"Dave Watterson" <
david.filmsocs@virgin.net> wrote:
speaking of festivals ... you might care to take a sneak peek at
http://www.fvi.org.uk/central/festival_ ... pared.html
where you will see the answer to the age old question: How different are
the festivals really?"
"The scoring looks remarkably similar." That's what you tell us in your message,
Dave. I think that scoring is not so important. The "father" of the new Olympics,
Pierre de Coubertin, said "Taking part is important, not winning !". However,
it's a bit ridiculous. It's always pleasant to be the winner. Urbain Appeltans
was extremely happy when he won "The Maily Dail Trophy" in April. I think
he deserved it. Also because he's not a money maker. He's made his "Hannah"
and "Cinemascope" for fun. The best film must win the competition, not an
other one ! Once again he had the best film ! Urbain had tears in his eyes.
I must admit, I would not have tears in my eyes, but I understand his reaction.
I sometimes wonder if an outsider does not have a bigger chance of winning
a festival or winning a top award. I don't mean 'an award'. I mean 'a top
award' ! People need new names after some time. I'm writing this because
this morning I had a chat with a film maker who told me this. He even thinks
it's better to stop taking part in national and international festivals for
some years. Choosing a pseudonym would also be interesting. I remember that
some years ago "a regular" on this forum said something similar. You have
your own style of making films. After a couple of years people immediately
recognize your way of editing, your choice of music, etc... I think I would
recognize Ken's style and Urbain's style. I'm not sure about Michael's style.
Would you recognize my style ? "It's time for a change", critics and judges
often think. It's like that in everything. I remember that it was even a
political slogan in Britain some years ago. It's like that in politics, in
sports, in music, but also in filmmaking. It's human. Let's take tennis.
The William sisters were the best in the world for years and years, but after
some time it became wearisome and people wanted to have new winners. It became
too monotonous. The organizers and the audience hoped that the William sisters
would not win anymore. In fact that's unfair. Eddy Merckx won The Tour the
France five times, but in his last year fanatics along the road tried to
sabotage him. Lance Armstrong had the same problems. The French started hating
him. What do you think about this phenomenon ? I won't feel offended if
you think that all this is ridiculous. Every year my club organizes a Gala.
I'm the best in my club. It does not sound very modest, but "In the kingdom
of blind men the one-eyed is king". This year Samuel Faict, our youngest
member, will show one of his films for the first time. It's a horror film
that won a "very highly commended" at the Guernsey festival this year. "That's
very good", one of the members of my club said. "Don't be angry" she said
to me, "but then we can show a quite different film at our Gala. Your style,
Willy, has become a bit monotonous.", she added. I was not angry with her
at all. She's a very kind lady who always says what's on her tongue. I like
that. And she was not aggressive. She hates hypocrisy and so do I. I could
understand her. In fact I have the same feeling as Yvonne. She was right.
Perhaps it's better to be a judge at regional and national festivals for
some years. I enjoy making films, but I also enjoy watching them. I could
start a new chapter in my life. A judge instead of a filmmaker !