The mask was hideous, a grotesque caricature of a hooked
nosed witch from a Brothers Grimm fairy tale.
The little girl hiding inside the mask was despondent with
alienation. This is one story from many
that I have evaluated for the Hobnobben Film Festival. Since February, I and a roster of other
volunteers have been reviewing entries from around the world. Approximately 250 short and feature length
films will be submitted by the mid-April deadline. Our task has been to give a thumb’s up or
down recommendation to the Hobnobben committee for inclusion at the festival. After all entries have been reviewed, the
accepted films will be shown at the festival and judged for awards by a panel
of experts.
My eyes were wide open at the initial call for volunteers at
the meeting that began the process of selecting the content for the
festival. As a Cinema Center attendee
for almost 30 years, I decided to take an active role in a medium that I love
and support this treasure in our community.
I wasn’t sure what expectations were afforded me or the quality of the
submitted films. We were informed that
all the submissions were web-based and an account was set up for viewing. An evaluation form accompanied our task with
general questions about the overall content and quality of the narrative. We were given a few days to view each film;
otherwise the film would be passed to another reviewer. Each submission would be seen by two
evaluators. If both gave approval or disapproval,
the film would be accepted or denied. If
the vote was split or received no recommendation, a committee member would
review the film and determine approval.
Thus began my task.
My first impression was the variety of length to the submissions. At first, the thought of a film festival
drifts to Sundance, Tribeca or Toronto were the headlines are feature length
films. But the reality of independent
filmmaking is based a great deal of available resources. To produce a 90 minute film requires an
enormous amount of time, effort, talent and equipment that starts with a
budget. “How much is it going to cost?”
is a question that quickly follows a pitch for a screenplay. A shorter film for less money can make
reality the vision of the writer/director.
What is paramount to the success of any film is the execution of the
narrative. Satisfaction can be had in
one minute or one hour. With this
understanding, my evaluations flowed from good, bad and undecided.
I have reviewed a wide mix of genres and have been impressed
with the quality of the productions and the diversity of story-telling. Conflict in personal relationships has been a
strong theme in my viewing. Characters
of senior citizens to the young girl behind the mask, represents the breath of
life’s challenges. First person
narratives and oblique ensembles danced across my laptop at night. I was quite surprised by the quality of the
camerawork and editing. Digital cameras and
home based edit systems have opened up the world of cinema to inventive minds
that would have been stymied a decade ago.
One of the strongest films I reviewed was from a student from
Germany. The narrative technique was so
professional and thought provoking that I looked at the credits to confirm that
it was student-based.
Although I am not done with my evaluations, I can say from
my corner of the cutting room floor that the final roster of films for the
festival will be worthwhile viewing and give the Hobnobben Film Festival a
strong first impression in our community and the independent filmmaking world.
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