***** RE: COVID-19 *****
** In-Person or On-Line? **

We were able to transition last year's festival online with the help of our fellow Michiganders at Festivee, and it was wonderfully successful. Obviously, while we loved seeing folks from far away virtually, we missed seeing our neighbors here in the theatre.

Our current planning is towards a hybrid festival incorporating both safe in-person screenings locally and virtual screenings through our Festivee site. Live screenings will be dependent on health regulations in effect as we approach the festival dates, and no films will screen online without filmmaker permission.

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What’s your Genre?

The Threadbare Mitten Film Festival is an eclectic and eccentric celebration of genre cinema, here in the tell-tale heart of Michigan.

We won't push you into a box:

Horror, Sci-Fi, Absurdist Comedy, Exploitation and Grindhouse, Documentary and Mockumentary, Experimental and Non-Narrative, Neo-Noir, Fantasy, Splatterpunk, Magical Realism, Creature Feature, Contemporary Western, Psychological Thriller, Modern Samurai, ZomRomCom, Road Trip, Animation, Underground... whatever weird quirks spark your camera rolling, genre or inter-genre, we want to give you an exhibition home to exorcise them with an appreciative audience.

(...and if being pushed into a box is your thing, well ok, show us that!)

As the Michigan Film and Digital Media Office said:

"Think of the Threadbare Mitten Film Festival as the anti-genre, but all-genre film festival, if that makes any sense. Truly a grassroots festival if ever there was one."

- June Newsletter 6/12/18

We categorically reject festivals that require filmmakers to sort their submissions by genre (or pay multiple submission fees). It’s our job to categorize films, not yours! Submit your work according to duration and we’ll take it from there. We take great pride in our thematic programming, each film block sequenced like the songs on an album. Every year’s festival is guaranteed to be different than what came before, based upon the characteristics of the films received. Our Festival Director leads the Judging Team, and personally watches every submission.

YEAR FIVE: IT'S ALIVE!!! We've survived the death plague, and been inspired by our shared soft apocalypse. In addition to our usual inter-genre, experimental, documentary, and genre fare, show us your films on resurrection & rebirth, reanimation & corpses, the living dead & other monstrosities -- maybe we can 'put together' something special out of all this exuberant lifeforce! [films inspired by Lifeforce encouraged]

Our beloved REO Town is alive, and will continue to host our two-night-and-all-of-a-day festival, with an extra lazy day online. We’re keeping our traditions alive in this fifth year, including Filmmaker Q&As, free Community Screenings, and hand-crafted Jury and Audience Award trophies for the year that will be revealed at the Festival.

More details to come as we talk with venues and partners for this year's festivities!

See our Wall of Fame for past years' Award Winning films: www.threadbarefilmfest.com/awards

ABOUT US: We are passionate filmmakers, dedicated to growing our film community and providing a viewing experience worth the time and effort of everyone involved from ourselves to the filmmakers and the ticket buyer. We respect the film and the filmmaker, the cast and the crew, as does our audience. We support local film, student film, international film, diverse voices, and quality craft regardless of budget or questionable content. We take an expansive view of what a genre festival can be, pushing the boundaries of expectations to include some of the most gripping documentaries we've seen (about the only thing we DON'T want are straight-up 'indie' dramas and serialized content that does not provide its own complete narrative). This is neither a vanity exercise nor a party for ourselves, and we do not screen our own films or just shower our friends with prizes. We strive for quality of image and sound regardless of venue.

OUR HOME: Located just off of Lansing's downtown core, REO Town represents the heart of creative revitalization and the artistic community. Saddleback BBQ, the REO Town Diner, Blue Owl Coffee, Sleepwalker Spirits and Ales, the REO Town Pub, the Rusty Mug, along with an assortment of shops, are right here on Washington Avenue under the Three Stacks. It truly is a small town within the Capital City.

