BAFTA launches 60 Seconds Of Fame competition

The British Academy of Film & Television Arts (BAFA) has launched a new short film competition, 60 Seconds Of Fame, in association with Orange.

The competition has the support of BBC Nations and Regions and the Regional Screen Agency network and is open to anyone aged 16 or over. Shortlisted films will be shown by each of the 15 BBC Nations and Regions and, following a public vote, one winner from each area will win two tickets to the Orange British Academy Film Awards in 2007. The overall winner will be announced and have their film featured as part of the BBC One broadcast of the ceremony.

As the name suggests, budding filmmakers are invited to submit a 60-second short film based on the theme ‘Celebrate’, to reflect BAFTA’s 60th birthday and Orange’s 10-year partnership with the Academy.

BAFTA will run short film masterclasses around the country (which will also be video podcasted) to give expert film-making advice.

Details of the masterclasses and the competition are available on the Orange website.



The deadline for entries is 4 January 2007.

Diversity in film

The UK Film Council has launched an online Diversity Toolkit, to enable all sections of society to be part of film in the UK.

The toolkit includes a multi-choice quiz so you can check your diversity credentials, contains statistics on diversity in UK film, and provides a snapshot of what is happening across the industry. There is also specific advice on employment, good practice and guidance on taking equality and diversity into account on screen as well as off.

[Spotted in Word of Mouth newsletter 7 from productionbase.co.uk]

Technorati tags diversity & equality & film.

Bradford Film Festival open for submissions

The 13th Bradford Film Festival, operated and hosted by the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television, will run from 9-24 March 2007.

In keeping with its history BFF will be presenting an array of new and classic titles while celebrating the talents of the people who help make cinema great. The Festival is now open for entries and welcomes submissions in the categories of feature, short, documentary and animation.

To submit a film visit www.bradfordfilmfestival.org.uk

Deadline: 30 November 2006

Depict - 90 second films shortlist

DepicT! 2005 - the short film competition for micro movies of under 90 seconds - proved hugely successful this year with a record number of over 320 entries from across the globe. The shortlist of 10 films has now gone live.

The final winner will be presented with their award and a cheque for 3000 pounds at the Brief Encounters Bristol International Short Film Festival (Wed 23 - Sun 27 November 2005). And new this year, the DepicT! 2005 winner and short-listed entries will be offered a full distribution deal with the Dazzle Short Film Label. In addition, digital media and design company Emak Mafu will offer a website and marketing package deal to the winner.

I haven't yet viewed all of the short-listed films, but so far I have particularly enjoyed 'Margalida Mirando (Margalida Watching)'. What do you think? When you've taken a look you can vote for your favourite film, either by texting the appropriate text code to 2472 (restricted to Orange customers only) or heading for http://www.lovefilm.com/ where you can vote online.

The winner of the Orange DepicT! 2005 Audience Award will be announced at Brief Encounters International Short Film Festival alongside the main DepicT! Award and will take home a top of the range mobile handset, other Orange prizes and a free 6 months membership to LOVEFiLM.COM

Technorati tags movies & short films & competitions

Watch four-minute documentaries online

Four Docs is a Channel 4 website that shows documentary films, each one guaranteed to be no more than four minutes long. What's more, viewers can upload their own films to the site and have them viewed and reviwed.

This is a great idea for an online film site - you know each film is not going to last more than four minutes, so you don't have to invest half your life in waiting for the film to download. The site itself is also well put together (as you would expect from Channel 4). The graphics are good, the site's fairly easy to navigate around, and the buttons all seem to work.

Not many films have been uploaded yet, but cleverly you can subscribe to an RSS feed to keep updated as new films are uploaded. So many film websites would benefit from a similar RSS facility.

Look out for School Spirit (an inspiring doc about some school children making their own film), and Somebody's gotta do it, a film that allows a refuse van driver to talk about his life and tell some great stories about his work.

FourDocs is aimed at people who make docs, as well as those who watch them. It has a fantastic series of simple guides for the documentary filmmaker who is just starting out. These guides are short films themselves, with accompanying PDF files that can be downloaded. The site also has extensive legal guidelines for documentary makers, advice about copyright, links to useful websites, and interviews with documentary filmmakers.

It looks as though a lot of effort has gone into setting up this site, and it has paid off.

Technorati tags short films & documentaries.