From Audience to Utopia: Considering the Spectator in Pre-Production of the Queer/Trans Film So Pretty

I'm a director with one feature film to my name, and I also work as an editor and colorist. About a year ago, I was doing some editing consultation on an early draft of a documentary. Before I gave the director notes, I asked, "What festivals are you looking to have this play in?" He was taken aback. For him, a film--at least this sort, conceptualized as an art film--should be a pure object of creation, and industry concerns should be taken into account only after post-production is completed. I...