One doesn’t always need too much time to convey a message or tell a story through film. Sometimes, 5 or 10 minutes would be more than enough.
Short+Sweet Film Festival director James Harvey Estrada believes this, and encourages both professional and budding filmmakers to submit their work to compete with films from other participating cities: Chennai, Sydney and Hollywood.
“This festival is open for experimentation, open for different stories. It’s a platform where you can experiment and explore. It’s more than a festival; it’s a movement. It’s a new perspective on creating films,” Estrada told InterAksyon.
True enough, there are no restrictions on what one can submit to the festival in terms of genre, plot or format, as long as the film has a runtime of no longer than 10 minutes, plus credits.
The filmmaker must have permission for all images, storylines and music used. Narration and dialogue can be in any language or dialect as long as English subtitles are provided.
Films for submission need not to be created using professional equipment and may be shot and edited in any device available.
“This is a platform where you can say, ‘I wanna shoot, I wanna say something to the world, and I’m gonna use my phone.’ And it’s fine. As long as you have a story to tell, go shoot and submit your film.
“It’s timely. We have our phones, gadgets. You can shoot a film on a very minimal budget,” Estrada said.
Forty films will be selected for local screening and will get the chance to vie for the following awards: Best Film, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay, Best Play to Film Adaptation, People’s Choice, Best Actor and Best Actress.
The winning entry gets the opportunity to be screened at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles, California, USA during the Red Carpet Finale along with the other films from other regions, as well as professional development and funding from Stella Adler and Ryde Studios in Los Angeles, valued at over US$50,000.
Founded in Sydney Australia in 2002 by Mark Cleary, Short+Sweet has evolved into the biggest 10 minute performing arts festival in the world, with events in 30+ cities across 12 countries and over 5,000 original new works in Theatre, Music and Dance presented since 2002.
Short+Sweet Theatre in Manila began in 2014 and 2017 is the inaugural year for Short+Sweet Film Festival.
Deadline for submissions to the inaugural Short+Sweet Film Festival Manila is on June 20.Film entries may be submitted through this link. For other inquiries please email jeyms@shortandweet,org or visit the S+S Film Facebook page.
The Short+Sweet Film Festival Manila is made possible in partnership with the University of the Philippines, De la Salle University, SM Aura and the Australian Embassy. The first S+S Film Festival screening will happen on July 1, 8, 15 and 22, 2017 at the Natividad Auditorium, De La Salle University College of St. Benilde.