Threadbare Mitten Film Festival ()

Festival start: 05 September 2019      Festival end: 07 September 2019

Threadbare:
- films crafted with artistry, despite what seams may show through.
- genre conventions thoughtlessly reiterated, losing all context of their original meaning.

...so...

What's your Genre?

The Threadbare Mitten Film Festival is a celebration of genre cinema, here in the tell-tale heart of Michigan.

We won't push you into a box:
Horror, Sci-Fi, Contemporary Western, Neo-Noir, Absurdist Comedy, Fantasy, Splatterpunk, Magical Realism, Creature Feature, Psychological Thriller, Modern Samurai, ZomRomCom, Exploitation and Grindhouse, Road Trip, Documentary ad Mockumentary, Experimental and Non-Narrative... whatever weird quirks spark your camera rolling, we want to give you an exhibition home to exorcise them with an appreciative audience.
(and if being pushed into a box is your thing, well ok, show us that!)

As the Michigan Film and Digital Media Office says:
"Think of the Threadbare Mitten Film Festival as the anti-genre, but all-genre film festival, if that makes any sense. Truly a grassroots festival if ever there was one."
- June Newsletter 6/12/18

We do not categorize submissions by genre, only by duration. We will program screening blocks based upon the characteristics of the selected films themselves.

BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY Edition! New town, new time, same eclectic and eccentric programming. Lansing's REO Town takes over hosting our two-night-and-all-of-a-day festival, including screenings and at our festival's new home in the beautiful Robin Theatre and other venues, a Friday night Film.Craft.Beer VIP Party, and Filmmaker Q&As. Jury and Audience Awards will be presented during the festival.

More details to come as we negotiate with additional venues and partners for this year's festivities!

Located just off of Lansing's downtown core, REO Town represents the heart of creative revitalization and the artistic community. Saddleback BBQ, the REO Town Diner, Blue Owl Coffee, the REO Town Pub, Ellison Brewing, Sleepwalker Ales, along with an assortment of shops, are right here on Washington Avenue under the Three Stacks.

Laurels and locally-crafted Trophies for each of 10 Award Categories:

Juried Category Awards:
Best Short Short
Best Short Film
Best Feature Film
Stranger Than Fiction

Audience Awards:
People Pleaser
Michigan Masterpiece

Juried Special Recognition Awards:
A+ Student Filmmaker
Bloody and Brilliant
Subversive Selection
and a [Mystery Award] to be announced at the award ceremony

* Unique trophies are made by a different artist for every year *

Exhibition Formats:

Films selected for the Threadbare Mitten Film Festival must provide exhibition copies to the festival coordinators at least 2 weeks prior to the festival dates.

Films selected for screening must provide a digital screener in standard .mp4 format or equivalent. If you are unable to establish an electronic transfer of an exhibition quality file to our staff, we ask you to please mail a flashdrive or SD card containing the file to our submission address.

At this point, we do not have venues scheduled for this year's Festival that require physical media for exhibition. If this changes, then upon notification of selection, we will inform you if we will require your film on a physical disc, compatible with standard disc players and deliverable to the submission address. It is your responsibility to confirm proper disc playback, or promptly notify us if you will not be able to produce a required Blu-Ray or DVD disc.

We reserve the option to reschedule your film or replace it with another selection if there are issues receiving adequate exhibition files or discs.

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Filmmaker Feedback:

Please be aware that we offer personal, constructive feedback to filmmakers that are not selected. As filmmakers ourselves, we know how frustrating it can be to spend production dollars on festival submissions and only receive blank form rejections that give no indication of a given film's strengths or weaknesses, or whether it was just poor luck that your hard work simply didn't fit with a given year's programming. We aim to provide feedback on our own selection process and reasoning for your benefit, on a professional level. Just let us know when you submit your film if you are interested in hearing from our programmers, in case the unfortunate happens and we are unable to find a place for your work in our Festival.

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Content:

While we will not impose content restrictions for submitted films, please consider the following:

1. We are not interested in purely pornographic material without narrative interest

2. We are not interested in exhibiting actual acts of real life violence or death

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Terms:

1. The Threadbare Mitten Film Festival (the FESTIVAL) will only accept original works. (no fan-films)

a) By submitting your film to the FESTIVAL, you assert that you are authorized to submit the film, and that you own (or have legal permission to use) the copyright to all submitted materials, including the soundtrack and on-screen imagery. The FESTIVAL assumes no liability for any potential claims, damages, judgments, and expenses against any submitted film.

b) By submitting your film, you grant permission to the FESTIVAL to publicly exhibit the film during the festival dates, and to share imagery, copy, and audio/visual clips from the film for promotional purposes, including the promotion of future events.

2. Electronic submissions are preferred. We encourage you to provide any available electronic promotional/publicity materials at the time of submission. Upon notification of selection by the FESTIVAL, the submitter of Short and Feature category films must provide at minimum a film trailer, poster, and synopsis.

3. For physical copy submissions, please email threadbaremittenff@gmail.com prior to submission. Physical submissions will not be returned.

4. All submissions must be in English or contain English subtitles.

5. Judging is anonymous and arbitrary. FESTIVAL judge decisions are final.

6. The FESTIVAL does not require any particular Premiere status, any prior screenings or distribution will be considered as part of the overall submission for all films. .

7. Filmmakers whose work is selected will receive 2 VIP passes to the FESTIVAL.