IAC DISCUSSION FORUMS

Entries have closed for the IAC International competition and judging will take place in the next few weeks. I know that some of the people on this forum will be judging! For now let's forget the usual litany of complaints and focus on how judges can be helpful ... if they can. Has anyone a real exa...

I think that in the USA and UK there is little opportunity for non-commercial films to be seen on television because there is so much material professionally available. In countries with a smaller language base that may not be so. For example I suspect that in such countries television likes to pres...

Hi Willy Los Ultimos Dinosors is one of the many joke names used by Spanish architect, Jan Baca when he makes movies. He tries not to use his own name so that juries are not influenced by it. He has made nearly 60 such superb films over the years, starting on 16mm and now on video. This one was made...

I often join the final panel for the Cotswold Festival judging. They famously use a judging sheet where you have to assign marks for various categories. If there is a category on such a sheet for "dialogue" what does the judge do if there is none? In practice judges try to agree that they will give...

Is it more annoying when you think a judge has marked a film higher than it deserves because she or he likes the subject? I've heard complaints that judge X is a sucker for sentimental topics or that the film happens to be about someone judge Y admires. Ideally judges should try to recognise and di...

When IAC's web presence began we started round-robin style email groups: one for general subjects and one for NLE issues since that was the new technology at the time. The IAC Council decided to restrict those groups only to IAC members and required everyone to quote their membership number on ever...

I like the way Ken Loach prepares his movies, even if I do not always enjoy the results. Starting with a story outline, he and his actors improvise and discuss their characters for a week or two and the best lines are written down. The written version becomes the script and is used when shooting. I ...