Niels Putman – Short Film Conference

Shorts That Are Not Pants

festival

Toronto certainly doesn’t lack for film screenings. Cinephiles here are spoiled for choice, usually. But when it comes to shorts, things aren’t so great.

Local film blogger James McNally launched Shorts That Are Not Pants in December 2009, showing a program of shorts in his apartment to a small group of friends. Several other editions followed, and he soon felt it was time to share the wealth of short film talent with the rest of the city.

Beginning in January 2012, Shorts That Are Not Pants kicked off a quarterly celebration of short film. In 2018, we became an annual festival held in November. We watch films from all over the world to bring you a curated program of films that we hope will entertain and inspire.

Event date

18.11.2022 ⟶ 27.11.2022

Awards (US$250) for Best Narrative, Best Documentary, Best Animated, Best Canadian shorts (all juried), plus another US$250 for Audience Award (chosen by attendees)

www.shortsnotpants.com

Admin Address
13 Allen Ave
Toronto
ON M4M 1T5
Canada

Entry fee: $25-$60

James McNally is the founder and festival director of Shorts That Are Not Pants in Toronto. He’s worked in programming and festival logistics for TIFF, Hot Docs, Sundance, Hamptons International Film Festival, Scruffy City Film and Music Festival (Knoxville, TN) and Kinofilm: Manchester International Short Film Festival. He has also worked in film distribution with KinoSmith Inc., and as a film blogger, establishing Toronto Screen Shots (www.torontoscreenshots.com) in 2007. As a writer, he has been a regular contributor to Short of the Week (www.shortoftheweek.com) and the National Screen Institute (www.nsi-canada.ca).

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Statutes & legal info

Short Film Conference 2018 @ Clermont-Ferrand 5/Feb

Program of Short Film Conference 2018:

14.00-15.00 – SHORT OF THE WEEK’S “BE EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE” STRATEGY (Presentation)
Open to everyone – please RSVP.

With the explosion of fan and industry interest in short films online, filmmakers have an unprecedented opportunity to share their work globally. Co-Founder of Short of the Week, and former Lead Curator of Vimeo, Jason Sondhi describes his company’s evolving thinking on how filmmakers should best take advantage in order to find audiences for their work and kickstart their careers. Flouting conventional wisdom regarding festival strategies, distribution arrangements, and current practices for online releases, he advocates for “maximum exposure in the shortest window”.

Speaker: Jason Sondhi (Short of the Week)
Moderator: Laurence Boyce (PÖFF Shorts / Cineurope)

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15.15-16.00 – IN FOCUS: AFRICAN SHORT FILM FESTIVALS (Panel talk)
Open to SFC-members + invitees.

As the first in an ongoing series of examining festivals that might not be as well known to the West, the Short Film Conference will take an in-depth look at short film festivals in the continent of Africa. Claire Diao, France’s specialist of African Cinema, will moderate a talk with directors, festival programmers and delegates from all over Africa to talk about what’s hot and (not) happening in the African short film scene.

Speakers: Pape Lopy (Banlieue Film Festival Sénégal), Chipo Zhou (Durban International Film Festival) & Melissa Adeyemo (producer ‘Still water runs deep’).
Moderator: Claire Diao

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16.15-17.00 CAN YOU EARN A LIVING AS A FESTIVAL DIRECTOR? (Table discussion)
Open to SFC-members only.

When working for a festival, you’re always in a strange hinterland, since it never has a proper classification. Do we work in the film business? Do we work in the organizing business? And how to make a living? Gina Dellabarca, experienced festival director of Show Me Shorts, will moderate this conversation about the difficulties of working for a festival and how we could do better.

Speakers: Sébastien Simon (Busan International Short Film Festival), John Canciani (Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur) & Ailton Franco (Rio de Janeiro International Short Film Festival – Curta Cinema)
Moderator: Gina Dellabarca (Show Me Shorts)

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17.00-18.00 – SHORT FILM CONFERENCE – GENERAL ASSEMBLEE
Open to SFC-members only.

We urge all SFC-members to be present at this General Assemblee, where we will talk about issues and questions that have come to surface as to what the current strategy of the Short Film Conference is and how it should evolve in the future. The Board of Directors will prepare a list of topics to be discussed & will of course propose answers too. These are the topics among them:

(a) What is the main goal of the Short Film Conference? What defines its DNA and how can it still evolve? / (b) How should the SFC tackle problems that (especially smaller) festivals are facing, in regards to submission platforms & others? / (c) Who can and should be a SFC-member and who shouldn’t? / (d) How much is the membership fee and what does it include? / (e) Who’s in the Board of Directors and what is their task? / (f) How will the Short Film Conference be looking for more money in order to be more visible & do more throughout the year? / …

Moderators: Laurence Boyce & Tim Redford

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18.00-19.00 – NETWORKING DRINKS + ANNOUNCEMENT: WINNER OF THE SHORT OF THE YEAR AWARD
Open to everyone.

