Short is Sweet Part 3: What film festivals focus on short films?

Short is Sweet part 3:  What film festivals focus on short films? 

 

Kibera Film School trainees discussing their short documentary project

First:  Ask yourself is your film ready to enter a film festival? 

Is it a great story, well told?

Excellent production quality, including sound?

Subtitles:

Note that most film festivals will require subtitles in English if that is not the original language of the film.

BE SURE TO spell check the subtitles.

Remember subtitles are NOT an exact translation but should give the idea of what is being said.

Suggestion:

Good idea to do TWO versions of your short film - one with subtitles in English, one without subtitles. 

Be sure to prepare a dialog list in English. 

Although most film festivals have a section for short films and usually it is easier to get a short film into a festival than a feature, not all festivals pay careful attention to short films. 

There are a number of international festivals that focus on the short film.

An excellent resource for short film festivals is http://www.shortfilmdepot.com/

Enter your films easily into the major festivals around the world using one single form:

Create your account

Fill out fill forms (cast & crew, contact details, formats, photo...)

Upload your film on line

Enter your films into the festivals where submissions are currently open

Check-out the progress of your submissions (online entry, validation, selection)

Short Film Depot gives you a list of current short film festivals all over the world. 

You have to choose which ones to enter.

Here are some things to consider:

Check the deadline dates carefully.

Choose international film festivals with no entry fee and preferably with an international competition for awards.

Be sure to notice what are the rules for entering the competitions.

Wikipedia has a long long list of film festivals that accept short films.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_short_film_festivals

Good luck!  

 

To support the great youth of the Kibera Film School, please visit our Global Giving Page

Short is Sweet part 2

 

Short is Sweet  part 2: What makes a great short film?

Second in a series of blogs about short films

Heinz Hermanns, CEO of Interfilm Berlin, an international film festival and distribution center for short films  www.interfilm.de/en/ described what is a good short film, during his recent visit to Hot Sun Foundation in Kibera, Nairobi.

 

What makes a good short film (according to Heinz Hermanns, Interfilm Berlin).

Preproduction and feedback  are CRUCIAL to filmmaking

Filmmakers in Kenya need to be more critical. Exchange your ideas, scripts: get and give feedback.  Must have a great story or you don't have a film.  Get feedback from the beginning of the concept.

Short film: must have an audio visual concept, seduce the spectator to take part emotionally and intellectually

Short film: must work immediately, grab attention of audience, something interesting,

Must be visual.

Story development: must work.  Can make NO mistakes (feature films can have some)

Short film must be more original than a feature film, have something special. Very little time to tell the story

MUST BE COMPLETE: with an ending… not just stop

Components of a great short film:

Plan:the look of the film

Color concept: palette

Mood

Intensity

Sound: must develop the audio concept before shooting. MUST have quality sound.

Suggest: Be careful with music, especially piano music which can overwhelm the visual. 

Casting: Actors key

Camera: must hold attention of audience

Every frame is a composition like a painting

Some elements of bad short films

•            Too long

•            Do not care about your audience

•            TV aesthetics

•            A copy of another film or story

•            Choose team carefully

•            Seduce not provoke audience

•            Accept criticism

•            Don't make it too personal

•            Not a slide show of a series of stills

•            MUST have good sound and sound concept

To be continued. Comments welcome on this blogspot or info@hotsunfoundation.org

NEXT: Third blog in short films series:  What film festivals focus on short films?  

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To support the great youth of the Kibera Film School, please visit our Global Giving Page

Africalia Supports Art and Culture

               Bjorn Maes (2nd on left) Africalia Program Manager with Hot Sun Foundation staff 

What is the role of art and culture?

 For Africalia, art and culture are essential for all people. Africalia supports and celebrates art in seven African countries: South Africa, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Kenya, DRC, Senegal and Zimbabwe. Africalia is a non profit organisation based in Belgium. (www.africalia.be).

