Universal Cinema Film & TV Journal’s Amir Ganjavie recently interviewed Anita Raswant the Lead Programmer for the Nantucket Film Festival. What follows is part of that interview.
Amir Ganjavie, UniversalCinema Magazine (UM): Can you talk about the selection process?
Anita Raswant (AR): We use [FilmFreeway]. That platform hosts all of the submissions that filmmakers submit to us. It allows filmmakers to embed a link and information, like a cover letter. Then the programming team can take a look at the films and decide which ones we want to program and which ones we do not want to program.
(UM): What’s your definition of a good film?
(AR): I guess when you’re watching a film, as a person and not as a programmer, you’re looking for a good plot. Is there a good story involved, is it interesting and does it captivate you? Is there strong character development? Does the character or the lead characters, do they go on an interesting journey and are they learning about themselves in the journey? Then, as an audience member, are you learning about something as well? Those are key elements. And then for programming reasons, the technical artistry of a film is really important. Cinematography, editing, score, sound. Is the plot fresh and innovative, or is it relatively conventional? Have we seen that plot before? Even if a film is conventional, doesn’t mean that it’s a bad film. The plot can be conventional, but you can still enjoy the film. So that doesn’t necessarily deter a film from being programmed. But those are the main things we look for.
(UM): When you are selecting the films, how do you know about the new films? You mentioned that it is mostly through FilmFreeway, but are you getting approached by, for example, international distributors? Are you inviting films from other film festivals?
(AR): Sure. Sales reps do email and contact us with their own selection of films that they want to push and have us consider. We do consider those films. Sometimes they are a good fit, sometimes they’re not. Most festival programmers do, or try, to attend other festivals. I have been to other festivals and scouted films that might be suitable for Nantucket. Every festival is different, so other festivals might have a different audience. You want to look for films that are good for the audience that you’re programming. Festivals like Sundance, like SXSW, those kinds of festivals will have completely different types of films for different audiences. So you just have to watch the film and decide is the right film for the audience that you’re programming for.
(UM): And how do you think your festival is differentiated or different from other US-based film festivals?
(AR): The Nantucket Film Festival is primarily focused on screenwriting. We honor screenwriters across the board in our awards, in our [Features], [Shorts], and even in documentaries that have strong narratives. I don’t think there are a lot of festivals out there that necessarily exclusively focus on the screenwriter. I think that’s really where the entire film comes from. You wouldn’t have a film without a screenwriter, so it’s great to be able to honor the people who make it all happen just by writing down a story. So that’s really what makes the festival different. Also, it’s on an island, so there’s a very small tight-knit community there and they all support each other, and they support the festival. So that’s a really great thing to have on the island. I really love that element of having the festival on the island.
(UM): And how do you support a project that’s been accepted in your festival? Do you offer cash prizes? Do you offer award screenings?
(AR): If a film’s been selected into the festival, well, we do a screening, or two if we have the screening space for it. And we have an audience award. We don’t have any cash prizes for films, but we do have a screenplay competition, and the winners of that competition do get a cash prize plus some other rewards, and they get to come to the island as well. That’s also part of Nantucket’s message and our desire to make sure that screenwriters are the focus.
(UM): Do you have any quotas for gender, race, etc.?
(AR): I don’t think we have a quota necessarily. I think those are the factors that most people in programming and festivals are keeping an active eye on to make sure that we are equally considering films from all types of races and genders and people all over the world. I wouldn’t say that there’s necessarily a quota for it, but it’s something that we do keep an eye on to make sure that we’re being as fair as possible.
(UM): And how important is it to have a crowd-pleaser? Are you open to more experimental films?
(AR): I think in particular the experimental, [Nantucket’s] not the right crowd for that, but there are festivals that will definitely screen experimental work and the crowds will come out to see that particular work. I just don’t think that they’re necessarily on the island of Nantucket.
(UM): What about TV?
(AR): Yes, in the past [we’ve done] one-off episode screenings of a certain episode of a TV show. And then added programming like a panel alongside it so that it’s not just a 45-minute screening. We want to add a conversation about the series itself. So, we have done that in the past. I don’t know if we’ll be doing it more in the future. I think it depends. The TV schedule world is completely different than the film schedule world so it doesn’t always line up. So, I think that if there’s something worthwhile, then we would definitely consider it. There are very strong elements in TV as well, especially in writing. So, if it works for our program, we would definitely strongly consider it.
(UM): Do you have any year-round programs or year-round events, like educational events or screenings?
(AR): We used to have a program on the island of Nantucket called NFF Now which we would program films and then we would screen them on the island while we were not on the island. I think it was a monthly series. I was not involved with that programming element of it, but that was a casualty of COVID. I don’t think we’ve been able to bring it back quite yet. We did have that year-round piece. We have to figure out new ways to get back into the year-round game. We do have an educational program called Teen View that allows children, kids, and teens in high school to make films and then we screen the films on the island in a Teen View program. So that’s a really great educational program that we partner with NCTV. They get to make their films and see their work on screen, and they get to come to the festival. So that is a big important part of our year-round work.
(UM): And when you are selecting a movie, do you usually invite the filmmakers for Q&A and promotion?
(AR): Yeah, definitely. They’re definitely welcome to come. If we’re giving them an award or something like that, then we will try to help them to come out if possible. It’s not always possible, but we do always welcome as many filmmakers to the island as possible who want to come and spend five days in the sun with us. It’s always really fun for us to have them and it’s great for the audience to have that experience as well.
(UM): You mentioned that the festival takes place on the island, I’m curious to know if there is anything special about the island that you are trying to represent through the film festival, or is there anything that makes the connection between the island and the festival clearer?
(AR): The island has been around for a very long time, longer than the festival, of course. Great community over there. And obviously, the thing that they’re really concerned about on the island right now is climate change and animal conservation, and what does that look like and how will that impact the island and the wildlife and all the people on the island. So that’s obviously a very important and urgent topic of conversation. We have a program called Green Carpet Cinema where we screen films that have similar environmental themes, [that] talk about climate change or animal wildlife, whether it’s on land or in the sea. Those topics are really important. Sustainability, there’s a lot of talk of that on islands, so we try to encourage that conversation and keep the conversation going through the Green Carpet Cinema that highlights those films. So that’s definitely a big current conversation.
(UM): How many submissions do you get, and how many do you select?
(AR): I think it depends on the year. Obviously [during] COVID, we had a lot less submissions. But normally I think we’ll get about 1,000 submissions. I think back in the day we used to do about 40 to 45 features with 6 shorts programs. Now that’s been cut down to about 30 features and 4 shorts programs. So, it’s certainly a lot smaller than before.
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