Local film makers have been getting numerous opportunities to show off their work, thanks to various film festivals and contests. Many have rather strict admission processes or follow a theme the filmmakers must stick to.
An upcoming festival in Michigan at the Tecumseh Center for the Arts wants to create a more freeing and intimate environment for anyone interested in movies. Whether you create films yourself or want to get to know people who do, the annual Cabin Fever Film Fest in Tecumseh, MI is a can’t-miss event.
Big Screens, Small Settings
In its fourth year, the Cabin Fever Film Fest is a community-driven festival that prides itself on showing a diverse array of films. Joanna Gall, the TCA box office manager and Cabin Fever festival organizer, explained the openness of the festival: “There is no theme for this festival,” she said. “The subject matter, genre, and themes are open to the discretion and direction of the filmmakers. The goal of this festival is to foster creativity, allowing a space for expression.”
The only real theme of the festival is present in its name, Cabin Fever. The festival strives to have a closer, “more intimate setting, akin to a jazz club, slam poetry reading or underground art show,” according to Gall. “Patrons even get to interact with the filmmakers, asking questions and getting a glimpse of the artist’s’ creative processes.”
This all helps to foster an environment where people who wouldn’t normally see these films, or make them themselves, can get bit by the filmmaking bug.
Free To Be Films
Though entries are of the ‘anything goes’ variety, “TCA reserves the right to exclude submissions that have inappropriate content” said Gall, “though that has never been an issue.” By accepting entries this way, the festival hopes to foster new film ideas and creators.
“We want to provide a canvas for individuals to be involved in the arts in a new way,” Gall explained, “allowing them to experiment with something they’ve never done before, to have fun, and potentially develop a passion for this medium.”
Films entered into the festival are up for awards from judges at the event. Gall explained that there’s a “The Cabin Fever Film Fest Selection Committee,” which is “comprised of people who share a love of film. In judging films, the committee looks for creativity, plot, balance of dialogue/music and visual stimulation, good judgment in editing.”
Since this festival aims to share the experience with everyone involved, there’s also a “People’s Choice” award, that the audience votes on.
Community is a big part of Cabin Fever, which is why the fest is a part of the Michigan Home Grown Project. Throughout the year, the Tecumseh Center for the Arts puts on events, like Cabin Fever, as a part of the Home Grown Project to “emphasize the importance of sharing the theater stage with local artistic groups while building lasting relationships between art organizations and the theater for many years to come,” according to the TCA’s Home Grown Project website.
If you’d like to become a part of this community, get your tickets today, and see what local filmmakers have made. Just maybe you’ll get inspired and enter a film into next year’s festival yourself.
The Cabin Fever Film Festival
7pm. Saturday, February 4. $10
400 N. Maumee St., Tecumseh, MI
Tickets are available at www.TheTCA.org
