Does inappropriate or mature content give you less of a chance to be selected, or be the basis of not being screened? I'm talking scenes of rape, violence, disturbing content, swearing, ect..
Mature or inappropriate content when submitting to festivals.
- Thread starter Dennis Mikula Films
- Start date
Yes.
Often only "X" number of slots are available for hard core stuff (late night). You'll be competing with more films for fewer slots. For the average festival, "R" films limit the number of tickets that can be sold.
Often only "X" number of slots are available for hard core stuff (late night). You'll be competing with more films for fewer slots. For the average festival, "R" films limit the number of tickets that can be sold.
Film festivals are unlike general movie theaters in that the audiences
are people who love discovering new movies. And the age demographic
is very different than the general cinema goer.
Saw premiered at Sundance.
Reservoir Dogs was shown at Sundance.
Pulp Fiction premiered at Cannes
Hostel premiered at Toronto
Irreversible premiered at Cannes and was shown at Toronto, Tokyo
and Sundance.
Run! Bitch Run! premiered at the Backseat Film festival and played
at Arizona Underground.
Sweet Karma premiered at Fantasia and played at Austin Fantastic
and Toronto.
High Tension premiered at Toronto and played at Sundance, San
Francisco, Dublin, South by Southwest, Edinburgh Horror, and
London Frightfest.
Inside premiered at Cannes then played at Toronto, Screamfest,
Munich Fantasy, Night Visions and Melbourne.
Murder-Set-Pieces played at Weekend of Fear (Germany), Amsterdam
Fantastic and San Francisco World Horror.
There ya go, some well known, some not so well known. Festivals
screen all kinds of films. Do some research and do not enter your violent
film about rape at the “Family Friendly Film Festival”.
are people who love discovering new movies. And the age demographic
is very different than the general cinema goer.
Saw premiered at Sundance.
Reservoir Dogs was shown at Sundance.
Pulp Fiction premiered at Cannes
Hostel premiered at Toronto
Irreversible premiered at Cannes and was shown at Toronto, Tokyo
and Sundance.
Run! Bitch Run! premiered at the Backseat Film festival and played
at Arizona Underground.
Sweet Karma premiered at Fantasia and played at Austin Fantastic
and Toronto.
High Tension premiered at Toronto and played at Sundance, San
Francisco, Dublin, South by Southwest, Edinburgh Horror, and
London Frightfest.
Inside premiered at Cannes then played at Toronto, Screamfest,
Munich Fantasy, Night Visions and Melbourne.
Murder-Set-Pieces played at Weekend of Fear (Germany), Amsterdam
Fantastic and San Francisco World Horror.
There ya go, some well known, some not so well known. Festivals
screen all kinds of films. Do some research and do not enter your violent
film about rape at the “Family Friendly Film Festival”.
If your going to be showing graphical content, then you'll need to choose a festival that allow that and get that a lot, like a horror festival. When I was checking in with a festival a while ago, I browsed through the rules and it listed some things that the film could not contain, some of which you just listed.
I don't know how much it hurt 109, but I do have the feeling it certainly didn't help. I'll never really know.
As a general rule, I'd say yes, it decreases overall odds. But there are niche festivals that WANT that kind of stuff. And there are plenty of films with mature content that have gotten into non-niche festivals. So, I say make the movie you want to make.
Plus, to me there's the question of what drives the content of your movie. I realize I'm kind of digressing here, but I believe that if you set out to make a movie that you expect others will like, you're going to ultimately make crappy movies. I believe the best filmmakers are those who make movies that they, themselves, would want to watch. Screw other people; make a movie that you'd like. And hopefully, other people will have similar tastes as you.
Plus, to me there's the question of what drives the content of your movie. I realize I'm kind of digressing here, but I believe that if you set out to make a movie that you expect others will like, you're going to ultimately make crappy movies. I believe the best filmmakers are those who make movies that they, themselves, would want to watch. Screw other people; make a movie that you'd like. And hopefully, other people will have similar tastes as you.
Can you give specifics of the violence you want to show and in what context they are shown in? I am no festival expert, but I know a guy who runs a local film festival, and he shows some pretty messed up stuff, depending on the movie.
I must be attending very different festivals than the rest of you.
And I must have a very different understanding of film festivals
than the rest of you.
A film festival in general wants to program films that will draw
attention to their festival. I have never known festival programers,
in general, to shy away from mature content, violence, disturbing
content or swearing in a movie that is excellent. Of course there
are festivals that specialize - family films, Christian films, that
kind of thing - but the major festivals like Sundance, Cannes,
Toronto, Slamdance, South by Southwest, Tokyo, Berlin all
program films with mature content. That they even actively
look for films that may be controversial.
I kind of figured that film like the ones I mentioned were not
the rare exception, but rather the rule.
And I must have a very different understanding of film festivals
than the rest of you.
A film festival in general wants to program films that will draw
attention to their festival. I have never known festival programers,
in general, to shy away from mature content, violence, disturbing
content or swearing in a movie that is excellent. Of course there
are festivals that specialize - family films, Christian films, that
kind of thing - but the major festivals like Sundance, Cannes,
Toronto, Slamdance, South by Southwest, Tokyo, Berlin all
program films with mature content. That they even actively
look for films that may be controversial.
