As we start to return to in-person events, how will your film festival stand out? With so many films available to stream at home, it is harder than ever to draw attendees to live events. This list includes five off-beat ideas to spice up your film festival, screening, or event. By incorporating various forms of mixed media, performance, or community interaction, your film festival can transform from a bland screening to a memorable moment that brings people together.
Create a Spectacle with Live Performances
Incorporating live performances into a film screening is a creative way to make the events of a film come to life. Classic films like Fellini's La Strada can be enhanced by live circus performers, like clowns and strongmen. You can even coordinate a bicycle race while showing the Bicycle Thief.
The True/False Film Fest in Columbia has successfully woven live performances into their annual festival. The nonfiction festival brings the whole town together. Each year, the True/False Film Fest chooses a theme for their festival and plans activities throughout the event that tie into the theme. With filmmaker participation, attendees from all over the world make the festival an exciting experience.
Start planning your live performance by ordering this handheld wired microphone.
Invite Audience Participation and Interaction
Audience interaction is another way film festivals can expand into memorable events. Screening a well-known film would become an exciting, new experience. Fans could act out scenes from the film, like the shadow casts popular with screenings of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Interaction can range from audience members performing a musical number or designating stalls for actors to perform a scene.
Start a Buzz with a Filmmaking Competition
A "make your own short" contest can draw local filmmakers into many different kinds of film festivals. Filmmakers can submit their short films and entries can be screened preceding a feature presentation. Entries can adhere to a certain theme or style in accordance with the feature screening. A contest with audience voting would also bring in even more interaction to your festival.
Reimagine a Beloved Classic
It is also possible to include audience interaction with pre-recorded segments. Fans can re-imagine segments of a film and these recording can be incorporated into the film screening. This could introduce a range of new perspectives and challenge audience member's perceptions of a beloved classic. With pre-performance vetting and dedication, anything is possible.
Serve Specialty Food – More Than Just Popcorn
Serving food alongside a film screening is another creative way to spice up an event. Audience members crave food other than the the typical popcorn and soda. A spaghetti dinner served alongside a screening of The Apartment or selling slices of pie during Waitress are possible options. These are great ways to draw audiences in.
For some out-of-the-box ideas on what snacks to provide, order this cookbook Classic Snacks Made From Scratch.