Hot Sun Foundation has been working in partnership with Africalia since December 2008.  Because of Africalia's long-term commitment, Hot Sun Foundation is on its way to becoming a stable, community based arts organisation, focusing on filmmaking. 

Last week, Hot Sun Foundation was delighted to host a visit by Southern Africa & Kenya Program Manager,  Bjorn Maes.  Bjorn has lived in Zimbabwe and is well acquainted with arts and filmmaking in Africa and Europe.

Bjorn spent a morning with the Hot Sun Foundation staff, reviewing and assessing the progress of the foundation and its three programmes: Kibera Film School, Kibera TV and Hot Sun Productions.

Bjorn participated in an afternoon film screening session with the trainees at Kibera Film School. He reviewed and critiqued their short films.  He emphasised the importance of  great stories and quality production values in every short film. He suggested film festivals to enter and agree to make himself available to assist in film festival submissions.

The Kibera Film School trainees and staff were inspired and encouraged by Bjorn's interest in their work and Africalia's support for Hot Sun Foundation.

                          Bjorn with Kibera Film School trainees, showing off the

                                 backs of their tee shirts with the Africalia logo 

Thank you Bjorn for your visit.  

And thank you Africalia for your guidance and support. 

To support the great youth of the Kibera Film School, please visit our Global Giving Page

A DAY WITH AN INTERNATIONAL ACTRESS AT KIBERA FILM SCHOOL

                                      Caroline Goodall with Aida Achieng, Kibera Film School Coordinator

It was 11^th May 2013 on a Saturday morning. Kibera Film School was a beehive of activities. From trainers, trainees, interns, coordinators and visitors no one dared to be left behind. The excitement in the air however did not surpass my imagination and dire need to see the much anticipated and talked about woman; Caroline Goodall, who was coming that morning.

Born in Britain to Australian parents, Caroline Goodall is internationally known as a leading actress who has starred in some of the biggest blockbusters of the last fifteen years, including Schindler's List (1993), Hook (1991), Cliffhanger (1993), Disclosure (1994), White Squall (1996) and The Princess Diaries (2001), The White queen-TV Series (2013), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2005).
She is a graduate of Bristol University where she gained a Bachelor of Arts Hons. In Drama and English, and studied alongside other notable screenwriters such as Jeremy Brock (Mrs. Brown). As a writer, in addition to "The Bay of Silence" for Radiant Pictures, credits include screen adaptations of Rupert Thomson's "Dreams Of Leaving" for HKM Films.

Caroline brought us some of her films. The films were really amazing. From her work on acting she advised and said that filmmaking is not about moneymaking but passion is everything. That has been her driving force all along.

“Is that kissing real”? A classmate asked her after watching a scene where Caroline was kissing a man. “ Of course it’s real. As a professional actress everything you do is professional. It’s your job to make a movie appear real," she calmly and jokingly answered. Her seriousness and humor was coupled up by her great personality.  I think that the video of her visit would make a scene in a movie!

“Never ever walk away on set as an actor just because you disagree with a director. Make the director feel that you are not just an actor but also part of the production by telling him on how you feel you can deliver your lines,” she concluded as she offered to buy us lunch and promising to connect Hot Sun Foundation to the outside world after seeing the amazing work done by Kibera TV.

Caroline  was overjoyed and promised to come back again.

Thank you Caroline for a memorable visit.  

We will never forget you!

To support the great youth of the Kibera Film School, please visit our Global Giving Page

16 March Wed GLOBAL GIVING Matching Day!

To support the great youth of the Kibera Film School, please visit our Global Giving Page

Twelve new trainees at Kibera Film School began classes in February 2011. At Hot Sun Foundation youth from Kibera have the opportunity to learn hands on filmmaking that will make a difference for themselves and their community. 
 

Hot Sun Foundation has three major programs -  
1. Kibera Film School with hands-on comprehensive film training;  subscribe to   kiberafilmschool.blogspot.com
2. Kibera TV, with community reports every week online, reflecting the community's concerns;  subscribe to  kiberatv.blogspot.com
3. Hot Sun Film Klubs in primary and secondary schools, to encourage children to watch good films and consider filmmaking.
 

