Last weekend we put aside celebrations for Valentine’s Day to instead complete Keeping the Kibbutz. And I mean really complete it, as in make it perfect so that we could burn it on a DVD and [comfortably send it along to film festivals without a disclaimer.] Believe it or not, I found the end to be the most difficult part of the process. It’s when you begin to question yourself and the decisions you made. But every filmmaker needs to draw a line at some point, resolving that the film is completed and that everything has been done to make it the best story it can be. And that’s what we did. The DVD is burned, the press kit is completed and ready to go. But to where? Now we begin stage two of the film making process: the festival circuit. The problem is there’s no ideal way to navigate it.
Sure, you could apply to every fest out there (there are thousands), but such a process is cumbersome and expensive. Most filmmakers narrow it down to the top independent and documentary showcases, niche fests, free and international fests or those in their hometown or in places they’ve been itching to travel to. For us, we plan to apply to most of the top US and international documentary fests, most of the Jewish and Middle Eastern film festivals, festivals in and around Washington, DC and our hometowns of RI and Dallas, TX. Add to that, places we’re dying to vacation: San Francisco, Portland, Jerusalem, Amsterdam, Sheffield and Dubai to name a few 
. Perhaps our honeymoon will be wrapped into one of these trips.
In any case, as we navigate the festival circuit, we are open to ideas! Any thoughts on festivals that might be a good fit for Keeping the Kibbutz?
