IMC Film Fest on for February
Is your independently-produced movie a candidate for sprucing up the deuce? Why not find out by submitting it to the upcoming IMC Film Festival, a sequel to last year’s from-out-of-nowhere event that will take place from Friday, February 5, through Sunday, February 7, 2010. Main location will be the Post Office building, 202 S. Broadway Ave., Urbana, IL, home to the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center.
With Stephen Fonzo now relocated to the East Coast, remaining co-director and Outreach and Development Coordinator Nicole Pion will partner with Performance Venue Coordinator Katy Vizdal to nudge the second IMCFF to fruition during the next two months. As you can see from this older post, the first IMCFF turned out to be a fully-realized affair with more than 25 titles in the program and several satellite happenings. Three hundred-plus community members attended during the span to see what Fonzo, Pion, and friends had assembled, and it was good.
So, now, how will the next round be better? Firstly, you can download either the official PDF or MSWord submission documents right here, courtesy of C-U Blogfidential, and get a move on to turn in your film(s) to the IMC by Friday, January 15, 2010, 5 p.m. Secondly, you can give your fellow filmmakers an equal opportunity to apply by sending the Call for Entries far and wide. ‘Tis the season to share!
Thirdly, you can volunteer for or sponsor the IMCFF by contacting Pion at nicole.pion [at] gmail [dot] com and asking her to include you on a contact list; she can certainly put your talents and support to good use. Fourthly (is that a word?) you can pitch a media related performance, presentation, or workshop to Vizdal at katyvizdal [at] gmail [dot] com, which can help add a little pizzazz to the total film fest experience. Finally, make sure to jot down those February dates on your calendar and then plan to show. We’re pretty confident you will enjoy stuff, learn stuff, and be inspired by stuff that you witness during the event. And once again, there will be no admission fee! How sweet is that?
The official press release follows the jump. Make sure to get your own jump on sending those films in to the Independent Media Center once you’re done perusing the positive.
~ Jason Pankoke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
IMC Film Festival Announces “Call for Submissions” for Second Annual Event to Take Place on February 5-7, 2010!
(Urbana, Illinois) December 16, 2009: The Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center (IMC) is proud to announce that it will host the second annual IMC Film Festival during February 5, 6, and 7, 2010, and is now accepting submissions! This celebration of the art of cinematography will once again highlight local and regional independent artists, giving them an opportunity to share their work and connect with other artists, community members, and organizations.
Last year’s inaugural IMC Film Festival attracted approximately 300 supporters of creative media who enjoyed three days’ worth of screenings, presentations, workshops, dance parties, and after-hours camaraderie at the IMC building, located at 202 S. Broadway Ave. in downtown Urbana, Illinois. Beyond offering attendees the rare opportunity to screen truly independent work with an audience, the Film Festival also helped draw attention to the IMC’s on-site Production Group, which provides knowledge and equipment for budding media-makers in the Urbana-Champaign community who strive to make a difference with their work.
All genres of film are welcome, including: documentary, experimental, narrative, comedy, etc. Film highlights from last year’s event include:
PRELUDE (2008), directed by Luke Boyce, is a drama filmed in Champaign-Urbana about an anguished writer who meets a mysterious stranger in a cafe and is drawn into a soul-bearing conversation, although her interest may be deeper than he thinks;
CITIZEN WATCH (2004), directed by Patrick Thompson and Martel Miller, a controversial video recording interactions between local police and the black community in Urbana-Champaign;
PROCEED AND BE BOLD! (2008), directed by Laura Zinger, the colorful story of printmaker Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr., who uses his art to bring complicated issues such as race and gender into the forefront of the American consciousness;
Diversity and Technology for Engaging Communities (DTEC) Video (2008), produced by UIUC Educational Policy Studies professor Antonia Darder and her students, a video that exposes the secret history of racism on the University of Illinois campus;
AND THE BEAT GOES: THE SPIRIT IN THE LEGACY OF THE DOUGLASS CENTER DRUM CORPS (2006), produced by Urbana (IL) High School students and supervised by Kimberlie Kranich and Will Patterson of WILL’s Youth Media Workshop, looks at recent efforts by former drum corps leader Jesse Ratliffe and 17-year-old Lee Duncan to revive the group, which in 1968 won First Place in the national Elks Club competition in New York City;
THE TRANSIENT (2009), directed by Chris Lukeman, is an Eighties throwback action movie about a homeless vigilante hero and his social worker sidekick, Steve, who must stop Vampire Abraham Lincoln and his gang of punks. Filmed in Champaign-Urbana, this short had its official C-U premiere at the IMC Film Festival 2009!
Filmmakers are invited to submit their works by filling out a Submittal Sheet and following those instructions. As well, the IMC Film Festival is open to all – free of admission charges! SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2010, 5 p.m. Please make sure that all required information is included with your entry.
Area businesses, regional filmmakers, and media production companies are also invited to sponsor this year’s event! It is a great way to introduce your business or non-profit venture to a wider audience both during the IMC Film Festival and in key promotion that will appeal to the artist and art-supporting communities. If interested, please contact Nicole at nicole.pion@gmail.com for more information; please write “IMC Film Festival 2010 – Sponsorship” in the Subject header!
Last year’s sponsors included:
Common Ground Food Co-op
C-U Blogfidential & MICRO-FILM Magazine
La Gourmandise
Mirabelle Bakery
One World Pizza
Shatterglass Studios
Strawberry Fields
That’s Rentertainment
CONTACT:
Nicole Pion
nicole.pion@gmail.com
Outreach and Development Coordinator, UCIMC
Katy Vizdal
katyvizdal@gmail.com
Performance Venue Coordinator, UCIMC
or, at IMCFFprogramming@gmail.com
202 S. Broadway Ave.
Suite 100
Urbana, IL 61801
(217) 344-8820
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