My Comic Con International Film Festival 2024 Juror Diary – Leslie Combemale reports
When Adam Neese, the program coordinator for Comic-Con International and director of the Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival (CCI IFF) invited me to be one of three jurors for the 2024 film fest, I was floored. I’d been going to San Diego Comic-Con for almost 30 years, and had just made the hard decision that 2023 would be my last time. By 2023, I had played almost every role one could at the con. Every one except “special guest”, which I assumed, as film journalist, wasn’t for me.
With my film and animation gallery ArtInsights, I had been on the exhibitors floor. It was early on, in the late 1990s and early aughts, and it was always a successful and financially rewarding con for the gallery. Back then, the preview night, Wednesday, was entirely different from what it is today. It was a time when regardless of your fame, you could walk the floor. Leonardo DiCaprio, Keanu Reeves, and director Frank Darabont came by and chatted with me and with John Alvin, the film artist we featured. No masks to hide their identities were needed, and no fans gushed and rushed them. Although the concept of fandoms was actually invented by a group of women, (see Star Trek), the percentage of women who attended the con was vastly smaller in number, as back in those dark ages “girl geeks” or “fan girls” weren’t considered cool.
As the convention became more and more about the big studio releases, which presented their newest projects in the famed and infamous Hall H, the convention grew more crowded, more about cosplay, and more segmented. It also attracted more women, especially when the film versions of Harry Potter and Twilight premiered. That was when I started being in and presenting my own panels. Although I’ve never counted, I’ve probably produced more than 30 panels over the years. It started with bringing together animators, especially those involved in the cartoons of the 50s and 60s, to talk about the cartoons they created. Then in 2015 I started creating a panel featuring female filmmakers called Women Rocking Hollywood.
Although Q&As, panels, and symposiums featuring women in film seem ubiquitous now, they certainly weren’t common when I started, nor was a focus on diverse voices. To this day, it’s rare to see studios or production companies pay for the female filmmakers helming their projects to attend SDCC. It fell to me to track down who was doing what and when, then pitch PR companies, agents, and managers about those they represent taking part in Women Rocking Hollywood. Thousands of panel applications are submitted every year, so I’m very lucky that I got in early on, that they knew I would put on an organized, well-attended, and interesting panel, and that my panelists would show up. I made the cut from those thousands of applications to the few hundred presented there. I’m also very lucky I’ve been supported. In the more than 20 years I’ve been producing panels about animation, I’ve often done so with the support of ASIFA, the International Animated Film Association. In 10 years of Women Rocking Hollywood, Women in Film: LA has been a steadfast champion. I’m grateful that OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network and Harpo Studios sent their female filmmakers to SDCC to be on the panel. Certainly none of the majors would.
I sort of landed between the cracks, not a studio, not a production, just a passionate believer in parity for female filmmakers in Hollywood. I certainly figured out what a small world the good part of the film and tv industry is, because those people keep showing up, people like WIF’s Kirsten Schaffer, and filmmakers Gina Prince-Bythewood, Rosemary Rodriguez, and Jen McGowan.
Three days after the deadline for putting together anything for SDCC, I got an email asking if I’d be on the jury for the film fest, now in its 23rd year. That meant I’d be a guest of the con, with my picture and bio on their site and everything, and they’d pay for my flight and hotel (right next to the convention center). Having no panels and no sales booth planned, it meant I’d have the closest experience to being a regular attendee in my nearly 30 years going to the con.
Now, although as a film journalist, I do often focus when I can on independent films, I’m a geek at heart. My gallery sells Star Wars and Star Trek art, after all. I’m an expert in vintage animation films and art. I’ve always wanted to be an official guest of the con. I have lots of comic book and illustration artist friends who attend as guests, but I never imagined there was any kind of niche or area of expertise that would mean I’d be on the SDCC guest radar. It was, for that reason, a complete delight to be invited to take part.
Of course, I said YES! But what was next?
My hope was warranted. There were some absolutely wonderful and well crafted films. So many wonderful films, in fact, that it was hard to score some of them, especially those in the animation category. It was also lovely to discover that the work of a number of female filmmakers was represented.
I had heard that often the jurors would have to reassess several films in the interest of breaking ties, but our jury, which included Juliet Landau and Phil Lamarr, agreed on the winners in every category! No tie breakers required! Nearly 60 films were screened during the convention, and the winners were announced on the last day of the convention, at 11am on Sunday.
