The film festival
Werner Herzog recommends in his MasterClass not submitting to film festivals -- unless of course you are Werner Herzog and the festival is Sundance or TIFF. The same advice might be applied to volunteering for film festivals, but yet again, it depends upon the experience of the individual. In 2020, I was able to help out and document the one installment of the BonDance International Film Festival, held at a ninja village park in a resort town near Nagasaki. The theater in which the films were shown was unique and cozy with its lanterns, tatami floor and sofa seating; however, the park goers, mainly parents and their children, had planned a day of amusement outside, not sitting indoors watching films. In 2021, I was asked to be a judge for the newly formed Golden Harvest Film Festival , Tokyo. Eager to put my film knowledge to work, I agreed. Some of the documentaries that I voted up were Le Film Intiatique and The DS King . Some fictional films I liked were False Teeth , nominated fo