By Ann Marie Foley - 18 August, 2014
Feature films with a catholic perspective are being sought for a new competition which offers cash prizes and potential distribution deal to winners.
Films that are works of beauty; entertain and capture the audience’s imagination; and are infused with the presence of God and faith, (subtly, symbolically or deliberately) are all eligible for the Tuscany Prize for Film
The organisers have a proven track record having run The Tuscany Prize for Catholic Fiction for years.
“This is the very first competition of its kind for Catholic independent filmmakers. The world of independent film should not be excluded from story-telling that admires the grandeur of God,” Peter Mongeau, Publisher with Tuscany Press, told CatholicIreland.net.
Tuscany has had great success with the Tuscany Prize for Catholic Fiction and the number of submissions soared this year.
Organisers of the fiction prize felt that since story telling has expanded into cinema in a major way, a film prize would be a natural progression.
The Tuscany Prize for Film offers cash and a potential distribution deal which is always much sought after by filmmakers.
Tuscany Films which was founded in 2014, runs the completion but is also a distributor of American independent, foreign language, and documentary films.
The company produces and distribute films with a Catholic perspective in North American theatres, on DVD/Blu-ray and via Video-on-Demand.
Since the competition was launched there has been huge interest.
“We reached over a thousand likes on Facebook in our first week and have had a number of e-mails and inquiries about what kind of film we are looking for,” said Peter Mongeau. He expects as many film entries in this first year as entries for the literary prize.
The film completion deadline is 30 October 2014 so there is still time to enter.
Peter Mongeau explained that they are not looking for the ‘most catholic’ film, but the “best works that aspiring and accomplished catholic filmmakers” have to offer.
“We don’t shy away from the ugliness or reality of life, but embrace those who can tell a story and capture the audience’s imagination,” he said.
He gives some examples of independent films that have been able to “tell a story through a Catholic perspective”: Restless Heart, The Triumph, and Bella.
The latter is an excellent example of telling a story without becoming ‘preachy’ he said.
“If we are preaching to the audience, we will lose the very folks we are trying to reach. But if we entertain them, they will become our biggest ambassadors – that’s the power of a good story that is well told.”
Entries from Ireland are very welcome he told CatholicIreland.net.
Tuscany’s latest collection of short stories ‘What World Is This? And Other Stories’, contains a story from Irish woman Cynthia Millen, who won fourth place in the short story category.
“Ireland has brought the world a rich offering of story tellers throughout the years,” he said and added that their editor’s name is Joseph O’Brien, so anyone from Ireland will no doubt get a good hearing.
The competition has a Feature Film (English Language) category with prizes of $250 – $1,000. Likewise the Feature Film (Foreign Language) has the same prizes and must be sub-titled in English to be eligible.
For full details see: http://tuscanyfilms.com/tuscany-prize-for-film.php
