Indie Memphis Virtual Cinema

Shoot & Splice: Film Distribution with Dedza

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Stream began June 30, 2021 12:00 AM UTC
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What happens after the festival run of a short or feature film? To answer this and more, meet the Founder and VP of Dedza Films, a new distribution initiative dedicated to "curating and facilitating the next wave of filmmakers with a focus on underrepresented communities and early works of emerging storytellers." They launched on June 11 with the anthology of short films "Who Will Start the Fire" (currently available in the Indie Memphis virtual cinema). Aaron Hunt (Vice President) and Kate Gondwe (founder) will describe what the distribution world is like, why they felt a need to start Dedza, and how an independent filmmaker might be able to find distribution for a feature or short film.


Shoot & Splice is a FREE filmmaker forum presented by Crosstown Arts and Indie Memphis, featuring a wide variety of technical, educational, and unique topics of interest to the Memphis filmmaking community.


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Aaron Hunt is an endeavoring filmmaker, cameraperson in production, and freelance writer with bylines in Sight & Sound, Filmmaker, American Cinematographer, MUBI Notebook, Hyperallergic, and more. He is the Vice President of DEDZA Films and Editor in Chief of the DEDZA Scrapbook.


Kate Gondwe is a Malawian-American pursuing her undergraduate degree at Emerson College. She is the founder of the shorts distribution initiative Dedza Films, supported by Kino Lorber. Dedza Films is dedicated to acquiring short films from underrepresented communities and creating space for emerging storytellers. Kate has interned at Kino Lorber, Film Comment, NEON, and recently Mubi. Her start in film began as an emerging programmer apprentice at the Tallgrass Film Festival, a program sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and FilmWatch grant recipient. Aside from distribution, Kate works as a producer on independent productions and aims to direct as well.