Since 2014, Picture Farm Film Festival has been a collaborative effort organized by people with a passion for filmmaking and community. It is a non-profit, volunteer-run event dedicated to sharing films from across the globe, and now, it has announced that it is currently accepting submissions for the 2020 event. 

From the website, "Picture Farm offers a Commercial Director Mentorship Program in connection to the Picture Farm Film Festival. Initiated in 2018, the program awards a year-long collaborative mentorship in commercial filmmaking to a particularly promising filmmaker. With an open application for any filmmaker with a film in the fest, it is designed to help emerging voices navigate the vocabulary and ingrained habits of the advertising industry and prepare their own process for the particular demands of brand content creation."


Film festivals are admittedly a dime a dozen. I don’t want to proclaim that Picture Farm has reinvented the wheel here, but I will say that, over the years, it has forged something truly special. What separates it from other festivals, in my mind at least, is the emphasis on developing a real community. Its aim is to bring filmmakers together so that they may forge lasting connections and feel inspired by each other’s passion.

It wants every year to be a reunion of sorts where it can check in on old friends and discuss with zeal what projects creators are toiling on. 

The blocks it curates reflect that inclusive nature. Programs are an eclectic showcase of several genres and forms, held together by thoughtful themes. In other words, it closely resembles that rad playlist you come across that starts with Bowie and ends with Lil Dicky.

Films of any medium are welcome.

Commercial Director Mentorship Program

Filmmakers are once again invited to apply for the Picture Farm Commercial Director Mentorship Program. Started in 2018, it acts as a natural extension of Picture Farm Film Festival’s mission statement, to provide disenfranchised filmmakers a pathway to a viable career as a commercial director. 

Any director accepted into the festival can apply to the program which is designed to help emerging voices navigate the vocabulary and ingrained habits of the advertising industry and prepare their own process for the particular demands of brand content creation. Tangible benefits include monthly meetings with Picture Farm’s owners and EP’s, access to the company’s production space and an opportunity to be featured as a director on the company's roster.

Past jurors from the program include Jeremy Dawson (Academy Award-nominated producer Moonrise Kingdom, Fantastic Mr. Fox), Meghan Oretsky (Curator, Vimeo/Ladies with Lenses), and Julian Katz (Head of Production, Mother).

Picture Farm Film Festival

Submit Now!

Submissions close on March 27, 2020, so use this as motivation to get those final tweaks in the can before you submit! As always, the submission process is free—though the fest does appreciate a $5 donation if you can spare it.

SubmitHERE!

If you are curious to know more, I encourage you to visit the website.

Source: Picture Farm