Laurels and unique locally-crafted Trophies, made by a different artist every year, for each of 10 Award Categories:

Juried Category Awards:
Best Short Short
Best Short Film
Best Feature Film
Stranger than Fiction

Audience Awards:
People Pleaser
Michigan Masterpiece

Juried Special Recognition Awards:
A+ Student Filmmaker
Bloody and Brilliant
Subversive Selection
and a mystery Special Jury Award to be announced at the Festival

Pandemic Online Screenings:

Online screenings will only occur with permission of the filmmakers. Films will screen through a DRM-secured, ticketed platform for the current year Festival dates only.
Acceptance is not conditional on online screening permission.

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Exhibition Formats:

Films selected for the Threadbare Mitten Film Festival must provide exhibition copies to the festival coordinators within three (3) weeks of selection notification. Make sure your FilmFreeway settings are correct to receive notification emails from FilmFreeway.

Films selected for screening must provide a digital screener in standard .mp4 format or equivalent. We currently request HD resolution files, not 4K. We prefer not to receive ProRes files, as the various encodings sometimes produce playback errors. Surround sound will be mixed down to stereo for exhibition.

If you are unable to establish an electronic transfer of an exhibition quality file to our staff, we ask you to please mail a flashdrive or SD card containing the file to our submission address. At this point, we do not have venues scheduled for this year's Festival that require physical media for exhibition. Any changes to our exhibition capabilities will be communicated to filmmakers (i.e. ability to project in 4K, Surround Sound, or need for physical media playback).

We reserve the option to reschedule, remove, or replace your film with another selection if there are issues receiving adequate exhibition files or discs.

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Filmmaker Feedback:

Our Director apologizes that after 4 years, we must end our offers of filmmaker feedback. It became a promise that could no longer be kept. Any filmmaker can always email us for a discussion of their work.

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Content:

While we will not impose content restrictions for submitted films, please consider the following:

1. We are not interested in purely pornographic material without narrative interest

2. We are not interested in exhibiting actual acts of real life violence or death

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Terms:

1. The Threadbare Mitten Film Festival (the FESTIVAL) will only accept original works. (no fan-films)

a) By submitting your film to the FESTIVAL, you assert that you are authorized to submit the film, and that you own (or have legal permission to use) the copyright to all submitted materials, including the soundtrack, story, and on-screen imagery. The FESTIVAL assumes no liability for any potential claims, damages, judgments, and expenses against any submitted film.

b) By submitting your film, you grant permission to the FESTIVAL to publicly exhibit the film during the festival dates, and to share imagery, copy, and audio/visual clips from the film for promotional purposes, including the promotion of future events.

2. Electronic submissions only. We encourage you to provide any available electronic promotional/publicity materials at the time of submission. Upon notification of selection by the FESTIVAL, the submitter of Short and Feature category films must provide at minimum a film trailer, poster, and synopsis.

3. All submissions must be in English or contain English subtitles.

4. Judging is anonymous and arbitrary. FESTIVAL judge decisions are final.

5. The FESTIVAL does not require any particular Premiere status or completion date; any prior screenings or distribution will be considered as part of the overall submission for all films.

6. Filmmakers whose work is selected will receive 2 VIP passes to the FESTIVAL. Additional guests may be accommodated for the program in which your film is screening.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • We we're just thrilled to have two films selected for Threadbare. Everything about the festival was wonderful: clear communication, love the customized laurel, and value.

    September 2021
  • Thanks for including us in your festival!

    September 2021
  • Dan Kofoed and the Threadbare Mitten Team had done an outstanding job of running a festival in these challenging times. Like many of the previous reviewers, this festival is absolutely worthy of your application dollars. Based on how they executed the virtual fest, Threadbare is a top fest.

    November 2020
  • Stavit Allweis

    Even under the stifling environment of COVID-19, Threadbare managed to pull together an engaging festival and get a buzz going. the organizer, Dan Kofoed, kept lively online Q&A's going throughout the festival. If that's the virtual version, I can't wait for the real thing.

    September 2020
  • Kateryna Tiurina

    Thank you guys for your amazing Threadbare Mitten Film Festival.
    We are happy be a part of your festival. This means a lot to all our team.
    Warm greetings from Ukraine!

    September 2020