UK, ROMANIA AND ICELAND TAKE TOP AWARDS AT FILMINUTE 2010

This is a copy paste of a press release. I've just received it on the email.
Later I will write my personal note about FILMINUTE one of the most innovative and promising film festivals.

Acrobatics, divine comedy and a good fright inspire the winning narratives at Filminute, the international one-minute film festival.

TORONTO/BUCHAREST, 7 October 2010 – After a month of online screenings, Filminute 2010 announced the award winners for this year’s film festival. CHOOSE NOT TO FALL, an inspiring and acrobatic documentary from the UK, has been awarded BEST FILMINUTE honours by the seven-member international jury. The unlikely mix of philosophy and real stunts made for exciting viewing and marks the first time that a documentary has won the top honours at Filminute.

The online festival audience from 124 countries, each viewer permitted one vote only, chose the Romanian comedy A NEW PRAYER for the People's Choice Award. A NEW PRAYER jousted with films from Iceland and South Africa and pipped ahead to finally win the popular vote.

The top-rated film was DARK VALLEY, an inventively frightening film from Iceland that all takes place in an SUV standing in the frozen tundra. The film accumulated a rating of 4.7 on the 5-star scale.

CHOOSE NOT TO FALL is directed by Matthew Marsh and features Daniel Ilabaca, a likeable and talented practitioner of parkour — the urban and physical discipline where athletes train to overcome any obstacle in their path by adapting their movements to the environment. Ilabaca is one of the world’s leading parkour athletes and he is transcendental in his delivery of an articulate and optimistic message against “risk free achievement running rampant in youth culture,” as one juror wrote.

John Ketchum, Filminute’s co-founder and head of jury singled out CHOOSE NOT TO FALL as the most quoted film in the festival, with many references and comments from online voters and Facebook fans repeating Ilabaca’s line “If you’re afraid of falling you fall because you’re afraid.”

A NEW PRAYER won the People’s Choice award by generating fans from dozens of countries. Director Dorin Pene takes on the gates of Heaven in a one-scene film that proved to be broadly appealing. The film playfully uses instant messaging as a comedic device, with messaged pleas to a higher power arriving and constantly interrupting the two main characters. The director’s sensibility hints at the work of both Mel Brooks and Monty Python.

12 of the 25 films generated ratings of 4.0 stars or better. DARK VALLEY at 4.7 stars topped them all. “Alien meets Iceland”, quipped one rater of the film. Icelandic director Óskar Arnarson delivers a delightful fright with the most inventive use of side and rear view mirrors to build dramatic tension. And like many masterful horror films, Arnarson’s attention to sound design and ominous shadows is no accident.

Seven international jury members judge the 25 shortlisted films and help maintain the high standards for which the Filminute festival has become known. Jurors are asked to evaluate the one-minute films with the same discipline and criteria by which they might evaluate a full-length feature film, animation or documentary. This year’s jury includes luminaries from the film, media, art and advertising worlds: Guardian contributor and film critic RONALD BERGAN; Academy Award-nominated director NEILL BLOMKAMP (DISTRICT 9); writer and director TANUJA CHANDRA; JAN LUMHOLDT of FIRPRESCI; MARK TUTSSEL, global chief creative officer for Leo Burnett Worldwide. Filminute’s co-founders John Ketchum and Sabaa Quao round out the jury.


The Filminute 2010 jury awarded commendations to 5 films ranked in the following order:


AUTO MADAR (INDIA) Directed by Vasan Bala

An assassin, already late for work, is further stymied by his inability to catch a cab.


GOODBYE MR. NICE GUY (ROMANIA) Directed by Ana Iliesiu & Matei Branea

A one-minute romantic comedy? Why not! Animation and live action are cleverly blended in this offbeat breakup story.


GUMBOOTS (SOUTH AFRICA) Directed by Bauke Brouwer

This gritty and ultimately triumphant story also distinguishes itself as the first film from South Africa to make the Filminute shortlist.


LOVE SUICIDES: PROLOGUE (MALAYSIA / JAPAN) Directed by Edmund Yeo

The simplicity of the film belies the complex story of a family haunted by the demands of the father’s ghost.


FLESH (NETHERLANDS) Directed by Maarten Rots

The persistence of a voyeur standing in the rain leads to a tense and uncomfortable confrontation.


