Watch Highlights & Videos from the May 2017 EUROPEAN FILM FESTIVAL

AUDIENCE FESTIVAL AWARDS

Best Film: CARGO

Best Performances: STATE OF EMERGENCY

Best Cinematography: SEEDS

Best Music: The music from EAT ME!

WATCH Videos from each short that played at the festival:

STATE OF EMERGENCY MOTHERF***ER!, 5min, Belgium, Political/Satire WATCH Audience FEEDBACK EAT ME!, 20min, Bulgaria, Drama/Musical WATCH Audience FEEDBACK

FAREWELL, 15min, Switzerland, Comedy WATCH Audience FEEDBACK SEEDS, 12min, UK, Thriller/Sci-Fi WATCH Audience FEEDBACK

THE ARK, 2min, France, Animation/Experimental WATCH Audience FEEDBACK CARGO, 25min, Netherlands, Documentary/Romance WATCH Audience FEEDBACK

The EUROPEAN MAY 2017 FEEDBACK Film Festival gave our audiences simply the best of short movies from Europe.

The theme of the festival was “FOOD”.

Every film showcased has a key scene where food was involved.

This was our first official lineup of strickly films from Europe. It was an excellent curated showcase of movies in different genres and budgets from six different countries in Europe.

Long ago in late 2016 we decided to do a double festival night in May where we had a lineup of the best of European shorts one night, and a lineup of the best of Canadian shorts (both held in Toronto) on the other night. We assumed that the Canadian shorts night would sell out quickly and then we would have to work on the other night to make sure it was a full crowd.

Well the opposite happened. People eagerly RSVP’d their seats to the European Festival right away and we sold out completely (including the standby tickets) three days before the festival. While we really had a hard time getting people to come to the Canadian festival despite it being filled with local films and filmmakers.

Why is this the case? I really have no idea. I can only come to my own conclusions on the matter. My biggest assumption is that European shorts have a great reputation. They always do well at the biggest festivals and always pick up the Oscars for Best Shorts (live action, documentary, animation) every year. It is true that many countries in Europe do have a lot of grants and government incentives happening for short filmmakers, whereas in Canada that is nonexistent.

Plus, there many great film schools in Europe and the United States, which really “school” those new filmmakers into greatness. Whereas, I have to admit this, many Canadian film schools are not so good as they only teach wannabe filmmakers and not the other necessary film crew specialties like Cinematography, Editing, and Production Design.

So people in Toronto wanted to attend the European shorts twice as much as they wanted to attend shorts being showcased from their own country.

See you at the festivals.

– Matthew Toffolo