This festival has a guaranteed 4-tier set up for each accepted script. (No matter what, all screenplays submitted receive FULL FEEDBACK on their work.) 1) Full Feedback on your script 2) Actors performance video reading of your script 3) Blog interview promotion. 4) Podcast interview on the Film Festival ITunes show.
MAGICAL REALISM Short Story Festival (everyone wins):
Submit your MAGICAL REALISM Short Story to the Festival and we will automatically have it performed by a professional actor and turned into a promotional video for yourself.
Accept only stories that fit into the MAGICAL REALISM genre. Magical realism stories feature fantastical elements that seem ordinary and blend into the story.The focus is on what the magical elements mean for the characters, rather than the elements themselves.
Literary fiction isa category of novels that prioritize style, character, and theme over plot.It’s often considered to be more serious than genre fiction, which is commercial fiction written for entertainment.
3 ways to submit: 1st chapter. full novel. performance reading.
ACTION/FANTASY/SCI-FI/THRILLER Festival:
Bookshelves with books for children. Educational library with literature for preschoolers and kids. Reading and studying. Fairy Tales, Encyclopedias and Dictionary. Cartoon flat vector illustration
Asake’s SIn, 15min,. Nigeria Directed by Olumide Kuti When Asake’s breaks a generational warning, nothing prepares her for the waterloo of curse that will come her way, jeopardising all she has.
LOVE AND LIGHTERS, 94min., Russia Directed by Mikhail Medalin Senya asks Gufi to lend him money to pay back a debt, and convinces him to go meet with local crime boss Dandelion. But trying to help a friend turns into a nightmare: Dandelion gets wounded, his men and the police start surveillance, and then the criminal boss escapes. Now, Gufi, Senya, and Kristina have to choose — run or try to cut a deal. But things get worse: Kristina’s in danger, Senya won’t help save her, and Gufi has to go it alone. In the final showdown with armed Dandelion, everyone’s fate hangs in the balance.
Ekorts, 6min., Austria Directed by John Whitehand, Julia Hulle, Alexander Bachmayer Daniel finds himself locked in a deserted buliding, no way out. Something is going on, but he can’t explain it.
Liquid Love, 15min., USA Directed by Dave McGrath It’s New Year’s Eve, Jillian is about to make a monumental resolution. She is giving up one of her two favorite things: Wine or Coffee. As she struggles to make up her mind, Wine and Coffee try to convince her that the other should be the one to go. When Jillian is ready to leave for the party, she announces her decision.
Sauvetage, 5min., Australia Directed by Jackson Bentley, John Stokes When a special forces operative is held captive by a sadistic crime boss is interrogated, the only way to save him is through the element of surprise.
John – We were motivated to make this film as we were given the opportunity to work with the legendary Richard Norton. It was originally supposed to just be a short scene to be used as a pitch but Jackson and I wanted to go all out and produce a short film in a very short amount of time.
Jackson – Originally it was meant as a sizzler reel to show some producers, Richard Damien and I were pushing quite hard to have a feature film made starring Richard, however John is a very quick writer and everything just started aligning for us to turn this into a short.
From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
John – I believe it was a Thursday where the producer Damien told us that he had somehow convinced Richard Norton to join us for a shoot the following Sunday. I quickly wrote together the script which never went past version 1. We organised the location, crew and cast – all entirely for free as everyone wanted to work with Richard Norton. We filmed in 6 hours on the Sunday and I edited the film within a day after the shoot.
How would you describe your film in two words!?
John – Bitter Sweet. Bitter due to the lead actor Richard Norton recently passing away, but sweet since we now have an award to honor his memory. We are forever in debt to Richard for being involved in this film and he has been a great mentor and friend to us.
Jackson – I think John nailed it, it still feels very surreal that Richard has passed, I think we are still in a little bit of shock and grief but I’m so grateful for receiving his knowledge and just being able to call someone I admired so much a friend plus being able to direct him was even cooler.
What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
John – The only obstacle was time, as we only had 6 hours to film. If we were being honest, there are some things we’d do differently if we had more time but we are proud of what we did with what we had! Other than that I remember Jackson became ill and went to hospital the day before! Luckily he was still able to make the shoot to co-direct with me.
Jackson – Haha yes directing a script you read only 12 hours before and on the back end of strong pain killers was definitely interesting. Having only 6 hours booked to shoot the short was definitely stressful, but I am so proud and honestly cannot believe our whole crew pulled that off.
What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
John – I actually didn’t realise that we would get audience reactions so it was a great surprise! It’s such an honour to hear feedback like this from half way across the world!
Jackson – I thought it was really cool! I’m just a guy from a very small town in Australia who 8 years ago was a drug addict with no direction in life, so this was very special to me.
