Emily Richardson, Screentest Director of Programming shares her thoughts:
Last week was the 9th annual BFI Future Film Festival and as usual our committee set off raring to go. This year the festival was experimenting with a new layout by programming their films and panels by mood and having a keynote speaker each morning to stir the young people into action. These speakers were a particular highlight as they shared their highs and lows in their climb to their career path, and encouraged the filmmakers of today to be resourceful and tenacious in order to further their chances in the industry.
Another new layer the festival had introduced was a chance for the filmmakers to gain a better understanding of different areas of the industry, including music videos. Radar’s leading ladies and Sony reps discussed how their platform allows anyone to pitch a music video idea in response to one of their briefs. There was also a panel that discussed festival programming (included in How to get the most from a Mentor), an area of film often disregarded by young filmmakers (ourselves not included of course) as they focus on creating their own short films.
The general atmosphere of the festival was an exciting one, of professionals keen to support young people and pass on their knowledge and the young filmmakers keen to introduce themselves to each other in the hope to collaborate in the future. Some parting advice from Faye Ward pictured above, ‘when working on a set, never tell the Director what they suggest is not possible, instead suggest three new ideas that would work better.’