Proposals to UNICA member federations

Artashes Hovanessian 

offers seven suggestions for UNICA member federations  aimed at making UNICA more popular and encouraging more members.

His suggestions for expanding UNICA can be seen here.

These are his personal ideas and not official policy.

Proposal / Cost

1. 
Each year the UNICA committee should write an official letter to the prime-minister, Ministry of Culture and mayor of the city, where the UNICA festival will take place. In the letter they should state the objectives and purpose of UNICA Festivals and ask for support for the festival from the government of the country concerned.

Cost: Shipping cost for 3 parcels with demo DVD and booklet is 20€..

Reason

During UNICA festivals there is a total information vacuum around festival.

In host countries neither the general population or officials know about the existence of UNICA. (Examples: Luxembourg, Einsielden, Ruse.)

Effect

This will bring more attention from national governments, ministries of Culture, other officials, the general population, local and international mass media.

2. 
We should invite local and international celebrities to join the jury for the UNICA film festivals.

Cost: 1 local (European) celebrity each year will cost about 200-300€ for travel and an honorarium (not essential) 500€.

Accommodation and meals are already included in the jury package. Total between 200 and 800€ each year.

The UNICA doesn’t have any image in the cinema world, especially in the professional field. By accepting a new young professional category we have more professionals with their non-commercial films at our festivals.

If it is only amateur or student films at the UNICA, then it will be harder or impossible to attract celebrities.

Celebrities will help publicity with their comments to media about the UNICA. They will bring more attention from independent film makers, other film festivals and TV companies to the UNICA festivals.

3. 
Each organizer of a UNICA festival should put posters and banners about the UNICA festival everywhere in the town, main streets, on walls of shops, in cafés and cinema clubs. They should organize parades of member countries with flags at each UNICA festival. Organizers should call press conferences of local mass media with UNICA committee members.

Cost: 1 time cost for UNICA of 10 vinyl banners  5m.x1m., which can travel from country to country 180€.

The UNICA film festivals are unknown to people and filmmakers in each host city. People in Einsiendeln and Luxembourg did not know what UNICA is.

We need much more publicity in the European and Asian cities.

UNICA posters and banners with our logo, the logo of UNESCO and national flags will give a World Film Festival feeling to the public in a city and to the mass media.

If we are worldwide event – it should be seen at locations, where UNICA is going on. Press conferences, parades, invitations to our cinema halls will raise the interest of the public in our festivals.

4. 
For the last four days of each UNICA festival, we should offer about 4 to 6 free hotel rooms to the representatives of 4 to 6 countries which are potential new members.

Cost: about 1000€ each year.

Year by year UNICA becomes more like a private European film Club. From a high of 61 countries, half have now left the organization. If we are a world organization affiliated with UNESCO, then Asia, Latin America and Africa should be represented equally. And it is easy to organize.

We in Armenia, in the first year of our annual Nofi international film festival invited equal amounts of films from Europe (10films), Armenia and Former USSR republics (14 films) and Asia and Middle East (10 films).

Representatives from new countries want to see for themselves what goes on at World festivals of Amateur and Non-commercial cinema, then make a decision about joining the UNICA. Bringing in new countries should be made convenient for them, and no discrimination should be present in UNICA policy toward others.

Not having a European mentality should not be an obstacle to joining the UNICA.

5.
 We should create a new web site, demo reel and booklets for UNICA and give UNICA a younger look. The reason for not doing it already is that we lack money. I offer to create a new site with the help of young website developers for only 600-700€. Jan Essing told me a demo reel can be created free. 5000 booklets will cost 300€. Each year there will changes, new activities and information in the booklets and on the website.

Cost: about 1000€ each year.

The UNICA’s website became obsolete, and old-fashioned many years ago. In our web pages potential new members see mostly photos of old people. There is no comparison with modern film festival sites.

A new website should have a young look to attract more young film makers, film organizations and most important – sponsors.

In the modern world every activity happens primarily on the internet, social sites, forums and blogs. Sending information about yourself is much easier by e-mails and links.

A good web site will increase interest in our activity multiple times, all year around.

Demo reel and booklets should be sent to officials in countries describing our history and activity and should be given out to public and guests of our festivals.

6.
We should donate each year 10% of our National festivals’ sponsorship to the UNICA budget for UNICA’s expenses. Even if each donation is 100€, it will be a total of 3000€.

All National federations use the UNICA and UNESCO titles, logos and names in their local festivals. Donating only 10% will resolve many problems and will kick start a new life for UNICA as an organization.

Finally UNICA will come out from isolation and anonymity. Otherwise the future of UNICA is not bright. That is opinion of many members. We should overcome the crisis in interest, crisis in attendance and lack of money.

Donations from each country’s festivals will cover points 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of my proposals: the creation of a modern website, printing 5000 booklets, postal expenses, 10 UNICA 5metre banners, sending letters, travel expenses of a celebrity.

7. 
After we have executed all six points above and become known and popular in the World, we can apply to sponsors for sponsorship of the UNICA in the following areas:

1. UNICA annual festivals
   
2. Advertising needs
   
3. Travel and communication 
   
4. Film archive, Friends of UNICA, translations, awards, website and marketing needs.
   

UNICA has never had sponsors, to cover its organizational needs. All their expenses travel and accommodation are paid by Committee members themselves, from their own pockets. For more travel, communication, more meetings with national officials, preparing festivals more carefully and precisely UNICA (that is the members of Committee) need more money.

The Committee cannot be a club of wealthy people, who organize a non-commercial, student and amateur film festival. To avoid a Korean-type crisis Committee members need to have more money to spend. That way the quality of the festival will not depend on who wishes to spend his or her own money. 

It is the same for each national host country. At present they get just a little help from UNICA and depend on how many people will come and buy a Congress card.

If they lack money, and do not wish to travel for UNICA purposes to Korea or Argentina, then we will get a badly organized festival or none at all. A World Film Festival cannot depend on how much individual Committee members or national hosts are willing to spend from their own pockets.

We badly need sponsors, huge transnational electronic companies.

By attending more festivals, meeting more people from the film industry and making more connections, the winners of UNICA gold medals will gain fame and popularity.  

As a result, more authors with their films will join our festivals.

Proposals made by president of Center of All-Armenian Non-commercial Cinema and Nofi international film festival of Non-commercial films.  NOFI Facebook page   |  
My contacts e-mail arthovanessian@yahoo.com  or in Facebook  - Artashes Hovanessian