I watched the independent film titled “Film Fest” on Amazon Prime. As an independent film maker myself, I found it to be enjoyable.

The director/ auteur plays a director/ auteur whose latest ouvre has been accepted into the competition at a little-known film festival. The questionable status of this festival becomes all too evident.

Mr. Director/Auteur’s cast and crew pack up their stuff and leave LaLa Land for the redneck northern part of the state. At the film festival, they encounter every cliché, every overworked situation and every idiot film critic/groupie common to the genre.

I was reminded of “The Big Picture” but any comparison would be giving “Film Fest” unwarranted kudos. The overriding term that comes to mind is “contrived”.

There is one sweet scene in which the producer of the fictional film breaks down and confesses she has maxed out her credit cards to finance the director’s dream piece.

If you are not in any way associated with the production of independent films, I doubt if you will get much from this material. If you are…

God bless you!

James M. Kemp

November 5, 2021