The promotional poster for the West of Cannes Film Festival shows a swimmer wearing a vintage yellow scuba helmet, nestled in the comfort of a small underwater tub. The quirky drawing, created by artist Jimmy Adamico, gives the impression that treasures can be found even in the most familiar places, like within imaginary oceans of a bathtub or inside a small theatre in the heart of Miami Lakes.
The first annual West of Cannes Film Festival (WOCFF) is a short film festival for South Florida filmmakers by South Florida filmmakers. The event will be open to the public and takes place on November 20 - 22, 2015 at The Main Street Playhouse, 6766 Main Street, in Miami Lakes, FL. Independent filmmakers from Southeast Florida counties will have the opportunity to submit their short films to be judged and potentially selected as one of five winners.
The submission categories are for narrative, documentary, and experimental short films and winners will be named for Overall Grand Jury Winner, Overall Audience Award, Narrative Winner, Documentary Winner, and Experimental Winner. All five winners will be awarded with the West of Cannes “Neon Palm” Award, an homage, with a cultural Miami twist, to the Cannes “Golden Palm” Award.
“We wanted to mimic the prestige found at the Cannes Film Festival and bring it home to Miami with the Neon Palm Award,” said Jason Lyzniak, filmmaker and member of Samurai Snacks Productions. “One submission we received for our festival will actually premiere at the Cannes Film Festival which is great to see, the caliber of talent that we have submitting.”
To submit a short film to WOCFF participants must be 18 years of age or older and legal residents of a Southeast Florida County (Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Monroe or Martin). Students attending a Southeast Florida University but are not legal residents of Florida may also submit. Films must be no longer than 30 minutes, with no minimum run time, and must have been completed after November 1, 2013. Short films previously screened at other events will be accepted.
The regular submission deadline is August 31 for $15. Late submissions will be accepted from September 1 to October 31 for $20. All submissions must be received before Sunday, November 1.
Finalists will be selected and notified by November 8. Finalists’ films will be screened at the festival on Friday and Saturday, November 20 and 21 with the award ceremony following on Sunday, November 22. A jury of judges consisting of industry professionals including HBO producers, Univision directors, and local established filmmakers will select the winners for the event.
“West of Cannes is different from any other film festival in that it’s not international,” said Lyzniak, “so we are especially excited to see short films that are homegrown, just like this festival, created and shot in Miami by Miami filmmakers. Downtown Miami and the Design District is saturated with art and film so we tried to bring some of that art and cinema to the Miami Lakes community instead.”
WOCFF is made possible by Main Street Players and Samurai Snacks Productions, a nonprofit independent video production house based in Miami with filmmakers Alexander Casanova, Ashley Perdigon, Jason Lyzniak, and Ileana Hernandez.
For more information on the festival, visit www.westofcannes.com. For information on how to sponsor the event email westofcannes@gmail.com.