The Festival Season: Manic as Ever

Here we are, drenched in a fantastically depressive point of the year where an e-mail can raise my spirits to the heights of Indie Film heaven or with a simple change of verb, crush me like the worthless wannabe nobody that I truly feel like. Rejection is a tough bitch. Each one of those sorrowful little festival letters that say "Thank you for submitting but your film has NOT been accepted to the festival" is like swallowing a mixture of broken glass, rusty thumbtacks, hot sauce, and horse semen. It sucks worse than waking up in jail in the spoon position. Although I am a huge fan of the film festival season... I am not a fan of being told that my film wasn't good enough. It sucks... but it's part of the game.
Make no mistake either. It is a game... much like dodgeball, when you actually get picked for the team.
However, there is a great accomplishment that I'm more than a little pleased to share with all of you. I have been awarded the Bonehead Award for Best Actor at the Barebones International Independent Film Festival. I'm really pleased with the win. There is a great swell of accomplishment that comes with it. Accolades from your peers is almost unmatched. It's that whole teary-eyed Sally Fields, "You really like me..." kind of "fuck yeah" that just makes all of the rejection wounds go away. That is, until the next ones come two at a time during the same day.
You can actually view the festival process on our website www.rustedsunfilms.com/filmfests.htm
It's nothing fancy... just a list of festivals that I've paid to enter, the fests that love us, and the fests that left us out in the cold.
We've also won a 6th place award at the TWIN RIVERS MEDIA FESTIVAL in Ashville, North Carolina.
I'm hoping to hear some positive notes back from the other festivals as the season presses on into the end of the year. I don't know what magic it takes to actually get into some of these festivals - because, as you know, we've got a fantastic film that has great production, entertaining characters and story, gorgeous visuals, talented actors, and a lot of genuine laughs. I have always been of the opinion that DIVINE MANIPULATION OF THE THREADS is perfect for independent film festivals. I don't know, maybe we're not "indie" enough because we're a bunch of straight white dudes that weren't molested, tortured, or have a heroin addiction that causes us to chronically masturbate to Asian Porn that we casually refer to as "foreign films."
So, with all good hopes, you'll be hearing more from us in the near future involving the elements of new film festivals, new awards, and new films.
I'm starting pre-production with a group of like-minded filmmakers here in the Bay Area for the San Francisco 48hr Film Competition. So, no sleep for the weary anytime soon.
However, I do have a video to share. It's my Director of Photography Reel. Pretty pictures. Hope that will tide you over for now...

BEVAN BELL - DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

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