I kind of figured that film like the ones I mentioned were not
the rare exception, but rather the rule.
I'm only basing my comments on my observations of the the types of films that get into the festivals I've submitted to. So maybe that's my bias. The vast majority of the fests I submitted to were the real low-dollar ones. And as far as I can tell, they sure do like them talky-relationship-oriented-or-maybe-roadtrip-coming-of-age-quirky-drama, and it doesn't hurt if it's a foreign film.
In recent years, the most potentially-offensive movies I can think of have played in theaters. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" for example, has a rape-scene that is very difficult to watch, and it opened a week before Christmas. I have personally never heard of any films that got into any of the type of festival I submitted to that had any scenes even remotely similar to that on in TGWTDT.
"Serbian Film", "Human Centipede", both Pure Crap, and they played in theaters. I've never seen or heard of anything like those shitty movies playing at any film fest I've submitted to.
I chose extreme examples, but so did you. Regardless, I think we seem to share the same opinion on the conclusion, no? Make the damn movie you want, regardless of how offensive or inoffensive you think it might be, right?
At the local festival where I live now there are a couple of graphic ones so far. Last year one of the movies graphic content, offended people to the point where it actually spawned a protest, which turned into a riot and the police had to be called!
My film is pretty different. Still finishing out the script, just got the first draft done. The rape is done in the first scene and the violence is not so bad. I somehow kept the language to ZERO curse words. I think it'll turn out pretty interesting.
Hope mine starts a riot lol
Hope mine starts a riot lol
Now with more detail, I'm convinced you'll cut your chances considerably. You'll get people walking out of the theaters and screeners tossing the film into round file.
You have to get your audience buying into your story before you run a rape scene. Opening with a rape falls into the pure exploitation category and even if your film has redeeming value, it'll be lost among the other exploitation films made by lazy filmmakers who just want to shock. It's been done to death.
SPOILER*
Even if it's a girl in a white robe wearing a creepy mask raping a guy with a strap-on (while singing an old hymn)? It fits perfectly into the story and it's definitely not just there for exploitation or shock value. It sets the tone for the short.
Immediately after you're a little confused as to what you just saw but then you find out the who and why.
*I will have other scenes I could switch with it but I thought this one would be a good opener. From what I've seen in most films it is a GOOD thing to get your audiences attention right away. And believe it or not that's not even close to the climax of the film.
I really don't want to give away any more than that at this point.
Even if it's a girl in a white robe wearing a creepy mask raping a guy with a strap-on (while singing an old hymn)? It fits perfectly into the story and it's definitely not just there for exploitation or shock value. It sets the tone for the short.
Immediately after you're a little confused as to what you just saw but then you find out the who and why.
*I will have other scenes I could switch with it but I thought this one would be a good opener. From what I've seen in most films it is a GOOD thing to get your audiences attention right away. And believe it or not that's not even close to the climax of the film.
I really don't want to give away any more than that at this point.
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I'm only going on the fact that couple of festivals that 109 did get in it played in the 11:00 at night or so "alternative" or "Underground" portion of the festival flagged as "Mature Audiences" in the festival schedule. The rest of the schedule was flagged as "PG-13".
I understand. In your experience festivals are less likely to accept
movies with mature content - I can see we have very different
experiences. Doesn’t make me right. Perhaps your experiences
are more accurate than mine.
I’m being very careful not to make a judgment on what movies I,
personally, like or dislike. Or even to comment on movies that got
a theatrical release. Only to discuss the question of films with
mature content being accepted into festivals.
I go to several festivals each year. I pay close attention to festivals
worldwide - looking at the films they choose and where they play
them. I see many films with mature content like rape, violence,
disturbing content and swearing. I have seen films in festivals far
more graphic and disturbing than anything I have seen get a
theatrical release. Festivals, in my experience, are far more accepting
of films of this nature than distributors are.
“Human Centipede” had a very long festival run - it was accepted
into 25 film festivals in 2009/2010. “A Serbian Film” screened at
11 film festivals including South By Southwest.
So I agree with what rayw and Ewan said - it depends on the festival.
Mature content does not give you less of a chance at many festivals.
In fact there are festivals that specifically look for those types of movies
and all of the major festivals will program films with mature content.
Well, in all fairness, it's not just that our experiences are different, but there is also the question of quantity of experience. I've been to very few fests, and again, I'm only basing my statements on the festivals that I submitted to and/or attended. It's also possible that the kind of films we're talking about were not submitting to the fests I was submitting to.
I understand where you're coming from better CF. I think with
some more research you may find that a movie with mature
content has just as much of a chance as getting programmed
in festivals than one without. I don't believe festivals are as
restrictive as you think they are.
some more research you may find that a movie with mature
content has just as much of a chance as getting programmed
in festivals than one without. I don't believe festivals are as
restrictive as you think they are.
I take that as good news, actually. Thanks for sharing your experiences. Cheers!