It was recently announced that our little film, Jitensha, has been accepted into the 66th Venice Film Festival in the Corto Cortissimo International Short Competition. This is a huge honor, considering this festival has very particular sensibilities and only 27 short films were selected from over 1,300 around the world. Daily Variety calls Venice one of the Big Five (the other four being Sundance/Cannes/Toronto/Berlin) and says, “Stars, serious pics, a breathtaking setting and the gravitas that comes with being around for so long lend Venice its elegance and credibility.”
With this invitation to Venice, it is incredibly empowering to know that we can make a beautiful film with very limited equipment and a crew of undergraduate students. You no longer have to shoot on film stock. It is about the story and how it is told. Like Francis Ford Coppola said about the little fat girl in Ohio, it is about the art form, not the so-called professionalism of movies. We worked hard as a crew to make this happen and I thank God for allowing us to reap the harvest.
Now, it’s onward to Venice for our September 8th official screening. Stay tuned– I’ll try to post some photos.
Tags: Venice Film Festival
