Encounters: My Overall Journey

With Encounters ending, I feel like I've immersed myself in the festival enough to understand what it's all about.

While I did join the festival late and only had two weeks to watch as much as I could, I felt like I didn't miss out on anything. With all the Q&As and extra videos being pre-recorded, it gave me a chance to watch what I would have otherwise missed. The set up of these extra content was inclusive to everyone's timeline and schedule and I never felt rushed to watch everything. The Q&As also gave an interesting look into the filming process for everyone and their journey creating their film. It was amazing to know that possible investors and producers would be watching and that Encounters Film Festival offers these new and fresh creators a step into the door. I wish I could know what happens to these filmmakers and what opportunities they are given, but we did get to hear what people's next projects are and they all sounded promising and interesting. There were also chances to go online and network with other filmmakers and I appreciate Encounters effort to still have that important aspect of a regular film festival. The filmmakers weren't at a disadvantage this year, even though things were very different.

As for the user face itself, while there were some aspects that I think could be approved upon, the general set up was easy to navigate and use. By making it similar to normal streaming services, I didn't feel lost in the hundreds of films they had on offer. It was interesting to hear from Rich Warren, the CEO, how they organise everything, including the selection process, and while I don't fully agree with their playlist process, it was refreshing to hear the behind the scene stories that you normally wouldn't get.

Another aspect that I'm really grateful they included was each filmmakers contact details. If there was any filmmaker I wanted to reach out to, their email was within my reach. And I did. I had emailed the filmmaker of my favourite film from the festival. I got a back and forth with her and discussed advice for my own projects. This wouldn't have been possible any other way, if not for Encounters. The experience was a strange one, but I am so grateful that Christine, the director, responded to me and we could have a rapport back and forth. I will now be more confident in the future to reach out to people, because it's also a nice experience for the filmmaker to hear from someone who loved their work.

As for the films themselves, I had a mixture of viewing experiences. The playlist only watching was interesting and I understand why Encounters has set up the playlists like they have. I watched films that I necessarily wouldn't have watched, and some of them I heavily enjoyed. It meant I got to see some pieces that I really enjoyed that I might have missed out on otherwise. As for the films that I didn't like as much, it still left me thinking about the film and the filmmakers goals were achieved with getting their message across to an audience. My other experience was watching individual films that I chose from instead of curated playlists from Encounters themselves. I definitely enjoyed this experience a lot more and it was rare that I watched a film that I didn't like. I also found myself watching more this way as with each good experience, the more I wanted to watch another. While I did prefer my choice of films over the playlist experience, I would still suggest the playlist method. It brought a more authentic feels to an online festival. It was as close to the real thing as we could get, and the process of it all was carefully picked and well organised. You would definitely be missing out on the main aspect of the festival if you didn't view the playlists curated.

My overall experience with Encounters Film Festival 2021 was one that I will remember. I liked how relaxed I could make the experience, making it very different from your regular in person film festival. The festival tried their best to accommodate for us and gave us extra content that helped make the festival feel like a live held event. I would definitely like to attend Encounters again, and in person, to see and feel the full experience and I would recommend it to any other film festival attendees.