After one year of preparations, the 4th edition of THIS Buddhist Film Festival was finally over!
Over the course of a year, some of us sourced for many films, some of us helped to review them and gave our thoughts about their suitability, some put in their greatest efforts to canvass for sponsorships and some kept our presence on the social media platforms alive. We met a few times to know about every sub-team’s progress and worked towards putting it all together.
We launched ticket sales sometime in July, and also simultaneously carried out road shows at a number of Buddhist Centres. 17 Buddhist films were squeezed into the tightly-scheduled 8 days of Festival. It was fun watching how some screenings were moving faster than others in terms of ticket sales, and in my opinion, I can tell that the audiences are a very smart lot of people – they really know what to choose.
By the time we kick started the opening screening on 17th September, we had successfully sold out 12 screenings! It had already surpassed each of the 3 previous editions of THISBFF, and it was a great boost of encouragement.
During the planning phase, I was part of the film selection committee, and I managed to watch and review on about 11 films that were eventually on the official selection list. Hence I was pretty looking forward to knowing how each of these were selling, and also what the audiences’ responses were inside the theatre. Hearing audiences chuckle during the Thai Comedy Namo Ok, or when they exclaimed in admiration of the determination of the team in Journey from Zanskar, or hearing that they gave two rounds of applause after the documentary Human, I was especially glad – that I was able to be indirectly a part of the team that organized this biennial event.
Just like 2 years ago, during the festival week, I was part of the Merchandise team, which was involved in selling the limited edition Film Festival merchandise items to the audience. On top of the T-shirts and blankets, we also had other items this year, like the Tote Bag and Felt Pouch. The audience continued to give their support by purchasing these items, and they must be glad to also note that all proceeds from the sale of these items will go into funding the next edition of THISBFF in 2018. Organizing a Film Festival involves very high costs, especially when the films are only beamed to only one screening session. So, these merchandise items are really an avenue to defray part of the high costs.
The merchandise team was probably one of the busier teams during the festival week. I would relish the nightly counting of stocks and cash, as well as the fetching of items and recording of sales. By the 3rd night, I was honestly exhausted, but I was still pretty excited the next day. As what someone in the committee also said, it would be a very tiring week, but it would be another 2 years before the next edition is back. We are all volunteers, but we do give in our 200% worth of energy.
Day by day, the festival passed. One sold-out screening after another, we also received very encouraging feedback and suggestions. We were glad that the special guests (directors / film representatives / film protagonists) were given their desired limelight and audience recognition. We also saw many returning faces from previous years, including a lady who flew specially from Austria! But as the days passed, we were also starting to feel a little sad that it was ending, even though we were also tired. Just like the meaning behind the film Samsara, nothing is permanent and unchanging – the festival would also end.
It was a great success. We hit new records in tickets sold (more than 6,500) and had 12 sold-out screenings. The committee dynamics remained exuberant. We got to know each other a little better each time, and we also made some friends with the volunteers who signed up to help out. I’m suspecting that most of us are already looking forward to the next one in 2 years’ time. But we’ll take a short break for now, before we’ll congregate in a year’s time, for yet another year-long preparation.
Thank you for your support, film-makers / distributors / sponsors / audience / volunteers. It is precisely because of the strong support that we continue to have the meaning and motivation to carry on with this work. We’ll see you in September 2018.
人生是黑白的.
12:19 AM <3
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