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20.00-22.00 – NETWORKING DINNER @ THE SALVATION JANE PUB
Open to SFC-members only.

Registration required! Deadline: 29th of Jan.!

The Networking Dinner is reserved for SFC-members only. We ask for an additional €25/person (to be paid in cash upon arrival). This includes two vouchers for pints or soft drinks & food (starters, walking dinner and desserts). Note that there will be plenty of vegetarian food too. Any extra drinkers ordered have to be paid for.

Location lectures & assemblee: Maison de la Culture, Salle Gripel, Boulevard François Mitterrand 71. / Location dinner: The Salvation Jane Pub, Rue Terrasse 14.

See you there!

Short Film Conference 2017 @ Clermont-Ferrand 6/Feb

Programme of Short Film Conference 2017:

14.00-15.00 – 5 THINGS WRONG WITH YOUR FILM FESTIVAL (Debate)
Open to everyone.

A recent online article entitled “15 Things Wrong With Your Short Film” rose the ire of some filmmakers. Not so much due to the content but to the fact that it was yet another in a long line of articles telling filmmakers what they might be doing wrong. Just where were the articles telling film festivals what they did wrong?

In the spirit of fair play, the Short Film Conference will hold an event entitled “Five* things wrong with your short film festival” (*We realise the original article had 15, we have chosen five simply because of time restrictions) and examine some of the criticisms levelled at events from filmmakers, industry players and – indeed – festivals themselves.

This will not be an exercise in singling out individual events and people – instead it is meant to allow film festivals to engage in some reflection on the things that we do whilst talking honestly about the problems that we face nowadays.

With a panel consisting of filmmakers and festival representatives the discussion will no doubt be a heated yet positive look at the world of short film festivals.

Speakers: Rich Warren (Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival), Sven Schwarz (Hamburg International Short Film Festival), Jing Haase (Nordisk Panorama Film Festival), Douwe Dijkstra (director), Wouter Jansen (Go Short – International Short Film Festival Nijmegen), Gunhild Enger (director)
Moderator: Laurence Boyce (International Short Film Festival Sleepwalkers)

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15.15-16.15 – HOW EXCLUSIVE IS YOUR FESTIVAL? (Table discussion)
Open to everyone.

Why do some festivals have premiere requirements? What is the impact on other festivals? How does your festival change once you’re Oscar-accredited? How does a festival get Academy Award-accredited in the first place? Why would you strive for that? And finally: what about short films that are available online?

In this roundtable discussion a few key-speakers (programmers, festival directors) will shed a light on their experience within the short film world, regarding the question of exclusivity. Anyone in the audience is recommended to participate in the Q&A that follows.

Speakers: Mauro Gervasini (Venice Film Festival), Zita Carvalhosa (São Paulo International Short Film Festival), Seigo Tono (Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia), Theo Tsappos (Swedish Film Institute)
Moderator: Jacopo Chessa (Italian Short Film Center)

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16.30-17.30 THE SHORT FILM WORLD & FILM JOURNALISM – MAKING TWO WORLDS WORK TOGETHER (Lecture)
Open to SFC-members only.

Journalism/film criticism has long been an established and important part of the film festival world. Yet many magazines are not interested in taking stories about short films and – despite the internet – outlets for many established journalists are shrinking. With that in mind just how are short film festivals approaching their relationships with film critics and journalists? With a product that many outlets won’t write about?

Laurence Boyce is both a journalist and the head of programme of International Short Film Festival Sleepwalkers and has seen both sides of the coin when it comes to the relationship between the press and the short film festivals world. He has written about short film festivals for trade magazines as well as specialist publications and Cineuropa Shorts, of which he is the editor.

In his talk, Laurence will explore the needs and wants of both journalists and festivals and examine the pitfalls he faces as a film journalist when specialising in short film. He will give practical advice on how to gain interest from trade magazines as well go through the kind of information that a journalist and critic needs to be able to make the best use of a festival they attend. He will also reflect on his past as a press officer for numerous major festivals and examine past relationships with the press world.

This talk will prove invaluable for any festival wanting to improve its relationship with the press and learn more about how to target its information to get the best coverage it can.

Speaker: Laurence Boyce (International Short Film Festival Sleepwalkers, Cineuropa Shorts)

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17.30-18.00 – SHORT FILM CONFERENCE – GENERAL ASSEMBLEE
Open to SFC-members only.

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18.15-19.00 – NETWORKING DRINKS + ANNOUNCEMENT: WINNER OF THE SHORT OF THE YEAR AWARD
Open to everyone.

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19.30-22.00 – NETWORKING DINNER @ THE SALVATION JANE PUB
Open to SFC-members only.

Location lectures & assemblee: Maison de la Culture, Salle Gripel, Boulevard François Mitterrand 71. / Location dinner: The Salvation Jane Pub, Rue Terrasse 14.

See you there!