Philadelphia Weekly

For two weeks every April and another in July, TLA Entertainment annually unleashes its film festival behemoths: the Philadelphia Film Festival and the Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. One early morning a couple years back, a group of people sitting at a diner after a long film shoot had a harebrained scheme: Why not start their own film festival?

"We were a little unprepared," laughs Jillian Peters, entertainment director of the Terror Film Festival, which begins its second annual run this Tuesday. "We came up with it over pancakes at 3 in the morning. Sometimes your best ideas come in the middle of the night, when you're not quite asleep, not quite awake--and they become big hits."

Indeed, while the Terror Film Festival isn't mentioned in the same breath as Cannes, Sundance, Toronto or even our own PFF, it's gained a rapid notoriety within the festival community--unheard of for a fest whose second year hasn't even happened yet. Its first year attracted 162 submissions, including both features and shorts. Thirty-nine were accepted and screened. This year they received 252, 69 of which will screen over the fest's six days.

"That's 300 percent above what we expected," boasts Felix Diaz, the TFF's festival director. As with last year, submissions came from as close as Philadelphia to as far off as Sweden, Japan, Denmark, Africa and South Africa. This, by the way, is with next to no advertising. The TFF doesn't buy space in trade magazines like Variety.

"We're selective in our exposure attempts," Diaz explains, pointing out that all they have is a website, a MySpace page and of course word of mouth.

"When people are submitting our $100 fee, it's not because they want to give their film to anyone. It's because they've heard something about us and they want in," Diaz explains. "We're geared strictly for submitters and the audience. We're not geared for the industry. We're not doing it for the money or the hype. We're a genre festival, but it's based on great filmmaking, great screenwriting."

The Terror Film Festival is not of course the only niche festival in town. There's the FirstGlance Film Festival, a much-cherished independent-minded fest--M. Night Shyamalan is an alum--that just finished its 10th year. There's the Lost Film Festival, a politically minded brouhaha that tours the globe, but hasn't played its hometown since 2005. The Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival, which gradually unwinds from the fall to the spring, begins in early November. Starting on Oct. 17 at International House, there's the action-themed Big Bang Film Festival. The Black Lily Film & Music Festival debuted this past spring. And early next year should mark the return of the raucous Backseat Film Festival, billed as the "Drinking Man's Film Festival." (PBR is one of the sponsors.)

"We're here because as filmmakers we know what it's like and we don't like it. So we're doing it our way," Diaz says. All of them filmmakers, the TFF organizers were sick of the focus on money and celebrity at the bigger-name film festivals, as well as the brush-off treatment most filmmakers receive. "We go the extra mile. We treat everyone like gold. We underpromise and overdeliver on everything."

"What separates us from the bigger film festivals is we help the filmmakers get exposure," Peters explains. Like the FirstGlance, with whom they've collaborated, they invite distributors to come out. "We don't make the deals. The distributors come out and it's up to them what they want to try to sign."

The playlist this year spans horror to sci-fi to thriller to even dark drama--a new addition. Financially, they run the gamut from slick Hollywood fare (like Side Sho, which already has major distributors after it) to movies with next to no budget (like Werewolf in a Woman's Prison, which Diaz claims is "the most entertaining movie ever. Ever. Ever.").

"We watch [the submissions] as if we're in the audience," says Diaz. "If we don't like it, it's not getting in. If we like it, it's getting in even if it looks crappy. If it's entertaining, it's in."

Of the area's other fests, the TFF is comparable in tone to the Backseat Film Festival. "It's very much like a rock festival," Peters says of the fest's atmosphere. "It's got a lot of charisma. A lot of our personalities go into it."

The fest takes place entirely at the Ethical Society, a 19th-century building Diaz describes as "prestigious and creepy." They decorate the inside in Halloween garb, and give each patron a bag of candy, prepared personally by Peters' father. In addition to her managerial duties, Peters also dresses up as Princess Horror, the fest's host and spokesperson at the nation's other horror festivals.

Diaz and Peters both talk about expansion: taking up two weeks next year, and possibly the entire month of October in the future. But Diaz says they want to keep the personal touch the same.

"There's plenty of horror film festivals around the country and the world. None of them gives you a week, baby," Diaz says. "When people submit to our festival, just for submitting they get to put a picture, a poster and a synopsis on our site. No one does that. And we're the only ones who give two free passes for the whole festival to each filmmaker who attends. Not even Sundance does that."

Backseat Film Festival

Specialty: Zombies, horror, action, rock 'n' roll.
Dates: Usually during the first quarter of the year.
Site: www.backseatfilmfestival.com