3rd Annual Red Rock Film Festival Opens
Over 50 Features and Shorts to Screen at Utah Fest
Nov 10, 2009
Location, location, location. It is a well-worn phrase but one that can be applied with some justification to Red Rock Film Festival, opening November 12. Over the course of four days, more than 50 international features and shorts will be screened in Springdale, Utah, against the spectacular backdrop of the Zion National Park.
Only in its third year, in its current incarnation, Red Rock Film Festival has grown quickly. Location has been an important selling point, but the biggest draw is the independent, and increasingly international, programming.
The festival features fiction and documentary features, shorts and ‘featurettes’, a new category created for films between 30 and 59 minutes long. The festival will get off to a light-hearted start on November 12 with the Irish comedy Speed Dating (Tony Herbert, 2007), and close on November 15 with an awards breakfast. Detailed descriptions of all movies in the official selection and competition are available online.
Red Rock Film Festival ‘Worth the Fee’
A growing number of filmmakers are also finding their way to Red Rock. Each year, industry rag MovieMaker publishes its rundown of 25 Festivals Worth the Entry Fee. Smaller and lower profile than, say, Sundance or Toronto International Film Festival, these are nonetheless the 25 American and Canadian festivals the magazine believes offer filmmakers the best return on their investment. This return could be anything from a cash prize for movies in competition, the chance to meet top industry execs or networking opportunities for future projects.
Red Rock Film Festival made the cut in 2009 for its filmmaker-friendly policies, perks and incentives that include:
- a judging panel of industry professionals,
- over $10,000 worth of prizes,
- and, usefully, feedback for filmmakers whose films were not selected.
From Student Fest to International Fest
The roots of Red Rock Film Festival go back nearly two decades. Originally established in 1991 as a competition for college shorts, the event graduated to became Zion Flix, a small ‘test fest’ put on to see who would make the trip to Springdale. Sold out opening and closing nights in 2004 proved independent movie fans would make the trip and convinced organizers that there was enough interest to proceed.
Since 2007, Red Rock has encompassed eight regional film festivals and film events - Zion Flix, HorrorFest, Zion Independent Film Festival & Movie Camp (Young Filmmakers,) Dive-In Movie, Z-Arts, Butch Cassidy Film Run and Zion Film Festival - to present a diverse program across all genres.
Red Rock’s website could benefit from some modernization and it wouldn’t hurt organizers to run a grammar and spell-check on the film blurbs, but hopefully these are issues that will be addressed as the event matures. In the meantime, independent movie fans can enjoy the festival’s youthful enthusiasm and, of course, the stunning location.
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