Most people who have been to a film festival have had the experience of watching the end credits of a film or a selection of films roll and thinking ‘why was that film chosen…?’ Especially with short films, it can be difficult to see the message behind a film that you can’t wholeheartedly say you enjoyed, but that nonetheless plays on your mind. Sometimes you just hate something, and find yourself resenting its inclusion. Sometimes the message is so obvious you sort of wish it wasn’t there.
I’ve had those exact thoughts many times, and one of the main reasons I want to learn about film programming (aside from just really enjoying watching films) is to understand what’s gone on in those situations a bit more. The first weekend of the Future Producers program allowed me to do this. As a group, we selected an hour’s worth of short films targeted at young people, which will be shown at this year’s Encounters Film Festival. This process involved putting myself into the mindset of a 12 – 19 year old, and having to think about what sorts of films such an age group might enjoy, but also those films with messages that they might not enjoy, but that it would be worthwhile to provoke discussion about.
12 – 19 is a very large age bracket. Reflecting on myself at those ages, I came to the conclusion that at 19 I would have resented a program of films aimed at the 12 year old me, and that at 12 I would have been terribly scared of the films 19 year old Joanna appreciated. In the end, this was a problem we removed rather than solved. The films selected focus on themes from alcoholism to sexuality, and broken families to identity; the program will almost certainly have a 15 certificate. I am very proud of the final product.
The process of selecting the films was intriguing, surprising, exciting and surprisingly civil. It made me think that all films might be made a bit better if everyone watching them could sit down and talk about them afterwards. Though this is obviously not a possibility, it’s something I’m definitely looking forward to over the coming weeks.
Soon, it will be time to make a decision about what sort of thing I want to do over the next couple of months. Producing an event related to the BFI’s gothic season excites me with its possibility of immersive cinema. Working on Encounters or Electric December excites me because of all the programming possibilities. Do I want to manage? Do I want to get back into radio?… I am looking forward to getting some more information on Tuesday.