Award-winning filmmaker Enrico Ferri chats with Matthew Toffolo about the realities of submitting your short film to festivals. Sometimes 18 minutes is too long for some festivals. The shorter the better? – Not really, but for some festivals, yes!
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Midnight Coachmen, 18min., Canada
Directed by Enrico Ferri
A reimagining of the classic fairytale of Cinderella, told from the perspective of a dog and mouse who live as humans until the stroke of midnight disrupts their world.
https://instagram.com/stanleywoodfilms
Get to know the filmmaker:
What motivated you to make this film?
It was a concept that I had come up with when I was in university.I’ve always wanted to do a period piece and after getting enough experience producing and directing I felt it was finally a good time to challenge myself in this genre.
From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
Two and a half years.
How would you describe your film in two words!?
Beautiful. Surreal.
What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
The global pandemic and the Canadian grant process both stalled the project multiple times.
Provincial restrictions and closures caused repeated delays, and the grant process left me in limbo—unsure whether to wait and reapply or move forward on my own. In the end, I decided to do it independently. Securing Canadian arts grants is tough—part luck, part timing—and with this project, I had neither.
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