“The range of countries and stories on the jury’s commendation list support the belief we stated when we started Filminute in 2006. One-minute films level the playing field. These films prove that no country has a monopoly on great stories,” says Filminute co-founder Sabaa Quao. “So many of this year’s films do prompt us to watch them two and three times in a row.”

This year’s award-winners were selected from a lineup of 25 films from 18 countries. The shortlist of 25 was narrowed from a field of more than 2000 film and animation screenings and submissions.

Again, Twitter and Facebook play a key role in the promotion and growth of the festival. Filminute screened the full festival collection within Facebook, as a complement to the main screening room at Filminute.com The impact of social media on film and television properties appears to affect Filminute no differently than the mainstream industry. The festival organizers pointed out that Facebook users drove 30% of the festival’s audience, up from 15% last year. Facebook-driven audiences generated an average of 5 minutes of viewing time. Twitter followers generated an average of 8 minutes on the Filminute site. “We’ll be analyzing our audience habits and preferences over the next few weeks. We expect to be make even bigger strides helping filmmakers reach more audiences, and social media will play an increasingly bigger role in that process,” says Ketchum.



Founded in 2006 by John Ketchum and Sabaa Quao, Filminute is a unique and truly international film festival run by staffers in Bucharest, London, Toronto, Vancouver, and Panama. Each year, the festival experiment with different platforms to complement the main site.


The winning films and the complete Filminute shortlist can be viewed at www.filminute.com and at www.Facebook.com/filminute. In Canada, Filminute experimented with broadband video on demand and has a channel at www.rogersondemand.com/channels/filminute .



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NOTES:



Main site: http://www.filminute.com

Facebook page: http://www.Facebook.com/filminute



Direct links to the award-winning films are as follows:



Best Filminute

CHOOSE NOT TO FALL (UK) Director Matthew Marsh


http://www.filminute.com/2010/screeningroom/index.php?id=119


People’s Choice

A NEW PRAYER (ROMANIA) Directed by Dorin Pene

http://www.filminute.com/2010/screeningroom/index.php?id=134



Top-Rated

DARK VALLEY (ICELAND) Directed by Óskar Arnarson

http://www.filminute.com/2010/screeningroom/index.php?id=120



Jury Commendations

AUTO MADAR (INDIA) Directed by Vasan Bala

http://www.filminute.com/2010/screeningroom/index.php?id=136


GOODBYE MR. NICE GUY (ROMANIA) Directed by Ana Iliesiu & Matei Branea

http://www.filminute.com/2010/screeningroom/index.php?id=116


GUMBOOTS (SOUTH AFRICA) Directed by Bauke Brouwer

http://www.filminute.com/2010/screeningroom/index.php?id=114


LOVE SUICIDES: PROLOGUE (MALAYSIA / JAPAN) Directed by Edmund Yeo

http://www.filminute.com/2010/screeningroom/index.php?id=130


FLESH (NETHERLANDS) Directed by Maarten Rots

http://www.filminute.com/2010/screeningroom/index.php?id=126

Late in the night

A post inspired by FutureSpaceMagazine late in the night .
" But we all need to slow down " and watch this movie

In the future, an Ex-Soldier is placed in virtual exercises to cure his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In the simulations, he sees glimpses of a mysterious girl, presumably someone from his past. When a Stranger appears in his facility offering answers, the Soldier finds himself once again asked to kill, this time for her...

Starring Reshad Strik, Beau Bridges, Ernie Hudson, and Rachel Specter

Directed by Christian Swegal
Produced by Ian Colhoun
Written by Benjamin Murphy
Executive Produced by Adam Hendricks
Cinematography by Max Goldman
Production Design by Zach Matthews
Costume Design by Marta Villalobos
Sound Design by Jamie Hardt
Edited by Christian Swegal & Tom Muldoon
Music by Cyril Morin

Scott Free Europe

"At a time of uncertainty in many areas of the business, and in particular in the specialty film sector in the US, we believe it is an opportune time to step up our commitment to European film-making" Ridley Scott.

The power of art to change people.

" In ‘A Letter to Elia,' airing on PBS' ‘American Masters,' Scorsese looks at two of Kazan's films — ‘On the Waterfront' and ‘East of Eden' — and the power of art to change people."

Scorsese, who is in London making "Hugo Cabret," talked about "Letter to Elia" over the phone Sunday with Susan King, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer.

