Mitt brev till Oscars-kommittén

Jag blev nyligen ombedd att skriva ett brev till Oscars-kommittén. Det är Naperville Independent Film Festival som vill certifieras sig som en Oscars-kvalificerande film festival. Bara de absolut största och bästa festivalerna är Oscars-kvalificerande. Det är bara om man vinner pris för bästa kortfilm vid en sådan festival som man kan bli nominerad för en Oscar. Vi har varit nominerade till bästa kortfilm vid fyra Oscars-kvalificerande filmfestivaler men vi har aldrig vunnit. Vi har dock vunnit tre priser vid Naperville Independent Film Festival. De går nu igenom processen att bli Oscars-kvalificerande. Och vi håller tummarna.

Här är brevet jag skrev till Oscars-kommittén:

We have had the honor of having our films screen at the Naperville Independent Film Festival almost since it started. We have noticed how the festival has grown and given us a lot of good exposure for our films.

Reaching a large audience and getting good feedback on our films are the main reasons for us to send our films to film festivals. Our films have screened at over 200 film festivals and won over 40 awards. They have also been nominated for awards at several Oscar qualifying film festivals.

It is interesting to see that certain festival gives the films an extra push and gets the films into more festivals. The Naperville Independent Film Festival is one of those festivals that have meant a lot for the festival life of our films.

For instance, after our film An Affair with Dolls and the actress Alexandra Chalupa was awarded three awards at the Naperville Independent film festival in 2011, it went on to screen at over 40 film festivals and won twelve more awards. It has also been shown on PBS.

Over the years, we’ve have been nominated for awards at the festival and our film The Man with all the Marbles has subsequently also screened at 50 festivals and won many awards.

It seems like the reputation and the boost from screening at the Naperville Film Festival has grown with each year and we are very grateful for the great reception our films have gotten at the festival. And we hope that we can continue to produce films that are worthy to screen at the festival.

Sincerely,

Hans Montelius