Going to Visions Film Festival was an eye opening experience,
being surrounded by such a diversely talented group of people was inspiring.
Being exposed to such an eclectic group of filmmakers and scholars truly pushed
me to better myself in the craft I have chosen for my life. It is one of those
time when as a person I realized how much I had left to learn. There was a
great mix of excellent films and the conference blocks were incredibly
engaging. I really look forward to submitting my films to festivals (including
Visions) and getting the profound experience of highly intelligent filmmakers
and scholars reacting and commenting on my films. Filmmakers are by far the
harshest critics and to a real extent I feel truly good filmmaking is done FOR
filmmakers and not necessarily the general audience. Only a person with an
understanding of film craft and cinematic language can truly appreciate the nuances
involved with making a technical masterpiece and I think film festivals are an
excellent venue to sharpen and hone your skills based off of reactions, questions
and comments by film festival goers. I know I have a long way to go before I am
anywhere near that point but my experience at Visions has inspired me to set
the bar higher for myself, I now see a clear mission for my career and life; I
want to master the craft of filmmaking and create a masterpiece that will be
widely acclaimed and in turn inspire my peers to do the same. I think this is
an exciting time in filmmaking where the bar is constantly being raised and the
result of that could be some of the greatest cinema ever made. I know my
aspiration may just be a pie in the sky dream but setting a nearly unreachable
goal will always remind me that I need to work harder and learn more and maybe
just maybe I can get somewhere close to it before I die.
