Frightfest Awards

The place to discuss FrightFest 2018 - Dates this year are 23 - 27th August.
Post Reply
ArghZombies
Running Zombie
Running Zombie
Posts: 139
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2010 12:35 pm
Location: Southampton
Contact:

Frightfest Awards

Post by ArghZombies »

Many of the other film festivals have various awards, but other than the Genre Rising Star Award, Frightfest (to my knowledge) have never gone in for any of that. Is there a reason why? That'd bring the festival more publicity, not to mention giving the great films another boost.

I know TotalFilm do their own awards but I think some offical FrightFest ones would be a good addition to the festival. Other than the best film there were some great performances, scores / soundtracks, makeup effects etc that I think should get publicised outside of the general FrightFest community.
Twitter: @ArghZombies
DJBenz
-----
-----
Posts: 714
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2011 1:12 pm
Location: UK
Contact:

Re: Frightfest Awards

Post by DJBenz »

I've never understood the Total Film 'Awards' as they seem to be published almost as soon as the festival is over and there is no information on how the films are nominated and voted into their respective winning positions.

Difficult, I think, for FF to do their own awards as they'd have to appoint a different independent jury each year to avoid conflicts of interest and accusations of nepotism. Audience awards would be good though, perhaps if there were some way to create a voting system where you needed a weekend pass to cast a vote then the opinion of the part of the audience that saw the most films could be canvassed.
ArghZombies
Running Zombie
Running Zombie
Posts: 139
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2010 12:35 pm
Location: Southampton
Contact:

Re: Frightfest Awards

Post by ArghZombies »

The trouble with having audience voting is that the audience won't have seen every film, whereas people on the organising team have.

I wouldn't say they have to be independent either. All the main guys have their own favourites and reasons for bringing them to the festival, so I'm sure democratically they could agree on which one gets the gongs.
Twitter: @ArghZombies
ChrisReynolds
Undead Horde
Undead Horde
Posts: 281
Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 11:01 pm

Re: Frightfest Awards

Post by ChrisReynolds »

I've never liked how Total Film are able to imply that their awards are "official" in some way, especially when they never explain what how the awards were chosen: I assume it's just the opinion of the Total Film journalist who writes the article, although back when Total Film sponsored a film at Frightfest, they'd always give their Best Film award to the one they sponsored.

The downside of giving out awards is that it's going to take time and organisation, especially if they want to do it properly with a jury panel. There is now the Genre Rising Star Award that's given out annually on the last day, so that ceremony could be expanded to include other awards. Or just announce the awards after the festival.

In the end, it would be nice to have awards, but I can do without them if the organisers have more important things to worry about.
DJBenz
-----
-----
Posts: 714
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2011 1:12 pm
Location: UK
Contact:

Re: Frightfest Awards

Post by DJBenz »

ArghZombies wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 12:26 pm The trouble with having audience voting is that the audience won't have seen every film, whereas people on the organising team have.
I can't say for sure, but I would put money on not one of the organising team having seen every film.
ChrisReynolds
Undead Horde
Undead Horde
Posts: 281
Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 11:01 pm

Re: Frightfest Awards

Post by ChrisReynolds »

DJBenz wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 1:18 pm
ArghZombies wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 12:26 pm The trouble with having audience voting is that the audience won't have seen every film, whereas people on the organising team have.
I can't say for sure, but I would put money on not one of the organising team having seen every film.
Some films (e.g. this year's The Golem) are not even completed until just before the festival, so the selection decision will be based on rough cuts or incomplete footage. An awards judgment can't be made on that basis.

The way awards normally work at festivals is that a selected number of films are screened "in competition" and a jury will watch all of those and vote. This means that the last few films of the festival have to screen out of competition and be ineligible for the award unless you have the jury watch private screenings.
Post Reply