A History of Film Festivals In 100 Movies

Welcome back to A History of Film Festivals in 100 Movies - This is Episode 7.

The Thin Blue Line - by Errol Morris, and the Hot Docs Film Festival - which runs April 25 - May 5th here in 2024.

One of the most influential documentaries ever made, The Thin Blue line ranks on virtually the documentary lists. And placed fifth on a Sight & Sound poll of the greatest documentaries.

The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest and most important documentary festival in North America, though they are about to face a great challenge as festivals evolve in this new era of exhibition.

To see clips, sources and full transcript, visit our substack page here.

Welcome back to A History of Film Festivals in 100 Movies - Episode 6.

Blood Simple, directed by the Coen Brothers and the

New York Film Festival.

In this episode, I share the history of this dynamic duo, sharing insights and historical facts. You will hear audio trailers as well.

On the Festival side, I share the origins and evolution of one of America's top festivals, and how these storylines intersect.

For full transcripts, pod sources and to see the video clips, visit our substack page here.

Welcome back to A History of Film of Film Festivals in 100 Movies.

We're on episode 5 - US by Jordan Peele and SXSW, an event that truly celebrates the convergence of tech, film, music, education.

The event just wrapped its 37th year in Austin Texas this weekend. And yes, Jordan Peele was there! Why, we'll get to that later.

For more details, transcript, links to videos and resources, visit:

https://onthefestcircuit.substack.com/s/a-history-of-film-festivals

Welcome back to A History of Film Festivals in 100 Movies.

This is Episode 4: Lady Bird - directed by Greta Gerwig and Telluride Film Festival

As with the previous filmmakers shared on this podcast, Lady Bird was a low budget indie, taking film festivals by storm, in this case, premiering at the top tier Telluride Film Festival.

The movie would help Gerwig transition comfortably to the filmmaker's chair, launching her career, that has continued to thrive, eventually leading to the Billion dollar Barbie juggernaut.

Here's to hoping it does well at this week's Oscar ceremony, even with the Academy snub…but we'll get to that later. First a little personal backstory.

To see the full transcript, watch the video clips or explore the resources, visit our Substack page here:

https://onthefestcircuit.substack.com/s/a-history-of-film-festivals

Welcome to a History of Film Festivals In 100 Movies, Episode 3 - Before Sunrise by Richard Linklater.

I'm your host, Jon Fitzgerald, and excited to explore this terrific film, and the Berlinale, one of the top film festivals in the world.

Ok, let's dig into Episode 3.

In 1995, Before Sunrise played the Sundance Film Festival and was well received, but it would have an even greater impact the following month, at the Berlinale, (which happens to be going on right now).

Welcome back to A History of Film Festivals in 100 Movies - Episode 2.

Memento, directed by Christoher Nolan.

As with Sex Lies & Videotape, Memento is another great example of a low budget indie, taking film festivals by storm, and establishing an emerging filmmaker with a distinctive voice.

We're going to explore how his story intersects with one of the best film festivals in the World, by any measure, the International Film Festival Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, which happens to be going on RIGHT NOW!

To see the video clips and trailers, dive into the sources or read the full transcript, visit our On the Circuit substack page here.

Welcome to A History of Film Festivals in 100 Movies. I'm excited to share our first episode - Episode 1 - Sex, Lies and Videotape, directed by Steven Soderbergh.

If you ask industry professionals, like myself, who've been in the business for 35 years or more, they will agree this film may have had the greatest impact on the state of independent film, when it hit the festival circuit in 1989. We're going to explore how and why in this episode.

The story of how this movie had such an influence is forever linked to the film festival world itself, and two of it's top events. Cannes and Sundance.