Film Festivals | Massachusetts | Screenwriting

Focus on Screenwriting

1 Jul , 2000  

Written by Kat Thomas | Posted by:

The 2000 Nantucket Film Festival offers up local gems as well as tips of the trade.

The Nantucket Film Festival has progressed to become one the premiere film festivals in the New England region since its inception five years ago. Its catchphrase, "Where screenwriters inherit the earth," defines the emphasis that is placed on inspiration and creation of films. 

With staged readings, panel discussions, coffee discussions, and, of course, numerous screenings of both features and shorts, this festival allows one to learn about the film industry from both a creative and business angle. Since this five day festival is not overwhelming in size, it allows for a coziness not found at larger festivals. It is commonplace to continually encounter the same people over and over again, bestowing for a sense of community for those attending the festival.

This year’s festival was jam-packed with numerous films of great acclaim, many from the New England region. Gloucester resident Sarah Green’s film "Girlfight," which won the Grand Jury Prize and the Director’s Award at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, was a popular favorite. Another Sundance favorite written, directed, and edited by Brad Anderson, "Happy Accidents" also appeared at this year’s festival. Brad had also screened his Boston based film "Next Stop Wonderland" at the Nantucket Film Festival in 1998. 

Other films that were exhibited were "Ruthie B, Ruthie B," which was the first film shown at the festival that had also been shot in Nantucket, and "Swimming," a coming-of-age story that features the cinematography of John Leuba, whose early training was in the New England region. In the short film category, the Boston film "Night Deposit," directed by Monika Mitchell and starring Christy Scott-Cashman was featured.

But viewing films was not the only option at this festival. Morning coffee sessions allowed one to hear tales of experience from those who have been successful in getting their films made. The speakers included such notable guests as John Lyons, the producer of "Boogie Nights," and the screenwriters Duncan North and Greer Goodman of the Sundance hit and Nantucket Opening Night film "The Tao of Steve." 

If morning coffee seemed too early for those who had rowdy night lives, they could attend staged readings later in the day. Proclaimed as the Nantucket Film Festival’s answer to Dogma 95, these readings, with no sound effects or superficial action, allowed the audience to focus on the dialogue of the screenplays. Another option to be found for those attending the festival was that of the panel discussion. With titles such as "Whose Script is it Anyway? Or is it possible to Sell a Screenplay and Still Not Get Screen Credit?" and "Post Deal and Pre-Release: The Peaks and Pitfalls" screenwriters were able to absorb valuable information about their craft. Those attending the festival also had the ability to view short programs through video kiosks that played continuously in numerous locations.

Throughout the festival the dichotomy of business and artistic expression continually emerged to become a major theme of the festival. Numerous times during the Morning Coffee sessions it was requested that the questions focus more on the brainstorming of ideas of screenwriting as opposed to how to get a film financed. But although the question of how to maintain your artistic integrity in a world of number crunching was repeated constantly, the Nantucket Film Festival remained focused on the creative inspiration of screenwriting. 

As Austrian director Virgil Widrich, whose film "Brighter than the Moon," has not received distribution in the United States commented, "People are asking me if I want to sell my film; what my agenda is? I want nothing from anybody. I just want to meet people and have them see my film."

For more information about the Nantucket Film Festival, visit their web site at http://www.nantucketfilmfestival.org.


For more information about the Nantucket Film Festival, visit their web site at http://www.nantucketfilmfestival.org.

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