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The journey of my movie, GET A WAY, is both ironic and inspirational.
Producing a low budget, independent, short movie has always been a challenge. But producing an independent feature with zero budget, using improvisation and changing the script at night for the following day, in only 3 weeks, is insane.
That's my team! A group of actors and technicians crazy enough to believe in the challenge, ready to work (for free!) day and night in order to finish the movie just a few hours before the selections for the Cannes Festival!
But we didn't go to Cannes.
The typical outlet for any low budget Art movie consists of being distributed in a few small underground cinemas in Paris. And this for only a few weeks.
But it didn't get distributed.
So, I had to put the film in a nice box on my shelf. I was crushed into insignificance. Fortunately, Sam Cohen, the producer and my father, kept up his unshakeable enthusiasm. He had just met a guy on a plane who told him, "You need to send it to festivals. There are more festivals than films!" But I was thinking, "But I don't want any small festival, I want Cannes!" Little did I know that this idea was going to shape the future of the movie.
So reluctantly, I sent the movie to a few festivals, which I selected using the inevitable "Ultimate Film Festivals Survival Guide" by Chris Gore!
The first festival which selected GET A WAY, was Cinequest, one of the10 top festivals in the United States.
Well, you know what? F... Cannes! I was enthusiastic, VERY enthusiastic. The festival director loved the movie, the screenings were almost sold out, there was a buzz through out the festival, Variety wrote an amazing review and it launched the movie into the festival circuit.
Unfortunately, I couldn't attend the first part of the festival. So I decided to send my two main actors, Agns and Maxime to the first screening. I paid for their travel, because I really wanted to acknowledge them for their unconditional commitment to the movie - they really deserved it. And they were welcomed like French stars! You can't imagine how good it feels when you have invested so much, and you finally get recognized. At least that is what I understood from my two actors!
Indeed, I attended the second part of the festival and our paths crossed only during the time of our first TV interview. At the end of the interview, my actors were in awe at how articulately I had spoken about the film. They told me, "You'll see, you'll have a great time and they will love you!" That sounded like a swell plan. When I arrived at the festival, each time I met someone, they would talk to me for hours about how wonderful my actors were!
Luckily I wasn't alone. I came with my secret weapon, Sam Cohen! My producer, and a warm, relaxed Mediterranean father, he made a habit of kissing the entire staff each morning... Boldness has magic to it, and all the girls loved him!
As you can see, even though we didn't win a prize, we became famous in many ways!
I also gave my first radio interview. From that, I was invited to give a talk to a cinema class at the University of San Jose. They even tried to hire me!
Afterwards, the movie traveled around the world in many festivals: Atlanta, Lyon (France), Semarang (Indonesia), Sarasota, Edmonton (Canada), Hawaii ... Some of them, I was not able to attend, and I regretted it. Some, I attended and I regretted that too... No matter how good or bad the festivals that you attend are, the festival circuit is a full time commitment, that remains a great source of learning and exciting events.
You never know how a festival will work out. I thought the rejection at Sundance was a "failure." A few months later, Trevor Groth, programmer at Sundance, was launching a new festival in Las Vegas as director of programming and called me because he thought my movie was amazing. Big hotel, swimming pool, Dustin Hoffman as guest star... and in my screening, only 15 people! ... But 15 enthusiastic people! I actually remember being a little dismayed by the small attendance, but then realizing that the quality of audience isn't dependant on its quantity. By the end of the Q&A, I was re-energized. Among the audience, there was even a guy who had already seen the movie in San Jose (Cinequest) and had come with a friend to see it again!!! I didn't dare ask him if he came deliberately to Las Vegas... But it was an unexpected gift.
The Rhode Island festival was where I won my first prize - for Best Foreign Movie (in competition with 180 foreign movies!). It was great to be there!... Except that nobody told me that the award ceremony was in the morning (and not in the evening). I heard about it when a guy came to congratulate me in the evening... Once again I had missed the press and all the trimmings! Had some guardian angel decided to protect me from indulging in show-business excesses, and was keeping me from my moment of glory?
I guess my guardian angel decided to take a vacation, while I got selected by the Tesa Filmfest in Hamburg (Germany). It was my best movie festival experience, and for me, it was really my opportunity to be "somebody." The festival kicked off with an opening ceremony, in which nine of us - each "first feature" film directors - were treated like celebrities. We were required to stay for the entire duration of the festival, which gave us time to create meaningful connections, see each other's movies, speak about cinema... We even had a private talk organized with Mike Leigh, and another one with Aki Kaurismaki.
Fortunately my guardian angel came back to my rescue when I went back to Germany a second time for the Max Ophls Film Festival in Saarbrcken (Germany). The festival was quite attractive. All my expenses were paid, including the actors' costs. Agns and Maxime would join me in 2 days! I was about to be treated like a star
I arrived and the festival staff forgot to pick me up, and I had to find my way to the hotel. Then, when I went to check in at the festival reception to choose which movies I would see, the volunteer explained to me that all the movies were in German or subtitled in German. I felt miserable and unwelcomed. I met nobody, and resolved that I would leave the festival on the evening train (the same day). But my warm relaxed Mediterranean father convinced me to wait for him and my actors (they planned to meet me there two days later). And I did.
Within minutes of when the actors and my father arrived, we suddenly met "by chance" the foreign selections director and the festival director, who were very happy to see us. They treated us to lunch, advised us which movies to go see, and invited us to some of the special events. We had a great discussion. Without my realizing it, the festival had become very fun!
I swore then that I would no longer go to these festivals without my crew or ask for a new guardian angel: a bad one!
My conclusion is that Festivals are great. They can become very time and money consuming, but if you manage them wisely, they will be a unique learning and networking experience, they will help the film (in ways you might not expect) and they will leave a trace of your name on the internet! And aim for more than one prize, because one isn't always enough to make it to the stage (it took me 3 awards to finally be handed a certificate and to be able to thank the whole team and my parents in the microphone).
The motto I have developed thanks to these adventures, is to never give up. As in life, what I expected never happened. I was sure that this type of film was just for French-speaking people, with very specific interests. But the first ones who wanted to sign a distribution contract, were Thailand and Moscow! And while the movie continues to travel throughout the world, I am sure that one day, yes one day, it will go back to France!
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