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Three days spent at the Cannes International Film Festival were more education than vacation for Winnipeg filmmaker Hersh Seth.

The On Screen Manitoba member showed his short film, The Lost Dreams of Narcissus and Echo, at the festival’s Short Film Corner.

The Short Film Corner is designed to allow filmmakers the opportunity to network and show their projects to industry professionals and distributors, something he took full advantage of.

“For me it was an amazing experience because I had access to distributors, other filmmakers and producers – but also got to see what the industry really looks like,” said Seth, who worked as Assistant Producer on Shelagh Carter’s upcoming film Passionflower.

“Seeing the world of film almost presenting itself to you was like going to film school within three days.”

Seth, who recently graduated from the University of Manitoba where he majored in Film Studies, said there is an incredible amount of exclusivity at Cannes that left him with a lot of respect and pride in how things are done in Canada.

He says the access the general public has to industry development sessions and films at an event like the Gimli Film Festival is huge. But if you don’t have some sort of industry access at Cannes you won’t see a single movie.

“I thought that it would be more of a celebration of film and the film experience, but it’s a bit more of a celebration of film as industry. So for a newcomer, I’m still trying to figure out and reconcile how this experience will affect me in the long run,” said Seth, who wrote, produced, directed and edited the beautifully shot Freyja’s Gift.

Before he left for Cannes, and at the suggestion of Guy Maddin, Seth spoke with Liz Jarvis from Buffalo Gal Pictures for some advice.

“She was wonderful and we ended up speaking for a couple of hours. The advice she gave me that made my trip was that she knew it was going to be totally overwhelming and I wouldn’t know what to expect or plan anything. She said get out there and meet as many young filmmakers as you can who are doing things like you and just build a relationship with them.”

And that’s just what Seth did. He passed out business cards and networked with filmmakers from North American and the UK, all of whom he is still in contact with.

Seth wants to continue that spirit of networking back in Winnipeg and is excited to meet with other aspiring filmmakers.

“I’m very eager to meet young filmmakers who have ideas and want to get their stuff out there and talk about what I’ve seen, what’s available and what we can do. Coming away from Cannes I feel very eager in realizing that distributors need our work. They want to see good quality work because their platforms can’t survive without it,” said Seth, who is a Winnipeg Film Group board member.

“I don’t know about anywhere else, but I do know that in Winnipeg and Manitoba, from what I’ve seen in my work in the Winnipeg Film Group and the U of M, we’ve got talent. And being able to mold that talent and polish it is something I’m eager to do.”

Seth’s The Lost Dreams of Narcissus and Echo will be a part of the Winnipeg Film Group’s Membership Premieres on June 12.

For more information on Hersh Seth, and to contact him, visit www.HershSeth.ca, by email contact@hershseth.ca, or on twitter @hershseth.

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