All of these community filmmaking activities offering hope and opportunities to East African children and youth living in urban slums depend on YOUR support! 
 

Hot Sun Foundation is in the final year of our foundation grant. To keep our doors open we need YOU!  Please donate at http://www.globalgiving.org/3632
 

Especially wonderful would be a monthly commitment, no matter how small, that would help keep us going. 
 

PLEASE Mark your calendars and make a donation on 16 March 2011, Global Giving Matching Day. All contributions will receive an extra 30% matching funds.  www.globalgiving.org/3632
 

Thanks for all you do!

Second Graduation Foundation in Filmmaking 29 Jan 2011

Twelve delighted youth plus parents plus community plus chief guest Federico Olivieri from the Spanish Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya celebrated their successful completion of the Foundation in Filmmaking course at Hot Sun Foundaiton.  Congratulations to all!

To support the great youth of the Kibera Film School, please visit our Global Giving Page

Victor's Success Story and a Request

I am Victor Oluoch Mmboga, 23years of age.

I moved to Nairobi  in early 2005, hoping to get money from a relative to go to secondary school but it didn’t work out.  I made my living in the informal economy, buying and selling used clothing.  I am a survivor.  

I came to join Hot Sun Foundation in early 2008 after I heard of KIBERA KID a short film which was very famous in Nairobi by then. I wanted to follow up and meet the filmmakers of KIBERA KID but before I made the move, the director Nathan Collett was on one of the local TV stations where he gave out information about Hot Sun Foundation. I searched Kibera until I found Hot Sun Foundation. Someone gave me a camera, although I had never used one.  I started working on the filming the auditions for the feature film TOGETHERNESS SUPREME.  

Today I’m a different person from who I was. Hot Sun has transformed me to a visual and creative storyteller. Now I have a future and I believe I’m on the highway to achieve my dream. I joined Kibera Film School in August 2009 and graduated from the filmmaking foundation course in April 2010.

I love Kibera Film School for it has built others and me skillfully. And as the school continues to grow, many more talented youth in Kibera are going to be discovered and transformed to creative storytellers, too.

I’m the director of one of the fastest growing projects of Hot Sun Foundation -KIBERA TV where we collect daily stories of Kibera and upload them on YouTube and kiberatv.blogspot.com.  KIBERA TV has brought many youth together to learn about filmmaking using Flip cameras and editing techniques. Many organizations have come forward to use KIBERA TV to highlight the community’s stories and outreach.

I hope these two projects, Kibera Film School and Kibera TV,  grow wide and big because these are the vital tools to bring change in Kibera. One of the rhe main challenges we face is adequate equipment. 

Everyone reading my story can help out but donating at www.globalgiviing.org/3632.  

Thank you and my best wishes for the holiday season to all.

To support the great youth of the Kibera Film School, please visit our Global Giving Page

A Message from a Hot Sun Foundation Success Story!

A Message from Josphat Keya (24) Projects Coordinator, Hot Sun Foundation 
I joined Hot Sun Foundation through Kibera Film School in the first intake of trainees in August, 2009.  Though I did not have prior knowledge in filmmaking I loved writing short stories and sometimes I’d send them to  local magazines for publication. No story was  ever published. I guess they did not fit what was wanted. My stories were what I saw happening to my fellow colleagues around me.

With the coming of Kibera Film School, I thought this was a perfect opportunity for me to relay my thoughts that I had wanted to do for so long, but did not have a chance. Now it would be even better with the filmmaking skills that I’d gain then my message will be more powerful.
 

My goal is to become a film director with a distinction of telling stories. Talking of telling stories I mean speaking what is not spoken, what is avoided to be spoken, that which is avoided but is really needed to be heard. For example two of my projects I’ve done were of controversial issues here in my community – one about stepmothers and the other about sexual identity. Something that nobody wants to talk about or fears talking about it. I believe through what I’ve done at least it will elicit dialogue and it won’t be a taboo talking about it anymore.
 

