The Ninth Annual LA Femme Film Festival will be returning to Beverly Hills October 11-17, 2013 and is soliciting submissions. An internationally known celebration of female cinema, showcasing the works of female directors, producers, and writers, LA Femme screened 138 films in 2012 and is on track to surpass that for its 2013 event. LA Femme has become a destination event for promoting the accomplishments of woman creatives as well as a focal point in networking for women film makers.
“Because of the growing success and awareness of our film festival, we expect intense competition and the largest attendance ever,” said Leslie LaPage the founder of LA Femme. “We recommend that filmmakers submit early to ensure inclusion in LA Femme.” Early-bird submission has been introduced to encourage film makers to start the submission process and provides reduced cost for submission and ensures submission.
LA Femme was founded with the expressed purpose to empower women in film. A woman director won the Academy Award for best Director in 2009, but women directors, writers, and producers have been historically underpaid and overlooked. The LA Femme Film Festival raises awareness of the amazing creativity of female film makers by providing a forum to show their works and providing tools to empower them. A film at LA Femme does not have to be directed by a woman, but a requirement for submission is that the film involves a woman in the leadership role of the film’s writer, producer, or director.
LA Femme accepts and shows a diverse range of traditional film submissions including features, documentaries, mid-length, short films, screen plays and commercials. But, LA Femme is also aware that media is evolving. “People are surprised,” LaPage pointed out,” to find that we also accept submissions in other creative categories such as music videos, animation, games, webisodes, and even mobisodes. These categories become more popular each year.”
Each year LA Femme celebrates the accomplishments of women in film by presenting awards to significant writers, directors, and producers. Previous honorees have been, Patty Jenkins (Monster), Jennifer Yuh Nelson (Kung Fu Panda 2), Angela Bassett (Green Hornet), Virginia Madsen (Sideways), Diablo Cody (Juno), Vivica Fox (Kill Bill), Rosanna Arquette (After Hours), Lea Thompson (Caroline in the City), Katherine Fugate (Army Wives), and Wendi McLendon-Covey (Bridesmaids). The awards are presented annually at LA Femme Awards Ceremony honoring women with outstanding creative and professional entertainment careers.
In addition to presenting film and honoring those who have shown creativity and success in creating films, LA Femme presents a wide range of seminars and networking sessions. Last year’s seminar topics included finance and distribution, social media, animation, and pitching ideas. These seminars are presented by established industry veterans who share their experiences, successes, and lessons learned so that industry professionals can learn to better manage their own strategies.
“If you wish to submit a film, please go to www.LAFemme.org or www.withoutabox.com for more detailed information and requirements,” said LaPage. Regular Deadline-June 16, 2013, Late Deadline- July 16, 2013, Extended Deadline-August 16, 2013, I Forgot Deadline-August 23, 2013. http://www.LAFemme.org/submissions/. Festival is from October 17-20, 2013. So women of Atlanta and everywhere else equally as awesome 🙂 Get to filming!