ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

12 years, 11 months ago - Jordie Montevecchi

Hey everyone,
I would be grateful if someone could give me some advice here.
My latest documentary (www.sandgrains.org) was intended to be 75 minutes in length and I planned to then make another cut for broadcast distribution of 52 min.
Now that we are editing it I realized it might be a better film if I go strait away for the 52 min version (more compact, to the point).
My question is: I always wanted to send the film also to festivals. Will I now find problems because the edit is too short? how do festivals classify feature length for documentaries? I know each festival might deal with it differently and I would need to check them out one by one, but does anyone have an idea if there is a general approach?
At the end the TV cut-down is always the one that can bring money in, and the longer version works better at festivals. but is it worth doing 2 cuts when you are on a tight budget and schedule? Would it not be best to go for the more 'commercial' format and use the same for festivals and public screenings? Would this be acceptable for documentary festivals?
Any thoughts?
Thanks a lot in advance for any suggestion you can send my way
Jordie