Shärt International Comedy Film Festival

 I was cornered in an alley in Beijing some time ago by a University Masters degree student who asked in broken english “What is your philosophy?” I responded “What do you mean: My life philosophy?” He replied “No. Your film. Your short film that just screened.”

What a strange question, I thought to myself. My reply, seeing as it was a comedy short film, was “Uh… to make people laugh.” This upset him. You see he had spent like a year of his life animating this depressing little short film that made everyone want to kill themselves after it screened. All his university philosophy learning had, according to him, gone into his film. He failed to realize that film to him meant something very different to me. He also failed to understand that not everyone wants to be suicidal after watching short films. There are also people on this earth who just want to laugh.

Some four months ago, after the idea of a comedy film festival had been fermenting for many years, Mr. Ulysses W. Shärt pulled up in his Land Rover, walked into our office and said “Make me laugh!!” Then he said “Is there a tax right off in this all?”

Like us, Mr. Shärt loves to laugh. He also doesn’t like the purity of a laugh to followed and soiled by some hi-brow philosophy laden film that makes you want to throw yourself off a bridge. Comedy is neither righteous nor humble. It’s simply comedy. The ultimate gauge, no matter the budget or the camera it was shot on, is the laughter. That’s why at SICFF you’ll see a collage of everything. As long as it makes us laugh, and laugh hard, it’s in!

Finally, we believe that a comedy film festival is more than just films. It’s about the atmosphere, the room, the people, the music and live entertainment that precedes and follows whats on the screen. It’s a festival after all and as Mr. Shärt says: Let’s see if we can die laughing!