| I guess my observations hit a nerve.
To say that ff is a problem, and then blame for artists not doing enough to build alternatives feels a lot like victim blaming; next will be saying our work is bad?
This is not an issue of compromises or anything else. It's a structural choice being made that has specific effects and impacts. To simply say (in not so many words) "tough, that's how it is" misses the point if the critique, while revealing the privilege that accompanies being in a position of power over the artists. To challenge the critique by calling the ones identifying the problem "privileged" is doublethink, and I refuse to be silenced by that response.
Plus nobody said anything about "bans" or even proposed one. Why are you?
Also, I am curious how an open access email listserve is worse than film freeway?
Michael Hi Albert and Michael,
This is a well-worn grievance at this point, and has probably become another way that FilmFreeway and its ilk have found to waste our time. The solutions are clear - organize your own screenings, build your own communities, and stop worrying about whether or not this kind of art practice can sustain a career without making significant compromises. The likelihood is that it cannot. If you want or need the prestige of screening at film festivals, there will always be a price to pay. If you do not, then you're one of the lucky ones and your privilege would be better deployed in building ways for people like me to get what they need.
Platforms like FilmFreeway are nightmarish functions of a control society that tears us apart into an atomized cloud of data points, each of which allow power and authority to manipulate the way our bodies are able to move and work. Of all the platforms who engage in these abuses of our autonomy, FilmFreeway is pretty low down the list for me. The platform all three of us are using to communicate is much worse.
That's not to say it isn't bad. It is. If Frameworks wants to ban calls that use FilmFreeway to manage submissions, that'd be fine with me. We would quickly find ourselves playing whack-a-mole with the ban-hammer, though. In the meantime, there are folks out there doing what they can to help each other in their own compromised careers, to share work in an engaged community, to try to have less conversations that waste time, and to attempt to have conversations that help us survive.
We can yell at the cloud all we want - and it deserves it - but at Mimesis we are choosing to put that energy into affirmative care for each other and the work we make, so that we might actually get to have more of the cinematic and community experiences we crave. There is, of course, still a cost, both in terms of money and labor.
FYI, at Mimesis nobody is getting priority in any review cue, regardless of "gold" status. This is a false allegation and should be immediately withdrawn. Also, as I said, we do not use screeners. All work is reviewed directly by the programming team, and only the most junior member of that team receives any compensation for their work (through a university partnership).
I don't really care what other festivals are doing, because you're in my thread :)
In solidarity, -Eric
I am very much of the opinion Film Freeway is both a waste of time and money. Since covid I've been tracking the ratio of submissions to shows between Film Freeway festivaks versus non-ff fests. The rejection rate on ff is about 90%, often with zero actual completions of the submitted link on vimeo. If the ff screeners watch more than 20 seconds it is a surprise, even when the movie is only 2 minutes long. In contrast, the non-ff screeners are usually watched 85-90% (nobody watches end titles) and the acceptance rate for the same movie is closer to 75% . It's hard not to say that ff is not only harmful, but that it is designed to collect fees with minimal return to experimental work.
While ff does resukt in greater access and allows more works to arrive as submissions, they also have a program called "gold" where sumbmitters are given priority in the review cue, creating what is fundamentally a pay-for-access ecosystem on top of what is already biased towards wealth. Add to that the lack of actual screening of submissions, an issue that Dominic Angerame has talked about before, and we as a community have a serious problem that ff is only making worse. One day there should be a debate within Frameworks about the existence of FilmFreeway. About whether it benefits or harms filmmakers, and whether it is beneficial or a waste of time in relation to experimental cinema.
Hi Eric,
No worries, thanks for the links!
Best, Luke
Hi Luke,
Yes, sorry that was omitted from my original post!
Very best,
Hi Eric,
Do you have a submission link for people submitting for the first time?
Best, Luke
Dear Frameworks, The
Early Deadline for submitting your projects to the 2026 Mimesis
Documentary Festival is now open. Scheduled for August 11-16 in Boulder,
Colorado, Mimesis is an artist-focused, community oriented celebration
of documentary media. At least 80% of Mimesis is programmed from the open submission process, and all submissions are reviewed by our programming team. All submitting artists are eligible for a complimentary virtual festival pass regardless of selection status. 50%
discounts on submission fees will be provided to previously selected
Mimesis Artists upon request. To do so, please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/ZgzK5FNeJ93UNdfG7 Full
submission fee waivers will be granted to all current students upon
request. Student codes can only be used for the Student/Emerging
submission category and if selected, the projects are only eligible for
the Best Emerging Artist award. To request a code, please fill out this
form: https://forms.gle/hRqLubENdfJH6oCz7
Mimesis is made possible by support from the
submitting artist community. We also understand that artists around the
world are struggling with political or financial difficulties, and that
these challenges may be a barrier for submitting important work. If you
are facing such challenges, please get in touch with festival organizers
at [email protected]. In solidarity,
Eric Coombs Esmail
Mimesis Organizer Center for Documentary Media
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