WHAT is The Daddying Film Festival & Forum (D3F)?
The Daddying Film Festival & Forum (D3F) is not your ordinary film festival. D3F was created in 2022 by the DADvocacy Consulting Group’s Daddy Appleseed Fund (DAF), as a virtual festival (due to COVID restrictions) to offer children and youth a stage to express through film/video how they feel about the relationship they have or wish they had with their dads. The 2023 Daddying Film Festival expanded to provide a worldwide stage to dads/father figures as well as students and non-student indie filmmakers to convey the importance of fathers in their lives. D3F succeeded in attracting submissions from 21 countries in 2023.
Based on our virtual festival experience, and to more directly improve the daddying experience for children and dads alike, the D3F further expanded in 2023 to include a stand-alone, “live” Daddying Film Forum that brought children/youth together with their dads to examine thoughts, feelings, and insights in response to live screenings of particular D3F films and to express them through discussion and other creative means. This year's live Forum will take place at the Parkway Central Library - Free Library of Philadelphia in Philadelphia, PA, Friday, May 17, 2024. The virtual film festival will run online from May 2-9, 2024. More details TBA.
[Notes: 1) “Daddying” is what occurs when fatherhood and nurturing converge in service to a child. 2) When we use the word father or dad, we refer to all those who play a fatherly role.]
WHY does the D3F exist?
Our relationship with our father – in its presence or its absence – is one of the most important relationships in our lives. Because kids are most directly impacted by a dad’s involvement or his absence, we offer them a creative outlet to freely express their feelings about their relationships with their dads, and likewise, we provide a complementary opportunity for dads. D3F’s mission is to:
• Shine a spotlight on the importance of dads in their presence and in their absence.
• Provide opportunities for kids and fathers alike to reflect upon and express feelings about what daddying qualities are most important to them; what kind of dad a father wants to be, and what kind of dad a kid wants and needs.
• Provide opportunities for emotional authenticity, creativity, and originality.
• Portray a variety of family dynamics in order to explore and encourage constructive relationships.
• Demonstrate film- and/or video-making skills and production values.
Our D3F 2023 program broadened the spotlight to include dads in its call-for-entries as more men are recognizing the critical role they can play in their kids’ lives and are embracing the opportunity to do so as they move from an understudy to a co-starring parenting role. After all, when men are positively involved, all measures of social well-being improve for kids, fathers, families, and communities. And even though the benefits to kids and youth of positive dad involvement are increasingly known and supported by research, including dads in the program will help demonstrate some of the lesser-recognized benefits dads get from being involved in their children’s lives.
All student FINALISTS earn a $250 award for use toward an activity or project to enjoy with their dad. All D3F WINNERS, including dads and non-student indie filmmakers, earn an “Atticus,” a statuette symbolizing Atticus Finch from the film based on Harper Lee’s book To Kill a Mockingbird. Finch, an iconic single dad, represents several ideal daddying qualities. Student Atticus winners also earn an additional scholarship to advance their studies or create a project encouraging positive dad involvement. The D3F Neuberger Prize for Best Film submitted by a Dad and the D3F Men's Caring Award (new in 2024) for best film submitted by a Dad-figure both carry a $500 cash award. Winners will be selected by public online vote during the virtual portion of the Festival, which runs May 2-9, 2024.
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Babak Parham
September 2023 -
July 2023
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June 2023
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Víctor Augusto Mendívil
June 2023
