New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
The Buzzards Bay Coalition will present the first Buzzards Bay Film Festival (BBFF) on Sunday, November 11, 2012, at the Zeiterion Theater in New Bedford.
The BBFF will consider entries from all film makers, from first-timers, professionals, students and hobbyists. All film types are eligible, including features, shorts, dramas, documentaries, animation, and smartphone videos, as long as some portion of them were shot on the Bay or in its watershed, have the Bay as their subject, or promote the Bay’s preservation and restoration.
The Festival will feature a crowd-sourced film, “The People’s History of Buzzards Bay,” assembled from the public’s contributions of pictures, slides, and videos that depict important historic or personal places and events in the Bay’s history. Video submissions must be between thirty seconds and three minutes long. Festival editors will assemble the entries into a film that will premier at the Festival.
“The Festival is part of our year-long celebration of the Coalition’s 25th anniversary, and ‘The People’s History’ will ensure this will be a festival about Buzzards Bay, by the people of Buzzards Bay,” said Festival Director Tom Gidwitz. “Entries can be serious or funny, and the potential subjects are virtually limitless. For example, a film maker could describe the disappearance of the glaciers, the arrival of Bartholomew Gosnold or places and events in their own families’ lives.”
Festival judges will award a cash prize for Best Film of the Festival and for the best films by college, high school and middle school students.
The BBFF is also holding a cash prize contest for the best 30-second Public Service Announcement about nitrogen pollution. “Nitrogen pollution is an insidious threat to our bays and coves, but people’s eyes often glaze over when they hear about it. We’re looking for new, inventive ways to get the message out,” Gidwitz said.
Festival sponsors include New Bedford’s Jay Lanagan’s restaurants, mediumstudio, and First Priority Media of Cranston, Rhode Island.
Submissions to “The People’s History of Buzzards Bay” are free, but for all other films submitted there is a $10 entry fee. All entrants will receive a membership in the Buzzards Bay Coalition and a link on the film festival’s website to their own website or Facebook page.
Deadline for entry is October 10, 2012.
For more information, see the festival’s website at www.buzzardsbayfilmfestival.org.