I was thrilled when I found out who the other jurors were. Juliet Landau, as the daughter of Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, is Hollywood royalty, but she has built a multi-hyphenate career as an actor, producer, director, and writer completely in her own right. In 2020, she was EP, star, director and co-writer of the award-winning film A Place Among the Dead, and now has buzz about her new Buffy the Vampire Slayer rewatch podcast Slayin’ It. I’d been watching Phil Lamarr since his days on Mad TV, and have been following his career ever since. Only weeks before I found out he was on the jury, I listened to the podcast Moriarty, in which he played Sherlock Holmes!
On the day of the awards panel, moderator Adam Neese started out giving the history of the film festival, then introduced each of us, myself, Juliet, and Phil, in turn. Then he got down to the awards. Both Juliet and I were prepared with printed notes about each film, and Phil had notes on his phone, as we were asked to comment on each after it was announced as a winner.
THE WINNERS:
MY FAVORITES:
Thaba Ye also won the Judges Choice. In a festival that included some great films, it was the biggest standout, and an absolutely beautiful story. It was hard to see so many other great pieces of animation not get recognized, because it was the strongest category with, interestingly, the most female filmmakers. Based on South African legend, Thaba Ye is poignant, moving, and very well-executed, especially in the character animation. It’s co-directed by Merel Hamers, a female animation filmmaker who was there to accept the award.
Another of my favorites was, DL Guy, which centers on a queer kid struggling to be understood by his homophobic mother. He encounters a superhero proudly dedicated to protecting and supporting LGBTQIA kids. Writer/director Chad Zemel was also in attendance, and spoke about the importance of queer representation in the comics and superhero space. He was joined by Black Latina transgender filmmaker Josslyn Glenn, who acted as producer on the project.
Universe 25 felt like a missing episode of Black Mirror, which is meant as a high compliment, especially given the level of performance featured in many of that show’s episodes. Kelly Tappan, the short’s lead actor, was also its co-writer. She plays Mel, a woman trapped in a room with no hope of escape, presented with different roommates who disappear and are replaced every thirty days. Her performance and that of her co-stars elevate an already intriguing idea significantly. I can’t wait to see what she does next.
The last of my top picks is Angelman, a French film based on the book of the same name by Didier Levy and Matthew Roussel. In it, a little boy named Arnaud encounters Mr. Angel, his older upstairs neighbor, and begins a friendship with him and the complex robot Mr Angel built. It’s a sweet little movie that adds this fest win to a long list of international awards. It gets better with every viewing, due in no small part to its gorgeous production design. Director Sacha Picard was onhand to accept the award, which he did with enthusiasm and in perfect English.
In fact, not only all the winners, but all the filmmakers who were there were enthusiastic and joyful, and not the least bit jaded. For many, these are the early days in their careers, and being accepted to or winning this festival represents a real shot in the arm to them. I was surprised at how much they wanted to talk to me in particular after the awards event was over. They seemed to really appreciate our efforts and the time we took with each film. Many asked me about specifics in their films that resonated with me as a film critic, and although I suggested they take ALL criticism with a grain of salt, I offered my opinion about the best elements I saw in their work.
In addition to sharing time with the filmmakers and meeting my fellow jurors, the most delightful aspect of my experience was seeing my bio and picture in the official program from the convention. After years of comfortably amplifying filmmakers and artists, it was bizarre to see my own face in there as someone of note!
I have loved putting together panels of the best and brightest in film and animation. I learn so much from their experiences, and seeing young animators and female filmmakers in the audience lighting up literally makes my year. That’s hard to top, so I wouldn’t say this was above every experience I’ve ever had at SDCC, but it’s certainly right up there. It had been years since I had as much free time during the actual con, which allowed me to attend panels and events I’d never gone to before, like the popular Quick Draw (which featured Floyd Norman and Bill Morrison), and take in the gorgeous San Diego weather, while back home in DC it was over 100 degrees. I met filmmakers who may be more pop-culture or genre-focused, but were of very diverse backgrounds and unique perspectives.
Film festivals of all kinds are essential to filmmakers for exposure. I loved being part of that, and look forward to the next time I have an opportunity to shine a light on artists creating art from whatever unique perspective they bring to the world!
