Festivals and laurels
The Cost of Living (2016)
So far, The Cost of Living has been recognized by ten film festivals, the West Virginia FILMmakers Festival, the Cornwall Film Festival, the Buffalo International Film Festival, the Short to the Point Film Festival, the Sioux Falls International Film Festival, the Jim Thorpe Independent Film Festival, the Small Axe Radical Short Film Awards Tolpuddle, the Queens World Film Festival, and the Denver Underground Film Festival. Cost was nominated for two awards (Special Achievement and Best Experimental Film) at the Jim Thorpe, and took the award for Best Experimental Film at the WV FILMmakers Festival. In 2019, Cost was nominated for Best Documentary Short and Best Documentary Short Cinematography at the prestigious Queen's World Film Festival.
The affordability of high quality HD video equipment has led to an explosion of submissions to film festivals, which means they accept a smaller percentage of films they receive every year. Outlier is happy about the democratization of access to filmmaking equipment, even though it makes competing for an audience an increasingly challenging task. This is especially true considering that festival audiences not only want to see new premieres, but are also curious about films that have screened elsewhere at major festivals, which are often re-programmed locally. So, while the number of festivals is growing every year, it's still a daunting task for independent filmmakers to find an audience for any given film.
Given the quirky nature of our first video for Outlier Moving Pictures, we are proud that Cost has found its niche at several adventurous festivals, and happy that it has proven to be a crowd pleaser. Our first film is our second most recognized.
Praise for The Cost of Living
"Innovative and unique approach ... the visuals were compelling." -- Tally Shorts Film Festival
"Extremely well done." -- Taos Shortz Film Festival
"Interesting ... personal, postmodern." -- Petaluma Film Fest
"An important film" -- Queens World Film Festival
The Eternal Footman (2016)
The Eternal Footman was first accepted by the 4th Ó Bhéal Poetry-Film Festival (2016), held under the aegis of the IndieCork Film Festival in Cork, Ireland. We are honored by this acceptance, as it not only recognizes Outlier's filmmaking abilities, but also Jack's talent as a poet, since he wrote the short poem on which the film is based.
Since then, Footman has been longlisted by the 2016 Rabbit Heart Poetry Film Festival (Worcester, MA), and accepted for screening at the 2017 Festival Silêncio (Lisbon, Portugal), the 2017 Juteback Poetry Film Festival (Ft. Collins, CO), the 2017 Filmpoem Festival (London, England), the 6th CYCLOP Poetry Film Festival (Kyiv, Ukraine 2017), and the 6th International Video Poetry Festival (Athens, Greece 2018) -- making this our third most recognized film! Recently, The Eternal Footman was published in the online literary magazine, Atticus Review, in the multimedia section edited by Matt Mullins, and an official selections of the January 2019 edition of the Independent Talents International Film Festival in Bloomington, IN. In May 2019, Footman will premiere in Serbia at the Mister Vorky 6th International One-Minute Film Festival.
The Bloom (2016)
The Bloom was also longlisted by the 2016 Rabbit Heart Poetry Film Festival and accepted by the 4th Ó Bhéal Poetry-Film Festival.
The Nat King Cole Post Office (2016)
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The Nat King Cole Post Office is the third short film accepted by the 4th Ó Bhéal Poetry-Film Festival. Outlier will always remember 2016 as the year that Ó Bhéal provided us with an embarrassment of riches -- three of our films accepted by this prestigious festival!
Teddy Roosevelt and Fracking (2017)
As a work in progress, Teddy Roosevelt and Fracking screened out-of-competition at the 2017 WV FILMmakers Festival, which gave us valuable audience feedback and helped us finalize the film.
Once completed, Teddy premiered at the 2018 Queens World International Film Festival, where it was nominated for three awards -- Best Cinematography, Documentary Short; Best Director, Documentary Short, and Best Documentary Short. At the closing ceremony, we were honored and delighted to learn that Teddy won the trophy for Best Documentary Short! Thanks to Don and Katha Cato for their adventurous and cutting edge programming!!
