Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival 2009

Much has been said about the trials and struggles of making an independent film, and with good reason: it's incredibly difficult, and not many are able to accomplish this feat. The perception is, however, that once you have finished your movie, you can just 'take it to Sundance'. Yet the task of finding placement at a major film festival is often more daunting, and exhausting, then the making of the movie itself. This is the story we intend to tell. OFFICIAL REJECTION follows the filmmakers behind TEN 'TIL NOON, a well-reviewed, low-budget independent film made without famous actors, as they attempt to navigate the film festival circuit, beginning with their startling rejection from every major festival. Dusting themselves off and refusing to quit, they take their movie to smaller, regional festivals, where all the politics and difficulties of the circuit come to light. Along the way they meet other filmmakers, and together they face the costs, the disappointments, the embarassments, the parties, the pain of premiere status, and the strange rules of film festivals together. One festival gives out it's awards to whomever buys them the most beer, other gives themselves the awards. Two festivals fight over the right to premiere a film, while another abandons its opening night movie altogether. OFFICIAL REJECTION is a lighthearted but realistic examination of life at the fests, and features insightful interviews with a broad spectrum of experts, including directors Kevin Smith, Bryan Singer, and Troy Duffy, actors Jenna Fischer, Andy Dick, Traci Lords, Danny Trejo, and Jennifer Tilly, and indie film icons Lloyd Kaufman and Chris Gore. Our goal is to demonstrate exactly what happens once you finish the movie, the reality of today's film festival landscape, and the emotional roller-coaster those who dare venture onto it find themselves riding.