SeriesFest Goes Virtual

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Monday, 13 April 2020 14:22

Written by Brad Balfour

SeriesFest, the non-profit organization dedicated to supporting underserved voices in episodic storytelling, is joining the list of festivals pivoting to a streaming format. Launching April 15, SeriesFest will host industry creatives through virtual writers rooms, creator hangouts, network watch parties and online Pitch-A-Thons. 

The main festival, scheduled for June 18 to the 24th, will happen as scheduled, but online, with streamed screenings followed by extended Q&As with talent and creators of TV favorites and premiere content on YouTube. These events bring exclusive access to fans while also celebrating the rich history of episodic storytelling.  

SeriesFEst will also have ongoing watch parties for viewers to participate in, which include live Q&As. Watch parties scheduled include:

• April 15- One Tree Hill, Q&A with James Lafferty and Stephen Colletti

• April 29 - New Amsterdam, Q&A with Ryan Eggold

• April Date TBA - Disjointed, Q&A with Betsy Sodaro

Launching April 16, a series of virtual roundtable conversations surrounding all things indie episodic will be hosted by SeriesFest alumni. Available to stream on YouTube, two to five creators will host hour long conversations around indie topics including Female Filmmakers, Sparking Creativity, The Art of the Pitch, Creating The Season One Arc, International Independent Content, Benefits and Challenges of Online Release. The Art of the Pitch will be hosted by Emil Pinnock and Ian Robertson, the team behind SeriesFest: Season 3’s award-winning pilot, Up North. Pinnock and Robertson will lead the interactive workshop on what they've found are the three most important areas to prepare for - the people, the package and the pitch.

To learn more, go to: https://seriesfest.com/

12th Annual ReelAbilities Film Fest Goes Online for Latest Edition

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Wednesday, 25 March 2020 14:58

Written by Brad Balfour

The 12th Annual ReelAbilities Film Fesitval is joining the recent trend of film festivals shifting to online platforms in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Running March 31 to April 6, ReelAbilities is dedicated to promoting awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories, and artistic expressions of people with disabilities. Now the festival can be enjoyed from the comfort of your living room.

Films will be available online for 24 hours beginning at the scheduled start time and Q+As with filmmakers and guests will take place after the film’s first screening concludes. Films will still be fully accessible, presented with open captions and audio description. Q+As and panels will be broadcast in interactive livestream with captioning.

The festival includes the world premiere of Brian Thomas’ documentary Amy’s Victory Dance, the story of a former professional dancer who is run over by a 15-ton New York City express bus and her triumphant path back to the stage after the near loss of her life and leg. Oliver Sacks: His Own Life is a documentary about the foremost neurologist of the 21st century from director Ric Burns. Serbian director Raško Miljković’s debut feature film The Witch Hunters is a poignant tale about 10-year-old Jovan, who has cerebral palsy, and his imaginative world and adventurous friendship with his classmate Milica.

"We feel that these stories still need to be told and that creating community is as important as ever. For the first time ever, we will present the majority of our films, Q+As, and conversations online. We believe this will allow us to advance our mission of accessibility, making our films and conversations available to our community at times when gathering together in person is not possible." says Isaac Zablocki, the director of ReelAbilities Film Festival:

To learn more, go to: https://reelabilities.org/newyork/

ReelAbilities Film Festival
March 31 - April 6, 2020

The Show Must Go On as Queens World Film Fest Shifts to Streaming Platform

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Wednesday, 18 March 2020 19:58

Written by Brad Balfour

Embraces & the Touch of the Skin, directed by Sara Koppel

The rise of the COVID-19 disease is creating a shift in nearly every aspect of life as we know it., but at the same time, life must go on. In the interest of public saftey and in not allowing the arts to die, the Queens World Film Festival is shifting to the streaming platform Discovered so that viewers can see the festival from the comfort and safety of their homes.

Running March 19 to 29, the Queens World Film Festival (QWFF) is now in its tenth year of featuring films from all over the world in different thematic blocks: Features, shorts, documentary, LGBT, animation, and short documentaries. In total, QWFF programmers selected two-hundred and twenty remarkable films from thirty-two nations. 

Opening Night of the Festival will begin at 7PM/EST on Thursday, March 19th at https://discovered.tv/QWFF. The Opening Night Block is called “Tales of Connectedness” and features six short films from Iran to Brooklyn.

“From the beginning of time we have gathered together around the flickering lights in our darkened caves to share our stories. Although the flickering lights have become zeros and ones, we’ve changed the nature of our caves, but the impulse to gather endures. In these times of crisis, it is even more important that we gather around the humanity provided in film. We are grateful to DISCOVERED.TV for providing their free online platform to make our film screenings possible, and for making the 10th Annual Queens World Film Festival, the first International Film Festival to screen on their site, states Katha Cato, Executive Director, Queens World Film Festival.”

To learn more, go to: https://www.queensworldfilmfestival.com/

Queens World Film Festival
March 19 - 29, 2020
https://discovered.tv/