Doko Film Fest extends deadline for high school filmmakers
Submission deadline: Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019
Doko Film Fest, a competitive showcase event featuring the work of student filmmakers ages 15 to 18, extended the deadline to submit entries for its inaugural event.
As we
mentioned in October, the festival gives high school aged filmmakers the opportunity to showcase their films to a live audience and have their work judged by industry professionals.
From their website:
The Doko Film Fest is about South Carolina high school age film makers stimulating and entertaining a live audience with their visual story telling art. It's a place where the film makers interact with the audience and other film makers to explain their film, and to receive reaction and comment on their work.
The filmmakers and others attending will be able to attend master classes led by professional filmmakers. Categories include: short story, documentary, music video, comedy, animation and pocket studio (made entirely on smart phone). Films should be between five and 10 minutes in length, except for animation which should be between one and three minutes in length and music video which should be no shorter than three minutes.
The deadline to submit entries is Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019.
The event
Doko Film Fest takes place April 26-28, 2019 in Blythewood. There will be an opening reception, film screenings, a concert, and a closing awards ceremony. Awards will be handed out in the following categories:
- Best Short Story
- Best Documentary
- Best Music Video
- Best Comedy
- Best Animation
- Best Pocket Studio Production
- Best Original Music
- Best Male Actor
- Best Female Actor
- Best Director
- Best Festival Film
Not bad, huh?
The Doko Film Fest was created by
Ray Smith in partnership with Bravo Blythewood, a non-profit dedicated to the promotion of arts in the area.
A leader in the academic world, Ray Smith began his career in the UK in the field of health care. He then moved onto Frankfurt, Germany, developing executive education programs for Deutsche Bank. His work brought him to the U.S., where he was associate dean for executive education at Duke University, a position he later held at the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina (USC). While at USC, he designed and developed the concept of the virtual global classroom, using technologies to bring learners and faculty together from anywhere in the world.
Today, Ray continues his work in business education at USC and learning strategies for business leaders through his company, Learning with Leaders, and is executive producer and co-owner of Modos Media, producing documentary films for television.
Read more here.
Screening partners serve as hosts on the tour, thoughtfully connecting touring filmmakers with their communities and providing local recommendations for travel, lodging, and dining. South Arts coordinates touring schedules, connects filmmakers with screening partners, and provides marketing materials for each film. Filmmakers receive honorarium with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts.
Screening partners must be nonprofit, educational, or governmental organizations residing in the South Arts region (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee). Southern Circuit Screening Partners have included schools, churches, arts centers, municipalities, and other organizations serving audiences of all ages.
“Whether you’re in Blythewood or Dhaka, Bangladesh, we’ll all be here together,” says festival creator Ray Smith.
That’s because in its third year the whole event will happen virtually, streaming live over two days: March 20 and 21.
There will be plenty to see and interact over. So far, submissions have been received from across the U.S., India, Canada, Oman, Iran, Poland and Mexico.
The film competition for students aged 14 to 18 gives young filmmakers the chance to show their films to a live audience, attend master classes led by award-winning professional filmmakers, and have their work judged by industry professionals. It’s been held for the last two years in Blythewood, a small town north of Columbia.
At the third festival, attendees will be able to view the selected films, attend virtual master classes and listen to a live panel of professional filmmakers providing feedback on each day’s films. All will all take place from 1-4:30 p.m. on March 20 and 21.
New in 2021: It will all be free to attend. Tickets are available here: 
