Most little festivals are trying to go after the next big thing. And what's hot in the art film. And what was hot at Sundance or what was the big hit at Berlin or whatever. So they're all kind of playing off of each other, and this is really supporting the grass roots of the young filmmaker. It's also unique in that the community of filmmakers really supports it.
Many festivals are either all amateurs or it's simply the local stars.
Here they're all together, so you have the student who's never thought about being a filmmaker along side someone who's been doing it for 20 or 30 years. Amateurs have direct contact with people who have been doing it for a long time. More than half of the award winners are films by women, which I think is great. I mean we didn't plan to do that. It was really a nice surprise, that it worked out that way.