leena pendharkar

Inevitably, every filmmaker whose work gets out there will have to deal with both good reviews and bad reviews.  With Raspberry Magic, it’s been interesting, because the people who like the film think it’s sweet, charming, etc, which is fine, because it is after all a film about a young girl.  But in some ways, this notion of it being sweet, charming and a family film are also what people criticize.  One reviewer mentioned that she didn’t believe it belonged in the Cinequest film festival, and that she wouldn’t pay to go and see a family film.  I think it’s interesting how films that appeal to a wide audience, like Raspberry Magic, are cornered into the “ABC Family” box.  I guess this is because Disney/ABC have captured this market and exploited it into a money making machine.  I was feeling bummed out about this, but I grew watching a lot of movies like Gremlins, ET, Where the Red Fern Grows, The Secret Garden and more which are really good films, but do appeal to wide audiences (even all of the Pixar movies).  It’s annoying to me that the festival circuit kind of turns its nose up at these kinds of films, as well, because I think a lot of audiences want to see these films.  It’s a weird duality as a filmmaker because a studio probably wouldn’t make this movie about an Indian family, and many festival people turn their nose up at it because it’s not edgy enough.  I don’t know, I guess in the end, it’s all about finding an audience for the movie and continuing to make good work.