Call for Entries
I thought everyone who went on the Film Festival trip might appreciate this. Look for the bolded section.
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Dear Friends!
Please forward this to anyone who you think might be interested.
Thank you!
Johanna
The 2nd FANTASY WORLDWIDE Film Festival, scheduled for November 3-5, 2006, is now accepting submissions.
The early deadline is Friday, April 14, 2006. The final deadline is Wednesday, May 31, 2006.
FANTASY WORLDWIDE is a competitive film festival with Awards for Best Feature Film, Best Short, Best Documentary and Best Animation. Other Awards include: The People's Choice and Special Recognition for a Local (Canadian) Filmmaker.
We welcome all filmmakers and projects from low-budget to blockbuster, beginners to veterans.
The festival accepts films of all lengths and of these genres - World Mythology, Fantasy (except for Horror), Mysticism, Magical Realism, Science Fiction, Historical Fiction, Legend and Archetype.
History:
With major news coverage from the most prominent media, reaching over 6 million people, the first annual FANTASY WORLDWIDE Film Festival was a great success!
The Festival took place on November 4-6, 2005 in Toronto, at the trendy Bloor Cinema, located downtown, in the heart of the Annex – a Toronto Art Deco landmark, recently refurbished, with seating for 835.
Thirty one Feature Films, Shorts, Documentaries and Animations from 6 continents were presented to the enthusiastic Toronto audience. Entries were from such diverse countries as UK, Spain, New Zealand, Australia, Mexico, Turkey, Chile, US, Canada, Egypt, Ireland, Georgia, Poland, Belgium and Portugal among others.
The audience included groups and individuals coming to the Festival from out of town and abroad!
The festival's audience consisted of Toronto's enthusiasts as well as of guests arriving from Syracuse, U.S.A.; Waterloo and Calgary, Canada; Alaska; California and France.
Media coverage highlights included:
Television: City TV, Breakfast TV, Space: The Imagination Station, Rogers Cable, Omni Polish TV, Omni Turkish TV.
Radio: CBC arts online, CFNY, CIUT, CHUM FM/AM.
Dailies: Toronto Star, National Post, Globe and Mail, Toronto Sun.
Communities/Ethnic: The Ryerson Eye Opener, NOW (listings), East York Mirror, Annex Guardian, Correo Canadiense, Polish Goniec, Bizim Anadolu (Turkish), Shahrvand (Persian newspaper), Brand New Planet (Toronto Star), Varsity - U of T Newspaper, Asian Wave Magazine.
Key highlights of the Festival included big budget films and filmmakers coming from around the world!
Gala Opening feature film: G.O.R.A. from Turkey – a stunning big budget sci-fi feature. An interplanetary comedy and adventure film with references to the popular blockbusters such as Star Wars, The Matrix, Spaceballs, Karate Kid and others.
Gala Closing Film: Lord of the Brush, Canada – a visually outstanding biography of the Canadian artist, John Howe, the illustrator of J.R.R. Tolkien's world and Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
Forbidden Warrior, feature from U.S.A. – based on a mythical female Asian hero. Starring, among others: Marie Matiko (The Art of War), Sung Kang (Pearl Harbor), Tony Amendola (Mask of Zorro), Andrew Divoff (Air Force One), James Hong (Blade Runner, Chinatown).
Moongirl, U.S.A. – Short Animation from Henry Selick, the award-winning Director of The Nightmare Before Christmas (nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects) and the critically acclaimed James and The Giant Peach. A mystical adventure of a boy taken to the Moon and helping to save it from being extinguished by the villainous Gargaloons.
Filmmakers coming from around the world: Omer Faruk Sorak, Turkey (Director of The People's Choice winning feature film G.O.R.A.), Gretchen Jordan-Bastow, British Columbia (Director of Lord of the Brush), Michael T. Giovanniello, U.S.A. (associate producer of Forbidden Warrior), John J. Doherty, Ireland (Director of the festival's winning documentary Harry Clarke: Darkness in Light), Akanit Duchany Nakoneczny, Alaska (Director of Nok Ieng), Amit R. Gicelter, U.K. (Director of Emuna - A Tale of Faith) and others. Local Canadian filmmakers included, among others, Christopher Cordell (Director of Not My Religion), Saide Kardar (Director of As Long As Grass Grows) and Tom Hillman (Producer of El Pictor).
The Gala Parties were held at the super trendy night clubs in Toronto, downtown: The Vegas Bar, PUR Supper Club and Banzai.
We want to thank all the filmmakers, sponsors and supporters for making the first annual FANTASY WORLDWIDE Film Festival such a great success!
Please visit our website to see the list of the 2005 Festival's winners, guests and photos: www.fantasyworldwide.com and go to "Submissions" to download our Submission Form and Guidelines.
For more information please contact us at info@fantasyworldwide.com
Yours in filmmaking,
Johanna Kern
Executive & Artistic Director
Fantasy Worldwide Film Festival
632 Glebeholme Blvd.
Toronto, Ontario, M4C 1V6
416-422-4432
www.fantasyworldwide.com