The First Night, 7min., Brazil
Directed by Gabriel Milessis Braga
After collapsing at the altar, Elise awakens inside an old church, and something inside her has changed. Guided by a mysterious man who seems to understand her condition, she begins to confront a new, terrifying hunger. The First Night is a gothic meditation on becoming, resistance, and the quiet seduction of darkness in our lifes.
https://www.instagram.com/thegabrielwars/
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An absolute gem of a film festival that provides chances for a screenwriter to get non-AI feedback, hear actors perform their work, and be able to promote their works by competing in the festival. This should be the standard for all screenplay competitions!
I highly recommend that filmmakers of any skill level interact and engage with the Wildsound Film Festival.
Festival organizers Matthew and Alison Toffolo have created an awesome experience. Their passion for the medium of film and providing filmmakers with exposure, feedback, and connections is clear through the quality of their festival.
The feedback videos they offer are a perfect tool to gauge audiences’ reception of your film.
The podcast interview the festival provides is a great way to promote your film. Matthew is an awesome host who asks engaging and detailed questions.
Films submitted to this festival also have the chance to be selected for one of the biweekly, genre-based screenings at the Toronto Carlton Cinema.
These in-person events happen biweekly and are an awesome opportunity to view, support, and discuss short films with other artists. I’m so grateful to have met so many truly talented and passionate film enthusiasts and creators at this event. It was an incredible honor to have The Callback, a short film I wrote and directed, premiere at this festival. I’m deeply grateful to have been a part of it.
Great festival with the very unique feature of excellent short videos with audience feedback – great!
WILDsound offers excellent opportunities to elevate your script to the next level. Matthew is incredibly kind and helpful — definitely check out his podcast!
Thank you for reviewing my precious baby, Blue Idaho.
Thank you for awarding “Best Direction” to our film SWEET DREAMS! So humbled by the recognition. This festival is by far one of the best we’ve screened in. The feedback from audience members was inspirational; the podcast interview is one-of-a kind; the additional screening online brought us into homes across the world and communication from staff was timely and professional. WILDsound makes filmmakers feel welcomed, seen and supported–highly recommended!
Watch the best of new films from around the world today by signing up for the FREE 3-DAY trial going to http://www.wildsound.ca (Also on Roku, FireStick, and your Itune (app))
A young woman waits for her lover for a secret trip. However, he does not show up and does not respond to her messages. That’s when strange and inexplicable events begin to happen in her house. She asks for help from her lover, who ignores her. Realizing that she is hopelessly alone, she gives up waiting for salvation and surrenders to her own shadow.
Review by Victoria Angelique
The short film, SUBMERGED, is a world set in symbolism as a woman is trapped by her own feelings. She is left alone, during a time that she desperately needs another person, which leaves her feeling like she is drowning in darkness as she frantically continues to call and text her “Love.”
Something bad has happened, at first the audience assumes that her love has passed, since he isn’t answering, only for the truth to be discovered when she opens a bathroom drawer filled with pregnancy tests. This is the final plunge after years of trying for a family, with hope being dashed and this woman being left alone to deal with the news at the most inopportune moment. She has been submerged into a state of desperate psychosis, needing her “Love”, only for him to be unavailable at this moment.
Penélope is fighting with herself. Symbols to show her drowning manifesting in the form of a fish and water. There is dripping water, as she sits in shadow clutching her phone before she sees a fish. After she finds the drawer of pregnancy tests, she begins to see herself as a fish out of water. Lost in the world with no one to help her. She even begins to fight with herself as she drowns in a tub of water.
This film speaks to an unexpressed taboo that many women deal with when it comes to infertility and the feelings that come with it. Penélope shows what there are no words for and what the burden many women bear in silence when they learn that they can never give birth. She shows how devastating the news truly is and why a woman should not be left alone when given such a tragic diagnosis. The actress gave an award winning performance to depict a topic that many people are uncomfortable with discussing, even though it plunges many women into a deep depression where she feels like she might never surface again like it did Penélope.
Deadline Today to Submit to the Festival via FilmFreeway:
Currently 198 FIVE star reviews on FilmFreeway!
In-person public screenings, plus other avenues to enhance the filmmaker’s film (audience feedback video, virtual festival, blog & podcast interview).
NOTE: The festival has created a hybrid festival with 4 tiers to enhance your film and your festival experience. All accepted films receive all four tier options:
Tier #1 – Your film plays at a public live event where we will record the audience reactions of your short or feature and then send you the feedback video. Or, it plays at a private festival event where the audience will record their comments/reactions to your film on their camera or phone, then we edit them and send you a promotional video. No matter what you will receive a promotional video of your film of people commenting on your film.
Tier #2 (optional) – We put up your film live on the Film Festival Streaming Service for 30 hours and invite a select industry audience to watch it. With this system, some films have already received a distribution deal, as many platforms are looking for solid feature and short films. We can not guarantee anything, of course but this has been very helpful to many in the past. (see testimonials below.)
Then (Tier #3) we will send you a list of questions to answer for our blog interview that will promote you and your film. Then after that (Tier #4) we will set up a podcast interview on our popular ITunes show where will we chat with you about the process of how the film was made.
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The goal of this festival is to showcase the best of new experimental short films and independent music videos from around the world. Films that don’t get a fair shake from other film festivals because programmers don’t know where to “categorize” these films. There isn’t a typical linear story occurring so most festivals can’t truly understand the talent and beauty around these films.
We want to showcase films that showcase true originality and talent from filmmakers from every corner of the globe. And also showcase new musicians who have made a music video and want it to be shown.
When an eccentric park ranger crosses paths with a grieving hiker, he offers his help in finding the perfect spot to scatter the hiker’s father’s ashes. As they venture deeper into the remote wilderness, the ranger’s true intentions begin to blur.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31407285/
Review by Andie Kay:
When Alan’s father passes he is tasked with fulfilling his dad’s last wish by scattering his ashes in the Sierra National Forest. As Alan is taking a moment to grieve he encounters Ranger Dan, who offers to help him find the perfect spot…But not everything is what it seems.
Set in 1978 the Cinematographer and Director, Sean Cruser did an excellent job in making the entire film look like it was from the late 70’s. The attention to detail in the costuming, hair, and makeup was absolute perfection. Even the score added this nostalgia but also a sinister undercurrent.
Tyler Beveridge starred as Alan and wrote the screenplay for this film. The storyline is so engaging and written beautifully. Tyler understood how to build the suspense without giving the twist away. At the same time giving you a little morsel so you think you know what’s going on when you don’t. That in and of itself is next level writing, not to mention that Alan’s acting chops are also top notch! Murphy Patrick Martin portrays Ranger Dan and I must admit, the southern accent threw me and pulled me out of it for a moment especially when that accent started to fade but by the end, it made so much sense!
The entire cast did a wonderful job and everything about this short film is unbelievably clever, including the title. The Nature of Death – a smart play on words and a bit of foreshadowing. If national forests and parks didn’t make you feel uneasy before? They will now.
Some of my female friends told me certain stories of what they sometimes deal with from men. This short script expresses that.
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