Since then, Teddy had its European premiere and first green film festival debut at the Ekofilm 2018 Festival in Nowogard, Poland. Next up was the Buffalo International Film Festival, where we were honored to have our work shown for a second time, with the added bonus that experimental film giant Michael Snow happened to be in the audience praised our film. Then hometown boy made good in his home town of Fremont, OH, when Teddy was screened three times at the American Presidents Film and Literary Festival at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museum, was nominated for both judges awards, and won the Audience Choice Award. Following that, Teddy showed at the Go West Film Festival in Greeley, CO, where it took the Audience Favorite award. In the spring of 2019, Teddy screened in the World Film Festival in Tartu, Estonia, at the Estonian National Museum (Baltic Premiere), and at the Front Range Film Festival in Longmont, CO. In May 2019, Teddy screened at the Ozark Foothills Film Festival, which has received funding from the NEA for 15 of its 18 years and and spotlights rural themes, where it won the award for Best Documentary Short.
We thank the many adventurous film programmers who have made Teddy our most recognized film and helped us reach an audience.
Most recently, our Teddy trailer was an official selection and nominated for best trailer at the Independent Talents International Film Festival in Bloomington, IN.
The Cost of Living Trailer (2016)
A preview should make you eager to see the film it's shilling for, and we think our splashy and humorous preview for The Cost of Living does just that. Film festivals agree -- The Cost of Living Trailer has been a semi-finalist at the 2017 Miami Epic Trailer Festival, a finalist at the 2018 Miami Epic Festival, and won the award for best trailer at the 2017 Avalonia Festival. See our trailer for yourself here.
LoveTenuousFugacious (2016)
LoveTenuousFugacious, one of our short Twitter film poems, screened at the 6th International Video Poetry Festival (Athens, Greece, 2018) and the 6th International Video Poetry Festival (Athens, Greece, 2018).
Indurate Heart (2017)
Indurate Heart, another of our short Twitter film poems, screened at the 6th CYCLOP Poetry Film Festival (Kyiv, Ukraine, 2017), and the 6th International Video Poetry Festival (Athens, Greece, 2018). And now, in 2020, it has also been accepted by III Muestra de Video Arte Faenza.
Missed Calls (2017)
Missed Calls, the first of our short films based on posts to Craigslist's Missed Connections online classifieds, won the award for Best Narrative Film Under One Minute at the 2018 Avalonia Film Festival. Then, in February 2019, Missed Calls was an official selection and finalist nominated for the Best Experimental Idea Film under 5 minutes at the Independent Talents International Film Festival in Bloomington, IN.
Photo Opportunities: Prada Marfa (2016)
Prada Marfa is the first film in our Photo Opportunities series of short doumentary essays about roadside attractions, land art, and travel photography in Texas. We thought we'd never get any of these in a festival -- then Texas Travel Magazine got together with the prestigious Thin Line Fest in 2018 to sponsor a "True Texas Travel" category, and our film was honored as one of the finalists! Finally some love from Jack's new home town!
Missed Connections Anthology: A Found Poetry Series (2018)
Our Missed Connections Anthology (which compiles several found poetry stories based on posts to this Craigslist category of online classifieds in Rockford, IL and Austin, TX) was selected for the April 2018 edition of the Austin Spotlight Film Festival, had its international premiere on a giant screen at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema -- Mueller. Then, in September 2018, Connections had its Midwest premiere at the KinoDrome Festival in Cleveland, OH, where it took the second place award in the Medium Shorts category. Then, in May 2019, Anthology was our second film to screen at the Jim Thorpe Film Festival in Pennsylvania.
Hastings, 2016
In December 2018, our short film, Hastings was accepted by the Avalonia III festival in West Kingston, RI, where it took the award for Best Thought Crime 180 film. Then, in 2020, Hastings was selected by the Frontpage program of VIdeo Art Miden.
The Shadow, 2018
Our short film with poet Lucy English made the Competition Shortlist and had its international premiere at the 2018 Ò Bhéal Poetry Film Festival in Cork, Ireland, followed by its European Premiere as an Official Selection at the Athens International Video Poetry Festival #6 in December 2018. Also in December 2018, The Shadow had its first American recognition at the Independent Talents International Film Festival in Bloomington, IN, as an Official Selection that was also nominated for Best Experimental Idea Film under 5 minutes. Then, in March 2019, The Shadow was an Official Selection and Finalist that screened at the Lisbon Film Rendezvous in Lisbon, Portugal. That same month, The Shadow was also an official selection in the inaugural REELpoetry Festival in Houston, TX. In May 2019, The Shadow screened at the DEA Film Festival in Tirana, Albania, and then at the Carmarthen Bay Film Festival in Wales, where it was named a finalist for the Best Poetic Film Award.
