Future of Cinema Film Festival

  • An overview of the Future of Cinema Film Festival, and highlights from the 2010 event.
  • FOCFF is held on the campus of Interlochen Center for the Arts. Interlochen is located in northern Michigan, four hours northwest of Detroit.
  • Past special guests of the festival include Michael Moore, Dennis Muren, Benh Zeitlin, Jeff Wozniak and Ken Burns.

The Future of Cinema Film Festival at Interlochen Center for the Arts provides a setting for high school filmmakers to meet professionals and peers, screen work, discuss trends and new developments in cinema, while creating a greater understanding of a quickly evolving art form. This year's festival will be held October 17-19, 2013.

The Future of Cinema Film Festival is open to current high school students, ages 13-18. The categories are narrative, documentary, animation and screenplay. There is no submission fee for work submitted by August 15, 2013.

Read complete rules and submit your work now

Awards and Prizes

The Best of Festival winner will receive a

The Best of Festival Runner-Up will receive a:

Each category winner (narrative, documentary, screenplay, animation) will receive a:

All exhibiting student filmmakers will receive a:

*Applicants must meet admission requirements to be eligible for Camp or Academy scholarships.

2013 Special Guests

Special guests of the 2013 Future of Cinema Film Festival include:

Wayne White
For over 30 years, Wayne White has made an indelible mark on the creative world. As a designer, painter, puppeteer, sculptor, and musician, Mr. White created images and ideas that are an integral – yet sometimes subconscious – part of the pop culture lexicon. To this day, he still gets up every morning to do the only thing his body and mind were made to do…create.  Whether the world acknowledges it or not.

Mr. White was the production designer for Pee Wee’s Playhouse and Beakman’s World.  He is now the notable subject of the documentary dedicated to his life’s work, Beauty is Embarrassing.

Get the chance to see Beautiful is Embarrassing and meet Mr. White, live and in-person!

ARRI GROUP
Representatives from the ARRI Group, an industry leader in lighting and camera equipment.

Past Special Guests

  • Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore, director of "Fahrenheit 9/11," "Bowling for Columbine," "Sicko," and "Capitalism: A Love Story," and co-founder of the Traverse City Film Festival.
  • Academy Award-winning special effects artist and pioneer Dennis Muren. His work includes Star WarsE.T.: The Extra-TerrestrialIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,InnerspaceThe AbyssJurassic ParkTerminator 2: Judgment DaySuper 8, and many others.
  • Steven Saklad, production designer on The MuppetsJunoUp in the AirDrag Me to HellThank You for Smoking, and many others. Saklad also served as art director onSpider-Man 2, The Quick and the Dead, The Game, and Mermaids.
  • Benh Zeitlin, director of the Academy Award-nominated and Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning Beasts of the Southern Wild.
  • Writer, director and actor Cory McAbee. Best known for his film "The American Astronaut" and his serial film Stingray Sam, McAbee has been an innovator in finding new ways to distribute his work. He was selected by the Sundance Film Festival to create short films specifically for mobile phones.
  • Writer Doug Stanton is the author of the New York Times bestsellers "In Harm’s Way" and "Horse Soldiers," which spent over three months on the New York Times best-seller list, reaching the number-two position. Both titles are currently in development as feature films. He is also co-founder of the Traverse City Film Festival.
  • Actor, photographer and writer Benjamin Busch has appeared as an actor on several television programs including HomicideThe WireGeneration Kill among several others. His first film as a writer-director, Sympathetic Details, was released in 2008. An accomplished photographer, he has created two photographic exhibits The Art in Warand Occupation, which feature photos taken during his two combat tours in Iraq.
  • Ground-breaking cinematographer Daniel Pearl has worked on hundreds of music videos, commercials and several feature films including the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
  • Representatives of the ARRI Group, an industry leader in lighting and camera equipment.
  • Former President of Industrial Light & Magic, Gordon Radley.
  • Jeff Wozniak, senior digital artist, Industrial Light & Magic. Now in his tenth year at ILM, Jeff's work can be seen in such high-profile films as Star Wars: Episodes I, II, andIIIHarry Potter and the Prisoner of AzkabanPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (winner of the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects), Star Trek (2009), Avatar,Rango (ILM's first animated feature), the Transformers trilogy, and Avengers.
  • James Gartner, director of Glory Road.
  • Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns (The Civil WarBaseballThe WarThe National Parks: America's Best Idea).
  • Andy Davis, director of The Fugitive and Holes.
  • Emmy Award-winning composer Joel McNeely (Young Indiana Jones Chronicles,HolesUptown GirlsThe Avengers).
  • Ivan Raimi, screenwriter, DarkmanArmy of DarknessSpiderman 3.
  • Jeff Daniels, actor and performer. Film roles include Terms of EndearmentThe Purple Rose of CairoDumb & Dumber, Pleasantville, and Good Night and Good Luck. Daniels is also founder of The Purple Rose Theater Company in Chelsea, Michigan.

Sponsors

Interlochen Center for the Arts is grateful for the support of the following Future of Cinema Film Festival sponsors:

ARRI Camera and ARRI Lighting: http://www.arri.de/

 

Final Draft screenwriting and screenplay software: http://www.finaldraft.com/

Festival Schedule

Thursday, October 17

  • Finalist Competition - Animation and Documentary Screening

Friday, October 18

  • 2:30p. ARRI Group lighting and camera demo

  • 7:00pm - Wayne White gallery opening and reception - Dow Visual Arts

  • 8:00pm - Beauty is Embarrassing screening with live Q&A - DeRoy Commons

Saturday, October 19

  • 11:30am  - Finalist Competition - Screenwriting Staged Reading

  • 4:00pm - Finalist Competition - Narrative Shorts Screening

  • 7:30pm - Special Guest Screening - TBD

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