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Industry News: March 2017
New England film industry news including happenings, industry buzz and calls for films.
Written by Casey Stirling | Posted by: NewEnglandFilm.com
In this month’s New England film industry news, learn how to nominate for The Independent’s 10 to Watch, find out about meetings in RI to save the NEA/NEH, and read about the winner of the Breakout Award by Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film, plus find links to screenings, opportunities, and industry buzz. Send news to news@newenglandfilm.com.
Happenings
Celebrate the Maine Jewish Film Festival March 18–25. Several towns will host screenings and special events. For a full calendar and to purchase tickets, visit mjff.org.
Vermont hosts the 20th Green Mountain Film Festival March 17–25. Events will be held at several Montpelier venues. To learn more, check out gmffestival.org.
99.5 WCRB presents the Classical Cartoon Festival at Boston’s Symphony Hall on March 25th from 10–4. The event features Warner Brothers cartoons set to live musical accompaniment and appearances by PBS characters. For tickets and more details, click here.
The Museum of Fine Arts hosts the 16th Boston Turkish Film Festival March 16th through April 23rd. This year’s festival includes an opening night reception, and a concert series. Films screen at the MFA. Learn more at bostonturkishfilmfestival.org.
Brown University’s Italian Studies Department presents “Il Cinema Ritrovato on Tour” March 8-11 at the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts. The program will feature a selection of restored films from the Cineteca of Bologna. For a schedule and more information, click here.
Rule Boston Camera hosts several events this month, including “Learning Lab: 4K, UHD, HDR, RAW” on March 22nd, “Audio Basics with Women in Film & Video New England” on March 28th, and “Learning Lab: Digital Cinema Tools with ARRI” on March 29th. To learn more about the events and to RSVP, visit their calendar.
Co-presented by SPIA Media, Rhode Island’s Cable Car Cinema presents the Providence premiere of I Am Not Your Negro. Directed by Raoul Peck, the documentary uses the work of James Baldwin to examine race in America, and was nominated at this year’s Academy Awards for Best Documentary. The film will screen several times this month. Click here to learn more.
The Women’s Film Festival runs March 10–19 in Brattleboro, Vermont. The festival, a selection of films directed by and about women, supports the local Women’s Freedom Center. For more details and a list of screenings, visit womensfilmfestival.org.
The Community Art Center presents the Do It Your Damn Self!! National Youth Film Festival March 21–25. The festival celebrates films created by young people. Events will take place at a few Massachusetts venues. Visit diyds.org for more information.
The Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival tours the United States this winter, visiting Connecticut and New Hampshire this month. The festival celebrates mountain stories through films, photographs, books, and more. Learn more here.
Rhode Island State Council of the Arts (RISCA) is hosting several cultural conversation meetings with RI politicians to garner support for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, which are both in jeopardy under the new administration. RSVP to participate.
Industry Buzz
Massachusetts filmmaker Ben Pender-Cudlip won Salem Film Fest’s Doc-a-chusetts Pitch this month for his film Tethys, an experimental romp through the imaginings of artist Bob Schuler, who has sandblasted his art onto granite blocks and dropped them into the ocean deep.
On Sunday March 19th, the Chlotrudis Society for Independent
Film will honor actor Logan Miller with its Breakout Award at its 23rd
Annual Chlotrudis Awards ceremony at the historic Brattle Theatre. Visit their website www.chlotrudis.org, for a list of all this year’s nominees and information about the event.
The seventh annual Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellow is Leigh Johnson, an editor of Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus. The award was created in memory of Karen Schmeer, the accomplished film editor (The Fog of War, Fast, Cheap and Out of Control, Bobby Fischer Against the World) who was tragically killed in a hit-and-run accident in 2010. Johnson will receive the fellowship on Tuesday, March 14, 2017 at the SXSW Film Festival Awards Ceremony. See more information.
The Academy Awards took place on February 26th. Winners with New England connections included Viola Davis, Damien Chazelle, Casey Affleck, and Kenneth Lonergan, where Massachusetts-filmed Manchester by the Sea won Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay.
Opportunities
The Independent is currently accepting submissions for their 10 to Watch in 2017. Nominate yourself or fellow filmmakers (for free) that have a ground-breaking film releasing in 2017. Learn more.
Submit now to the Maine Film Initiative Screenplay Contest. Awards and prizes will be given to winners in features, pilots, shorts, and the grand prize, which will fund the Maine production of the winning screenplay. Late deadline is March 31; extended April 30. Learn more and submit here.
The Boston Latino International Film Festival is now open for submissions in feature, short, documentary, and documentary short. Early deadline is April 10th; regular May 8th; late May 30th. Learn more at bliff.org.
The Vermont Arts Council is currently accepting Creation Grants for work by Vermont artists. Application deadline is March 29th. For guidelines and more information, click here.
The Woods Hole Film Festival is currently accepting submissions. Regular deadline is April 1st; late May 1st. Learn more at woodsholefilmfestival.org.
Submit now to the Berkshire International Film Festival. Filmmakers are encouraged to submit features, documentaries, and short films. Deadline is March 8th. Learn more here.
The Camden International Film Festival is now open for documentary submissions. Early bird deadline is March 4th; regular April 28th; extended May 26th; late June 30th. For guidelines, click here.
Submissions are open for the New Hampshire High School Short Film Festival. Submission deadline is March 31st. For guidelines on who is eligible to submit and instructions, visit the festival website.
The MacDowell Colony will begin accepting submissions for fall 2017 fellowships starting February 15th. Artists in architecture, film/video arts, interdisciplinary arts, literature, music composition, theatre, and visual arts are encouraged to apply. Deadline is April 15th. For guidelines, visit the MacDowell website.
Registration is open for Flaherty Seminar, a weeklong seminar that brings together over 160 filmmakers, artists, curators, scholars, students, and film enthusiasts to celebrate the power of the moving image. Learn more.
