The longest-running film festival in North America began accepting submissions for its 58th outing last month, offering local and international filmmakers a chance to showcase their talent.
Held annually in Columbus since 1952, the Columbus International Film+Video Festival takes place in November, promising to show work that can’t be seen anywhere else locally, the festival’s organizers said.
“We do bring work that would normally not be accessible or seen by the public,” said Susan Halpern, a local filmmaker and executive director of the Film Council of Greater Columbus. “Filmmakers do come from around the world, and the public has access to talk with them about their work.”
The CIF+VF originated in 1950, when Dr. Edgar Dale, a professor of educational media at Ohio State, collaborated with other industry professionals to establish the Film Council of Greater Columbus.
The culmination of their efforts resulted in the Columbus Film Festival in 1952.
Since its inception as the first film festival in North America, the event has run continuously, adapting with the change of technology that has advanced the medium.
The festival opened its doors to international participants in 1972, added video submissions in the late 1980s, CD-ROM format in 1997 and DVDs in 2004.
“The evolution of the CIF+VF really demonstrates how far filmmaking has come as an art form,” said Laura Smith, a film studies and history major at Ohio State. “Attending film festivals like the CIF+VF is a great way to find true cinematic gems.”
The festival has honored the works of thousands of filmmakers through the years, both at commercial and independent levels, but only the show’s premier submissions are awarded the Chris Award.
The Chris Award, in honor of Christopher Columbus, is presented to the show’s top film or video productions in their respective division. The productions are competitively evaluated by a jury review panel on a seven-point rating scale, with a superior rating of seven required to win the award.
Winning the Chris Award has opened doors for talented filmmakers, including exposure to potential film buyers, producers and other industry professionals who attend film festivals.
Philip Garrett, a theatre lecturer at OSU, won the Chris Award along with his production partners in 2006.
“It is a humbling experience when your work is on the same stage with some of the profound pieces that screen at the CIF+VF,” Garrett said. “One advantage of being part of a major film festival is a certain level of publicity, or at least the potential of publicity for their (filmmakers) film and their work.”
To ensure this opportunity is widespread, the festival has lowered its submission prices and increased its number of competitive divisions to 14 for this year’s program. Categories range from experimental short films to more traditional narrative features.
Filmmakers interested in submitting their work can visit chrisawards.org.
The CIF+VF will run from Nov. 17-21. Tickets will go on sale for the public later this fall.