What Hot Sun Has done for me is immeasurable. It has made me what I am and what I’ll be, of course if I do not waiver I’ll be what I want to be, and all courtesy of Hot Sun. So I would love this to also happen to my fellow youths out there who were denied a chance to be what they want to be by systems set by selfish people in the society or those who don’t have the slightest idea of what the youth really need. Many think that the youth need cash in hand. No,  what we need is nurturing of what we can do best - our talent, our passion, our dreams.

During this holiday season, I ask each and every one of you to reach out to the youth in Kibera who are so eager to have a chance to develop their talents at Kibera Film School and Kibera TV programmes at Hot Sun Foundation.  
     You can help make this possible by
1.    Donating on www.globalgiving.org/3632 or at www.globalgiving.co.uk  (Hot Sun Foundation)
2.    Volunteering, especially if you have filmmaking skills. Contact us a info@hotsunfoundation.org for more information.
3.    Buying DVDs on buykiberakid.com
4.    Joining the blogspot kiberatv.blogspot.com, kiberafilmschool.blogspot.com and kiberakid.blogspot.com
5.    Becoming a fan on facebook : Kibera Film School, Kibera TV, TOGETHERNESS SUPREME feature film
6.    Following us on twitter HotSunFilms
7.    ALL OF THE ABOVE!    THANKS for all you do! 

To support the great youth of the Kibera Film School, please visit our Global Giving Page

Shane Evans plans to visit Hot Sun Foundation and the Kibera Film School

Shane Evans is an African American artist, illustrator, storyteller, who has been visiting Africa for the past three years: Lesotho, Mali and now plans to come to Kenya..to work on storytelling, art, making short films.  He lives and works in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, where he has a great studio space that he share with the community.

Shane's vision is around dreams... as a starting point for people to tell their stories. We hope that Shane Evans' will visit to Hot Sun Foundation and work together on our shared dreams.

Find out more about Shane at www.shaneevans.com.  We hope to see Shane SOON at Hot Sun Foundation and the Kibera Film School!


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To support the great youth of the Kibera Film School, please visit our Global Giving Page

NEW DVD Eight Short Films by Kibera Youth

NEW DVD

 Available ONLY online 

Eight Short Films by the Kibera Film School recent graduates!

Check it out at http://www.buykiberakid.com/

Support our young filmmakers in Africa!

BUY and WATCH their films! 

To support the great youth of the Kibera Film School, please visit our Global Giving Page

Hot Sun Foundation NEWSLETTER in pdf

 Just out!

Hot Sun Foundation newsletter available in pdf.

For your own copy, send an email to info@hotsunfoundation.org.

MATCHING Day on
GlobalGiving.org/3632 is 16 JUNE 2010.

Help bring the Kibera feature film, TOGETHERNESS SUPREME, to every town and village in Kenya to build peace!

Make a contribution on 16 June 2010 at http://www.globalgiving.org/3632

Or in the UK go to http://www.globalgiving.co.uk
Look for us in the AFRICA section.

Thanks for all you do!  









To support the great youth of the Kibera Film School, please visit our Global Giving Page

MORE on Kibera Film School Graduation 27 March 2010

 Photos:  Top: Paul Dziatkowiec congratulates Josphat Keya

               Middle: Martha Kisaka accepts award for BEST OVERALL

               Bottom:  Kibera Film School Graduates Celebrate! 

