MOVIEMAKER.COM 43
and a six-hour afternoon bus tour of
Montreal horror film locations.) The
festival makes sure every film gets its
turn to shine, and even tries to match
film journalists with movies that may
catch their fancy. “The reason we
run for so long each summer—three
weeks—is because we refuse to have
situations where the festival has five
or six cinemas all screening titles
against each other—which would
surely allow us to screen everything
in a week, but would result in many,
many films getting lost—or clobbered
when indies screen opposite larger
titles,” explains festival co-director
Mitch Davis. As if we needed any
justification for spending three weeks
in the summer in one of the world’s
loveliest cities.FEMALE EYE FILM FESTIVAL
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA /
MARCH 2021 / FEMALEEYEFILMFESTIVAL.COM
This intimate and supportive festi-
val says it all with its witty tagline:
“Always Honest, Not Always Pretty.”
It is highly active and supportive of
the female filmmaking community,
including sister festivals in Turkey,
Armenia, Chile, and Portugal. Its
support of filmmakers extends to
help with travel and lodging, and
the fest is one of the rare ones that
offers feedback to all filmmakers
who submit. It has a crack publicity
team and an engaged online pres-
ence, and keeps alums connected
through means that include a popu-
lar quarterly newsletter. It draws
an impressive array of exhibitors,
and its 16 awards include a $5,000
equipment grant for the Best
Feature winner. It also hands out
significant prize packages. Events
include Q&As, discussion panels,
a script development program, andorganizers decided Cinequest would
go on this summer. As director
of programming Michael Rabehl
explains, the festival has always
“shunned the velvet-rope mentality”
in favor of bringing audiences and
artists closer together as they get a
first look at the latest innovations
in cinema. It offers 18 awards, help
for filmmakers through hotel and
airline sponsors, and solid support
from its publicity team. Many dis-
tributors attend the forward-looking
festival, including past represen-
tatives from Netflix, Gravitas,
Magnolia, IFC, Screen Media, Ap-
pleTV, Hulu, Roadside Attractions,
Bleecker Street, Sony, and more.CLEVELAND INTERNATIONAL
FILM FESTIVAL
CLEVELAND, OHIO / APRIL 7-18,
2021 / CLEVELANDFILM.ORG
In 2021, the festival plans to move
to a new permanent home at Play-
house Square in downtown Cleve-
land. The exquisite complex will
bring the entire fest together. That
sense of community pairs well with
the festival’s civic-mindedness: the
fest partners more than 150 non-
profits with films that share similar
interests and goals. Each non-
profit promotes its partnered film.
Cleveland also gives out 30 awards,
and prizes totalling a very impres-
sive $130,000. The fest has drawn
distributors like Film Movement
and Gravitas, and for the second
year it is partnering with Tribeca’s
IF/Then pitch competition. It’s a
very popular fest, and a selective
one as a result, and it helps with
travel and lodging. One innovation:
a chat room for moviemakers and
audience members for when Q&As
go over their allotted time.CUCALORUS FESTIVAL
WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA /
NOVEMBER 11-15, 2020 / CUCALORUS.ORG
This friendly, nonconformist festival
in the lovely river town of Wilm-
ington offers no prizes, for a simple
reason: “Competition sucks. It often
takes hundreds of people to make a
film, so why does one guy get the lit-
tle statue? Ideas shouldn’t be owned
by people, and people shouldn’t
be singled out and ordered in a
hierarchy.” That’s a quote from Dan
Brawley, who goes by the delight-
ful title of “chief instigating officer.”
Cucalorus aims to be a summer camp
for moviemakers—and a fun one.
Take, for example, the Filmmakers
Lounge, which Brawley describes as
an intimate venue where filmmakers
“enjoy tasty cocktails and popcorn,
hang with each other, and try on
some wigs.” Cucalorus finds about a
tenth of its films from around 1,800
submissions, programs about a
dozen more, and assists moviemak-
ers with travel, lodging, cocktails,
and, sometimes, grits at three in
the morning. It draws more than 50
panels, workshops and speakers, and
its beloved residency program offers
moviemakers up to three weeks to
develop new work.FANTASIA INTERNATIONAL
FILM FESTIVAL
MONTRÉAL, QUÉBEC, CANADA / JULY
16-AUGUST 5, 2020 / FANTASIAFESTIVAL.COM(^) Besides great premieres—including
last year’s world premiere of the
terrifically fun Ready or Not—Fantasia
typically offers great press exposure
to top outlets, the chance to mingle
with at least 400 industry reps,
and spectacular events. (Last year’s
included master classes with Edward
R. Pressman and Keita Amemiya
a live pitch session that is open to
the public. Yes, men: you’re invited
too. Last year’s event is already be-
hind us, so you have plenty of time
to plan for next year.
FIN ATLANTIC INTERNATIONAL
FILM FESTIVAL
HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA /
SEPTEMBER 17-24, 2020 / FINFESTIVAL.CA
The celebration of both global
and local films is a hallmark of the
festival, which has helped highlight
regional films like Maudie, Werewolf,
Black Cop, and Murmur before they
went on to wider recognition. It
offers help with travel and lodging,
twelve awards, noteworthy cash
prizes, and inclusivity mixed with
access. FIN Partners, an international
co-production market with more than
150 delegates, is held over the first
three days of the festival, drawing
distributors, broadcasters, and sales
agents each year. Attendees last year
included representatives from MGM,
BBC America, and many others.
HAMPTONS INTERNATIONAL
FILM FESTIVAL
EAST HAMPTON, NEW YORK / OCTOBER
8-12, 2020 / HAMPTONSFILMFEST.ORG
The festival that Variety once wittily
dubbed “Telluride East” aims to find
and bolster early-career filmmakers,
and the Hamptons puts its money
where its mouth is with prizes of cash
and in-kind goods and services valued
at more than $165,000. It offers
a close-knit, casual, and welcoming
space where moviemakers, decision-
makers, and film lovers come together.
The long list of distributors includes
1091 Media, 20th Century Studios,
A24, Amazon Studios, Discovery
ID, HBO, Lionsgate, NatGeo, Neon,
Netflix, PBS, Showtime, and Warner
SPRING 2020
(^) CUCALORUS (^) HAMPTONS