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5 Countries To Be Added In Tally Shorts Film Festival Lineup

Two young people open brochures and look inside to see a list of films. In the background, a crowd lines up outside an auditorium.
Wade Bishop
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Tally Shorts Film Festival

The Tally Shorts Film Festival is adding five countries to its lineup. Work from Senegal, Colombia, Costa Rica, Malta, and Cypress will be shown.

The Tally Shorts Film Festival will put on its eighth incarnation this February. What began as a small event with only 16 video submissions, has now grown to include 72 videos from 34 countries. This year, Programming Director Carlos Miranda is scheduling films in preparation for the big event. 

"Normally, film festivals are designed to give and open the doors to newcomer filmmakers. A lot of studios look at film festivals to find new talent: Actors, directors or producers," Miranda says.

Out of the 72 films that will be screened, six are from local filmmakers. Three of those six are directed by women, which Miranda says is notable given the male-dominated world of filmmaking. 

The festival uses a platform called FilmFreeway for advertisement. Submissions spiked during Tally Shorts' sixth year, but have since decreased. Miranda says that's due to the decreased amount of time applicants have to apply. However, he says the quality of films has increased, pointing to notable actors like Gina Torres from Firefly appearing in the 2020 film lineup. Miranda also says Tallahassee's southern hospitality gives his festival an edge.

“You don’t know how many times filmmakers come to our festival and said 'Look I was in Sundance and I was a selected film and I wasn’t even allowed to go to the parties. They will turn me back at the front door or I’ll have to pay this fee to go somewhere,'" Miranda says.

Miranda says festival volunteers find someone who can help visiting filmmakers get around Tallahassee, as well as invite them to parties. Last years’ festival cost around $10,500 with $700  left over to use for this years’ event. Ticket sales, submission costs, personal donations, and sponsors fund the program. It runs February 7-8. 

Robbie Gaffney graduated from Florida State University with degrees in Digital Media Production and Creative Writing. Before working at WFSU, they recorded FSU’s basketball and baseball games for Seminole Productions as well as interned for the PBS Station in Largo, Florida. Robbie loves playing video games such as Shadow of the Colossus, Animal Crossing, and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. Their other hobbies include sleeping and watching anime.