The Names of Trees (2018)
The Names of Trees had its International Premiere at the 2018 Juteback Poetry Film Festival in Ft. Collings, CO in October 2018, followed shortly by a European Premiere as an Official Selection and Finalist in the Riga Digital Forum in Lavia and an East Coast Premiere at the 5th Rabbit Heart Poetry Film Festival in Worcester, MA. Then, in the November 2018 Independent Talents International Film Festival in Bloomington, IN, Trees was an Official Selection and a Finalist Nominated for the Best Video Art Award. In March 2109, Trees was an Official Selection at the inaugural Benton Park Film Festival in St. Louis, MO and at the inaugural REELpoetry Festival in Houston, TX. Next, in April 2019, Trees was again an official selection at the All Together Now: A Celebration of Art, Film, and Music in Highland Park, MI (near Detroit). Most recently, in May 2019, Trees was long-listed for the Hombres Videopoetry Award, one of twenty selected from 1371 submissions. We were invited to make a film for Hombres discussing our work and how it relates to the festival themes, which they posted to their YouTube channel and Facebook page, and can be seen here. Looking forward, The Names of Trees is an official selection and finalist for the next Lisbon Film Rendezvous, which is tentatively scheduled for September 2019.
Teddy Roosevelt and Fracking Trailer (2017)
Our trailer for The Cost of Living has received several accolades. Now our Teddy Roosevelt and Fracking Trailer joins our Cost of Living Trailer as a festival success in its own right -- it's an Official Selection in the December 2018 edition of the Independent Talents International Film Festival in Bloomington, IN. View our trailer here.
In West Virginia, 2019
In West Virginia, our film from Dave Bonta's haibun poem, has been in nine festivals and counting, with more than 75% of acceptances coming from outside our home country. We're happy to be internationally renowned, most recently by the Vortex Festival of Experimental Film.
Flag Country, 2020
Flag Country, our second film from a haibun poem by Dave Bonta, also has eight laurels and counting. This film, which is even more apropos now than when we completed it, especially in the context of the 2020 elections, has struck a chord with US film festivals. Our film highlights the challenging distance between our American ideals of liberty and justice for all and our failure to actually achieve them. Great to have this message heard in the US, most recently by the prestigious Buffalo International Film Festival 2020, one of the earliest supporters of our work.
Bad Rhyme/Duel Lament, 2019
We should put this film out more, but it's so personal! The Lisbon Flim Rendezvous is a big fan of our work, and has accepted our film, where it will be a world premiere when it's safe to have live screenings again.
Air & Wood, 2019
Air & Wood, an experimental music video that uses a piece of new music to imagine a trip to the forest inspired by the book, "The Hidden Life of Trees, will have its world premiere in the 3rd edition of the KinoDrome Festival, going online this fall.
Shapes & Sizes, 2019
Shapes & Sizes, another experimental music video based on a piece of new music, was a semi-finalist at the June 2020 Near Nazareth Film Festival, and has already been accepted by four other festivals this year.
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, 2020
Our quirky film poem of Wallace Stevens' Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, while based on a poem now in the public domain by a dead white guy, is visually arresting and asks interesting questions about how to envision a poem. Thanks to the adventurous Lisbon Film Rendezvous, our film will have its world premiere in the autumn of 2020.
I Want to Breathe Sweet Air, 2020
Our new film about climate change, in collaboration with poet Lucy English, I Want to Breathe Sweet Air, has been accepted by its first film festival, the prestigious Wales International Film Festival.
Scary Places/Shapes & Sizes, 2020
We added Jack's erasure poem, Scary Places, to our experimental music video, Shapes & Sizes, creating an even more powerful amalgam, Scary Places/Shapes & Sizes. The world premiere was at the Strangelove Festival of Time Based Media (August-September, 2020), followed by an official selection at the 2020 Living Together Again - Venice Architecture Short Film Festival.
The Virus Cross Country: A Poetic Chronicle, 2020
We've just started to submit to festivals, so we don't know yet when and where our newest film will screen first.