US$30,000 at stake in online film fest
JUDGE Isabel Henderson (left) and judge Stefanie Walmsley
There’s beauty and power in brevity. The ongoing 180 Microcinema Festival shows that even a 180-second film can express volumes and encapsulate a range of ideas and emotions.
“It’s a great challenge. It’s amazing how much you can compress in three minutes. It’s about making a visceral impact to grab the viewer’s attention. It’s an art form,” festival director Vinci Roxas told the Inquirer in a recent press con.
200 entries, 30 countries
Currently on its Narrative category phase, the international online fest exhibits micro films with running times of 180 seconds or less. From over 200 submissions received from 30 countries, 42 (10 from the Philippines) were shortlisted and uploaded on the festival’s official website, www.180cinema.net.
Using their Facebook, Twitter, Google or Yahoo! accounts, enthusiasts can comment, share and vote for their favorite entries.
Among those shown during the press con were “Operation: Double Helix” by John Renz Cahilig, “In Time” by Edgar Joseph Baltazar, “Table 7” by Marko Slavnic, and “Mãos” by Will Mazzola.
Aside from providing filmmakers a platform on which to hone their talents and showcase their wares, 180 Microcinema aims to harness the power of social media to help generate an audience worldwide, and form constructive discussions about film.
Initially launched in 2009 as a flagship project of the Film Development Council of the Philippines, the festival used to be a nationwide fair. But under 180 Cinema Inc. headed by CEO Diego Buenaflor and executive chairman Vinci Roxas, the festival welcomes foreign participants for a dynamic cultural exchange.
“The expansion allowed us to compare and contrast different ways of viewing and different approaches in shooting with different cultures,” Roxas said.
Why 180 seconds? Roxas said that the structure of the new media landscape has resulted in Internet users having a shorter attention span, and he believes that 180 seconds or three minutes should be the optimal length for an online micro film.
“People are more inclined to click on something that’s short. Everyone can spare three minutes,” he said. “It’s not too short to have substance, but it’s not too long either that you can’t devote enough time for it.”
Two winners
Further, “180” plays up to the project’s concept of turning away from conventional filmmaking methods. The festival, for instance, allows contestants to use entry-level DSLRs, or even cellular phone cameras, in shooting their films.
“We didn’t want economics to become a factor or barrier for people who are interested. We want to give filmmakers a platform to showcase their stuff with what’s available to them,” Roxas said.
Out of the 42 shortlisted micro films, two will be declared winners. The entry that gets the most number of votes by today will be given the Audience Choice award. The Jury Prize winner will be chosen by a panel composed of Oscar-winning producer Stefanie Walmsley, production manager Isabel Henderson, and director Peter Kirk.
After the awards ceremony, set on April 21 at the Power Plant Cinema in Rockwell Center, 180 Cinema Inc. will be focusing on the festival’s next two categories—Documentary and Experimental.
To jumpstart their careers, the two winners will each receive a US$30,000 grant that will serve as seed money to produce a video pitch for a collaborative “serial cinema project.”
“We’ll do a full 90-minute film, which will be divided into 30 180-second micro-ilms. Each part will be uploaded every day on our site for a whole month to build excitement and anticipation,” Buenaflor explained. “It will have a comic strip or TV series effect.”
Asked how he envisions 180 Microcinema Festival in the future, Buenaflor said: “I want it to be an integral part of the independent filmmaking process.”
