Post by Paul Devlin:
Film Festivals are the great payoff for many filmmakers. You’ve worked hard for years, and now you’re being flown around the world to great places to show your movie to appreciative audiences, who venerate your role as artist. It’s addicting. When the festivals slow down, you want to make another film again just so you can go back out on the road.
My movie Power Trip played at dozens of film festivals and I tried to attend as many as possible. At the San Francisco Film Festival, I spent much more time than expected because the SARS scare in Toronto cancelled my trip to the Hot Docs Film Festival (Power Trip won the Grand Jury Prize there – whoops). So I had time in San Francisco to meet some talented, exceptional people, another great benefit of Film Festivals.
Eli Roth (Hostel, Inglourious Basterds) was touring with his first film Cabin Fever, and we had a chance to hang out.
The San Francisco Film Festival starts this Thursday, April 25th, and will last through May 9th. Make sure to check out some of the amazing films if you’re in the area!