With a welcoming banner over the entranceway, friends, family and guests joined the joyful graduates at the Hot Sun Foundation Gala, 27 March 2010 at Olympic, in Kibera.  The celebration honoured the first group of Kibera youth trainees who successfully completed the seven-month Kibera Film School Foundation course in Filmmaking.  Kibera Film School is unique in being located in east Africa's largest slum and working with local youth to tell their stories on film. 
Guest of honour, Paul Dziatkowiec Deputy High Commissioner of the Australian High Commission, Australia, gave the opening speech which inspired the graduates to pursue the vision of Hot Sun Foundation of social transformation through art and media.  Master of Ceremony, John Ngaruiya, himself a graduate, spoke of the early days of Hot Sun Films/Foundation, when a group of Kibera youth sat on boxes in a small courtyard in Kibera to work on film scripts. 
Hot Sun Foundation trustees Nathan Collett, Pamela Collett, and Mercy Murugi spoke of the future plans for Kibera Film School to become a centre of film training and production.  Mercy noted that four Kibera youth have been nominated for the African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) for their roles in the Kibera feature film, TOGETHERNESS SUPREME: Martha Kisaka for most promising actress, Wilson Maina for most promising actor, Billy Oloo and Teddy Onyango for best child actors.  All are from Kibera.  None had acted before their starring roles in TOGETHERNESS SUPREME, which was nominated for best film in an African language. **
Graduate Martha Kisaka, who also had the lead female role in TOGETHERNESS SUPREME was awarded the Overall Best in Narrative and Documentary Film in the Kibera Film School competition, judged by three professionals in the Kenyan  film and media industry.
One of the highlights of the ceremony was when parents who were present came forward to congratulate their daughters and sons.  One father had wanted his son  Josphat Keya to become an electrician and was doubtful about filmmaking, but now is very proud and delighted that his son is following his passion. 
______________
** Since the writing of this post (which somehow got misplaced and wasn't posted in a timely fashion), TOGETHERNESS SUPREME won two awards at the  AMAA held in Nigeria:  Most Promising Actor and Best Child Actors.  Producer Mercy Murugi and actress Martha Kisaka attended the ceremonies and accepted the awards on behalf of Hot Sun Films. To support the great youth of the Kibera Film School, please visit our Global Giving Page

MARTHA Kisaka NOMINATED Most Promising Actress!

 My name is Martha Kisaka. I am 23 years old.  I grew up in a community, known as East Africa’s largest slum – Kibera. I grew up in a community where girls talk constantly about boyfriends and babies.

My mother inspired me to be different. Despite severe hardships, she never sold illicit brew like so many very desperate women in Kibera. My mother taught me to work hard to be who I want to be.

So here I am. A young woman in Kibera, an aspiring actress and filmmaker. Who has just been nominated by the African Movie Academy Awards for “Most Promising Actress.

How do I feel?  Amazed, surprised, delighted, excited… being nominated for such an award was something that happened to other people. I only read about it in magazines or saw it on TV.  

I play the lead female role in the Kibera feature film TOGETHERNESS SUPREME.  This is my first movie.  TOGETHERNESS SUPREME is very close to me and other youth in Kibera who suffered so much during the 2007 post election violence in Kenya.  I am proud to be part of a film that is working for peace and reconciliation.

The African Film Academy Awards will be held in Nigeria on 10 April 2010.  I want to be there to represent young African women actresses and filmmakers. I want to be there to represent the youth of Kibera, a neglected slum community. I want to be there to represent Kenya.  I want to be there to represent TOGETHERNESS SUPREME – a film that can make a difference.

I need your support.  You can make a contribution online by going to http://www.buykiberakid.com. Go to the DONATE page and look for me, Martha Kisaka.  Every amount will get me closer to Nigeria.  

With your support, I will be a step closer to my dream of becoming a filmmaker making films that will not just entertain but also educate. Thank you.  

To support the great youth of the Kibera Film School, please visit our Global Giving Page

Trainees successfully complete Kibera Film School Foundation Course!

To receive a certificate of completion of the KIBERA FILM SCHOOL foundation course, all trainees completed two projects: a short fictional film and a short documentary, about a Kibera community organization.

The KIBERA FILM SCHOOL trainees overcame many challenges, including power outages, hard drive failure, volunteer actors not showing up for the filming, problems with sound and lighting, and moving to a new office and training centre in January 2010, that is still being renovated and repaired two months later.  

