Statements

1. Talent building at Short Film Festivals

Short film festivals are places where young, talented filmmakers take their first steps in presenting their work in an artistically inspiring and professionally stimulating environment. These festivals are a meeting place for filmmakers and other members of the film industry, where knowledge is gained, networks are built, and ideas are shared. By presenting an overview of the most recent developments and innovations in short film, festivals are the place for talents to relate their own work to that of fellow filmmakers.

We, as short film festivals, educate, inspire and celebrate filmmakers. We teach and entertain (young) audiences and introduce them to films and their talented makers, creating appreciation for the short form and awareness of the importance of short film for the whole film industry.

The role of short film festivals in the development of filmmakers is something that should not be underestimated. The value of a film festival is often measured quantitatively by the numbers of general audiences. We feel that it is necessary to change this way of measuring short film festivals, for these festivals form an important part in scouting, building, forming and bringing forward talented filmmakers, and they should be valued as such. Therefore, we want to suggest a more qualitative approach to measuring the impact, effect and success of short film festivals, with a strong focus on the way in which short film festivals function as talent building platforms.

Apart from this change in perspective of appreciation, we also want to keep evolving the way in which we serve as talent building platforms for young filmmakers. We want to keep finding emerging talented filmmakers. We want to enhance the opportunities for them to meet each other and develop their artistic skills. We want them to learn. We want them to be introduced to interesting and valuable people in the film industry. We want to ensure that there is a ground for experiment which functions as a stepping stone in the careers of these talents.

To do this we will use existing networks of short film festivals and create new collaborations with each other and related organisations. We will use this network to create an infrastructure of data and the exchange of knowledge and information on programming, innovation and international developments.

As written down collectively during the Go Short Film Festival 2018 in April.