I made the film “Trans” knowing it would probably not be well accepted but it HAD to be made. Thank you so much for including our film. What you do is amazing and tireless. Everyone should support your efforts.
DEADLINE TODAY: Submit to the Festival via FilmFreeway:
IN-PERSON screenings and HYBRID Festival Mode: Entering its 9th year, the Toronto Documentary Festival now gives filmmakers 5 tiers to showcase and promote their film. (All accepted films get all five tiers).
1) Screening #1: Where you will obtain your audience feedback video.
2) Screening #2: (optional) virtual festival (48-hour promotional showcase) on the film festival streaming service.
3) Screening #3 at a sold-out public screening at the Carlton Cinemas in Toronto OR the LA LIVE Regal Cinemas in downtown Los Angeles. (note: 3rd screening only for short films and also not guaranteed for the guaranteed submission option.)
4) Podcast interview at WILDsound Radio on ITunes
5) Blog interview promoting you and your film.
The first film festival screening gives you our award-winning audience feedback videos made for the short & feature films.
Since 2016, the FEEDBACK Film Festival has been showcasing the best of documentary short films. We now will be showcasing a documentary film festival every month in the heart of downtown Toronto at the Carlton Cinemas.
It’s important not to indicate. People don’t try to show their feelings, they try to hide them.
I don’t like to watch my own movies–I fall asleep in my own movies.
Don’t talk it [shooting a scene] away, do it!
Some people say that drama is easy, and comedy is hard. Not true. I’ve been making comedies the last couple of years, and it’s nice. When you make a drama, you spend all day beating a guy to death with a hammer, or what have you. Or you have to take a bite out of somebody’s face. On the other hand, with a comedy, you yell at Billy Crystal for an hour, and you go home.
[interview in Chicago Sun Times, 1/8/98] I think Hollywood has a class system. The actors are like the inmates, but the truth is they’re running the asylum. You’ve got to look at the whole studio structure. There’s these guys. We call them suits. They have the power to okay a film. They’re like your parents, going, “We have the money”. But at the same time they say to us actors, “We love you. We can’t do without you”. You know, I’ve been around a long time. I’ve seen the suits run the asylum. I think I can do it as good or even better. Let me try it. That’s why I have TriBeCa.
[on playing the strong-willed, feisty Violet in American Horror Story (2011)] The horror aspect, the scary parts, are easy for me. I mean I can get into that pretty easy, because I get scared. You have to invest yourself in these characters.
I was hoping, actually, that being on the other side of the camera in a scary movie, see how it’s filmed and maybe you won’t be as scared next time you watch one… didn’t really work out! Because I know it’s fake, but I just get so into it.
I get scared easily, so I’m not one for just sitting down with a bowl of popcorn and watching horror stories. But, I mean, I’m learning more. Maybe one day I’d like to be able to watch them.
You film a movie and you don’t get to see it until about a year later. When you watch it, you just know that you were a different person then than you are now, and you know that you’ve grown. It’s nice to know that you can take those experiences and learn from them, and incorporate them into the next one.
It’s always a little awkward on your first day on set when you have a making-out scene. You just have to let yourself go.
[talking about the coolest celebrities he ever met] I’ve met so many cool people! Samuel L. Jackson was such a nice guy. I’ve loved watching him since I was little, so it was really great to get to talk to him. Also, Andy Richter, Kevin Nealon and Tim Meadows. I would love to work with Leonardo DiCaprio, Will Smith, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
The people who support me are so great! They all say such nice things that make me feel really great. I love it when people compliment me on the way I act, because it is not an easy thing, and there is so much criticism out there.
I think it’s really important to be able to feel your own life, and I had felt so numbed by what had been a kind of surreal saturation of what was going on in the Middle East and what it was going to mean, particularly relative to my kids’ future and things like that.
Your life is what you bring to any story. This is a life craft. It’s “How do you feel? Who are you? What do you have to say?” The horror of the Academy Awards is what the press does leading up to it, to make it a popular TV show. Where they’ll actually make it like it’s an arm- wrestling event between two actors. That becomes very petty, and that’s something that’s embarrassing to follow up with accepting the invitation to the party.
I’ve always operated under the notion that audiences don’t always know when they’re being lied to, but that they always know when they’re being told the truth. If there are what I think are unsung truths to be talked about in a film, through a character, through a story, and that dominates the piece, that’s the key for me. I think the biggest thing is to not participate in the damaging, lying cinema.
I don’t consider myself specifically political, you know? I think of working as an actor as being a human thing. The concerns I have that fall into politics are human concerns.
Festival Reviews 