CNN followed the trainees around one day while they were working on their projects.  You can view them on http://bit.ly/bibpUb

ON Tuesday MARCH 16 2010, YOUR DONATION on GLOBAL GIVING will be matched by 30%! Mark the date and support the youth of the Kibera Film School. 

ON  Tuesday 16 MARCH 2010 visit our Global Giving Page

Kibera Film School on CNN

A couple of weeks ago, David McKenzie and his CNN team visited Kibera Film School.

He did this story for CNN Prime.

University of Minnesota visits KIBERA FILM SCHOOL!

 University of Minnesota

On Tuesday 2 February 2010, Kibera Film School was more than delighted to welcome a large delegation of administrators from the University of Minnesota USA.  Their visit to Kibera demonstrated the commitment of the University of Minnesota to actively engage in the fostering international exchange and understanding. What a pleasure to have the opportunity to be 

 together and share some of our work here in Kibera. 

Many thanks to: Prof. Barcelo, Prof Mohamud Jama, Andy Furco, Missy Peterson, BJ  Titus, Martha Johnson, Robert J Jones, Cathy Huber, Abdul Aziz Coleman, Don Amundson, Meredith McQuaid  and Simon Sakudah.

We look forward to sharing our films with you in Minnesota!  Keep in touch!

To support the great youth of the Kibera Film School, please visit our Global Giving Page

CNN visits HOT SUN FOUNDATION and KIBERA FILM SCHOOL

 On Wednesday, 27 Jan 2010, the CNN television crew, headed by David  McKenzie,followed us through Kibera to the location where the  Kibera Film School trainees  were filming a scene for a short fictional film.  

A member of the  CNN crew commented that she was impressed by the technical competence of the Kibera Film School trainees.  She noted that other film schools in Kenya generally are theoretical offering little hands-on experience.  (photo: DAvid McKenzie, CNN correspondent, Josphat Keya and Evans Kangethe, Kibera Film School with another member of the CNN team)

It was a moment of joy for the Kibera Film School trainees as they were happy that they were to be viewed worldwide on what they are doing at school, their aims and ambitions. CNN's visit will bring welcome publicity  that will show the world that the youth from the slums are exposing their talents through media and art.

The segment aired on CNN prime in the USA on Saturday 30 Jan 2010.
on CNN Prime. here is the transcript... http://tinyurl.com/yg4aqb5

AND DON'T FORGET 

To support the great youth of the Kibera Film School, please visit our Global Giving Page

We're Moving!! (next door)

It has been our wish to have a bigger space, our own compound (with parking, which is a nightmare for visitors to the school) and also a place that we can hold outdoor screenings.


Our wish came true this Saturday. Our next door neighbour invited us to look at her house...and we loved it. It's a 6 bed-roomed maisonette, own and fenced compound, huge compound (that we can hold screenings at and ample parking).


We now have enough space to accommodate more students, more equipment, and more learning space!


We have worked out the lease terms, and hoping to sign and seal the deal today!


The house is right next to the current location of the film school, so we don't have to do a new map :-)


We will post pictures on moving day, which is  starts on 4th of January 2010.


I guess that was our Christmas wish come true! Your Christmas gift to us can be a donation on our Global Giving Page, whose link is here

MATCHING FUNDS... GIVE NOW and GET MORE!

To support the great youth of the Kibera Film School, please visit our Global Giving project page at
http://www.globalgiving.com/3632. 

With your support, even more youth can benefit and join us!  Go now and make things happen for youth in Kibera! 

New Camera at KIBERA FILM SCHOOL!

Simon, GG and Josphat admire the new SONY HDV camera at the Kibera Film School.  Thanks to AFRICALIA (Belgium) for the funding that made the camera possible!

We'll make some great films with this camera!

To support the great youth of the Kibera Film School, please visit our Global Giving Page