Illustration by Andreas Hykade. Courtesy of Chris Robinson.

Guy I know recently took his film out of Annecy 2005 cause they had placed it in the Panorama section. This pisses me off… cause he seems to think that Panorama screenings are afterthoughts… a purgatory for the mediocre. The guy, frankly, is a doof.

First, for those of you who don’t know what panorama means, its well… getting a full view of a field. For our purposes, it’s a survey of the films that did not make a festival’s official competition. Last year, I started calling Showcase screenings or “Best of the Rest” (some sensitive types found that insulting, though).

Festivals have a limited amount of space for competition screenings. As I’ve written before, in Ottawa, we have six competitions at about 80 minutes each. Because Ottawa does not separate commissioned and independent films (as Annecy does) that means that almost 2,000 entries are fighting for 480 minutes of film.

In 2004, we took 16 films in the narrative short category and about nine in the first film/student category. You’re being judged on two levels in the end. On one level, you’re really judged ONLY against the other films in your category. However, you’re also up against the clock as well because — while we do give favor to independent work and ensure that the competition is primarily composed of personal films, indies are also, in terms of time/space, competing against commercials, TV stuff etc… so… at the end of the day the reality is that some GOOD indie work is getting pushed out of competition because of the commissioned categories.

So,” you say, “why not do what Annecy does and have a separate competition for commissioned and short films?” First, I simply like the idea that we always show everything together. All these films, no matter their category, are being judged from an aesthetic point of view. We look at their technique/design/conception and how it’s all executed — whether it’s Atomic Betty or Paul Bush. In a sense, competition is like a panorama of the animation community… the best stuff being made internationally for TV and not-TV. Secondly, from a programming perspective, it’s nice to be able to put something lighter or shorter between longer “artsy-fartsy” films. It gives the screenings more flavor and can create a bit of a rollercoaster ride. One minute you might see Dog by Suzie Templeton… the next minute you’re watching Creature Comforts.

Thirdly, just from a logistical perspective, we don’t have the space to create another competition screening. We just have too much stuff going on as it is and frankly, unlike euro towns, the folks in Ottawa don’t leave their office cubicles until after 4:00-5:00 pm… so daytime screenings — in terms of the public — are a waste. And then... what happens… then I have to decide on “prime” spots. Feature competition (which is separate of course) goes at 7:00 pm. Shorts go at their traditional 9:00 pm. Where do I put the commissioned? I guess we could put them at 3:00 pm… and who the fug cares if the public doesn’t come cause it’s all TV shit anyway, right? Nah… I just can’t do that. I like it as is.

Okay… so that preamble was an attempt to explain the temporal/spatial realities that confront entrants. We’re not even dealing with the issues of taste. And I ain’t getting into that again… we covered that a few years ago and it still gives me a headache when I think about those “taste” articles. But okay… taste is relative and if an artist hasn’t figured that out, then let me be the first to explain it to you — not everyone thinks you’re the genius you think you might be; not everyone thinks your latest work is the masterwork you believe it to me. And hey, maybe they are full of shit and are wrong… but so it is my friend….

When you submit to a festival you know what you’re in for… you know that there are no guarantees with selection committees or festival organizers (hey… remember…all you folks who think I have a hard-on for all things Estonian… I didn’t take Priit Parn’s Karl and Marilyn for competition). Selection committees are especially tricky because they’re all coming from different cultural backgrounds… and then you factor in the normal baggage of culture, economics, socialization, education… all the ingredients that go into forming the tastes of an individual and you’re really into uncertainty. And hey… let’s say that two out of three committee members LOVE your work, the other guy/gal might be SO incredibly abhorred by it that his/her passion could win out over the other two. See… those are the moments when deals are made… the guy/gal might agree to go along with another film if he can ensure that the one he hates is removed.

I’ve already written about juries and all this stuff, so I’m not gonna rehash it all again here, but look, animators have to realize that festivals are — as I’ve said so many times — like going to a casino: it’s entirely out of your hands and you just have to trust and respect the process. Not everyone is gonna see things your way and ya just gotta live with that.* I make decisions about films in competition and retrospective and juries each year… that not everyone is going to agree with or even understand, but most of the time they seem to respect my right to make these choices… and also understand that right or wrong (is there such a thing?) I do try to do the best that I can. I might seem like a reactionary person at times (in person, I am), but I put a lot of fuggin’ energy and time into programming. And yeah… I make mistakes. So be it.