Moviemakers Can Swede for the Holidays and Enter Fan-Made Films
in ‘The Sweded Film Festival for Creative Re-Creations’ Through December 31
Get ready to spend the holiday season remaking Casablanca in the kitchen, Fargo in the family room or Backdraft in the basement. (Well, maybe that last one not so much.)
Owing to weeks filled with elections, tweetstorms, COVID and endless distractions, the organizers of The Sweded Festival for Creative Re-Creations are extending the deadline for movie lovers to remake their favorite films.
With the support of independent cinemas around the country including Oxford’s own OxFilm On Demand run through the Oxford Film Festival, Pittsburgh-based Row House Cinema Online will accept submissions through December 31, giving film fans more time to end 2020 on a note of cinematic fun and frivolity. The best entries will be compiled into the feature-length Sweded Festival for Creative Re-Creations, which will be presented both as a virtual cinema offering by independent cinemas and, where possible, in select big-screen locations in late January.
“We’ve already received entries from all over the country, but we also know how distracted everyone has been by current events and an unrelenting news cycle,” said Brian Mendelssohn, owner of Pittsburgh’s Row House Cinema, where The Sweded Film Festival for Creative Re-Creations got its start four years ago as a local event at Row House Cinema; this is the first year it has gone national. “We hope this extra time will spur film fans to pick up their phones and remake their favorite movies—fast, cheap, and out of control!”
“Sweded” films take their name from Michel Gondry’s 2008 film Be Kind, Rewind, in which video store employees make hilarious, bizarre short remakes of actual films.
The Sweded Film Festival for Creative Re-Creations is accepting entries through Thursday, December 31. An entry form (which requires a $10 fee) and full details on how to make and upload a Sweded film, which must be no longer than five minutes, can be found at http://rowhouse.online. The entry fee also includes a free virtual-cinema viewing of The Sweded Festival for Creative Re-Creations.
All submissions will be reviewed by a panel of judges, who will select entrants to be part of the feature-length Sweded Film Festival for Creative Re-Creations, which will debut in January. In addition, judges will award cash prizes for the best “Sweded” films in multiple categories.
A select number of independent cinemas have already booked The Sweded Festival for Creative Re-Creations to play in movie theaters (opening dates will depend on local regulations and conditions). In addition, it will be presented as a virtual cinema offering, with about half the revenue of each ticket sold going directly to participating theaters, which are continuing to struggle with lost revenue due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and related closures.
A full list of participating locations presenting The Sweded Film Festival for Creative Re-creations either virtually or in-cinema will be available in January at http://rowhouse.online.
