While an astonishing number of American independent features and documentaries are receiving at least a token theatrical distribution in US theaters, there are many deserving films that are falling through the cracks. These films may have won a slew of awards at prestigious festivals, been invited all over the world to screen outside their home country, and even secured enthusiastic reviews in the trade press, but in the end, they go undistributed.A group of six of these “Festival orphans” a...

"Why Even Bother with a Film Festival?"First of all, a warning: most of the 300-plus "film festivals" in NorthAmerica are not really film festivals. They are screening events. Theyshow a few films and tapes in a less-than-excellent venue andgenerally do very little for your film. A lot of scams are out there too...One in NYC (we won't mention names here, but they are easy to checkon) attempts to charge the filmmaker anywhere between $300 and$3000 to "participate" in their so-called Independent F...