May 3rd and features 400 films from around the world, including shorts, documentaries, studio and independent films. This will be my third year attending the festival, and one of the striking things I’ve learned by participating in the festival selection process is how few films are chosen from those submitted.
I reviewed about 30 submissions last year and only three of those actually ended up on the program (each film is reviewed by three trained volunteers and two trained programming staff members). I was told by a staff member that that was a higher than average rate and, of course, many of those that are exhibited at festivals don’t find distributors. For example, Fort McCoy won awards at six festivals but I’ve found no evidence of a wider distribution. So, often festivals are the only opportunity to view some fine documentaries and feature films.
For a film buff, festivals are great experiences. Not only is it an opportunity to view good films that may enjoy only very limited theatrical releases – if they find distributors at all – but the Q & A sessions with directors, screenwriters, cinematographers, and actors are rare opportunities for the public to speak directly with those involved.
Often the filmmakers describe very personal reasons for making a film and the shoe-string budgets involved. One of my favorite films from last year’s festival was Fort McCoy, (Newport Beach Film Festival 2011: Fort McCoy), which won several awards on the festival circuit. The film starred Eric Stoltz and Kate Connor. In addition to playing one of the leads, Ms. Connor was the writer, a producer, and a co-director. She based the screenplay on her grandmother’s experience living on a military base in Wisconsin next to a German POW camp during World War II, and wanted to tell this unique and personal story.
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