Read full interview here : http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-scorsese-kazan-20101004,0,4138072.story

" Really the truth is just a plain picture " Bob Dylan Time Magazine interview

Quite a visionary

Transcript Bob Dylan TIME Magazine Interview — Documentary “Don’t Look Back”

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Dylan: You gunna see the concert tonight?

TM: Yeah.

Dylan: You gunna hear it?

TM: Yeah.

Dylan: Okay your hear it, see it, and it’s gunna happen fast and your not gunna get it all, and you might even hear the wrong words. You know? And then afterwards.. See I’m.. I wont be able to talk to you afterwards, ive got nothing to say about these things I write, I mean I just write them, I’m not gunna say anything about them, I don’t write them for any reason, there’s no great message. If you wanna tell people that go ahead and tell them, but I’m not gunna have to answer to it. And there just gunna think “well what is this time magazine telling us.” But you couldn’t careless about that either, you don’t know the people that read you.

Dylan: Cause you know, I’ve never been in TIME Magazine, and yet this hall is filled twice, you know, Ive never been in time magazine, I don’t need time magazine and I don’t think I’m a folk singer, you’ll probably call me a folk singer but to the other people..no better, cause, you know, the people that buy my records and listen to me don’t necessarily read TIME Magazine.

Dylan: You know the audience that subscribe to TIME Magazine, the audience of people that want to know what’s happening in the world week by week, the people that work during the day and can read it, its small, alright and it’s concise and there’s pictures in it, you know? It’s a certain class of people, its a class of people that take the magazine seriously, I mean sure I can read it, you know, I read it , I get it on the airplanes but I don’t take it seriously. If I want to find out anything, I’m not gunna read TIME magazine, I’m not gunna read Newsweek, I’m not gunna read any of these magazines, I mean cause they just got to much to lose by printing the truth. You know that.

TM: What kind of truths are they leaving out -

Dylan: Well anything, even on a worldwide basis, they’d just go off the stands in a day if they printed really the truth.

TM: What is really the truth?

Dylan: Really the truth is just a plain picture. A plain picture of, of, lets say a tramp vomitting man into the sewer you know? And then and uh, next door to the picture you know, is Mr. Rockerfeller or you know, Mr. C.W. Jones on a subway going to work, uh you know, any kind of picture. Just make some collagae of pictures which they don’t do, theres no ideas in TIME Magazine, theres just these facts, which too are serious, even the article on which your doing the way its gunna come out, but you see It cant be a good article because the guy that’s writing the article is sitting at a desk in New York, and he’s not even going out of his office, he’s just gunna get these 15 reporters and there gunna send him a quota.

Dylan: He’s gunna put himself out, he’s gunna put all his readers on and you know in another week, we’ll be some space in the magazine, but that’s all, it means nothing to anybody else, I’m not putting that down because people have to eat and live, you know?, but i mean at least be honest about it. I mean sure..

TM: (Inaudible)

Dylan: I know more about what you do and you don’t even have to ask me how or why or anything uh, just by looking, you know? Then you’ll ever know about me. Ever. I mean I could tell you, I could tell you, I’m not a folk singer and explain to you why but you wouldn’t really understand, all you could do, you could nod your head, you would nod your head.

TM: You could be willing to try.

Dylan: No, I couldn’t even be willing to try because, there’s certain things which, every word has its little letter and big letter -

TM: Your friend had the right word, pigeonhole.

Dylan: No, its not pigeonhole that’s not the word at all. You know every word has its little letter and big letter like the word know, you know the word k-n-o-w okay, you know the word Know capital K-n-o-w like each of us really knows nothing, but we all think we know things, alright, but we really know nothing

TM: So your saying that you know more about what I do -

Dylan: No I’m saying that your gunna die and your gunna go off the earth, your gunna be dead. It could be in 20 years it could be tomorrow, anytime, so am I, I mean it’s gunna be gone. The world is gunna go on without us.

TM: Right.

Dylan: Alright, now you do your job in the face of that and how seriously you take yourself , you decide for yourself. Okay? And I’ll decide for myself and your not gunna make me feel unhappy by anything you print about me or anything you know? Or anything like that. It couldn’t offend me and im sure you know, I couldn’t offend you. So all I can hope for you to do, is you know all of your ideas in your own head, somehow where ever they are.

TM: Do you care about what you sing?

Dylan: How can I answer that if you got the nerve to ask me? I mean you got a lot of nerve asking me a question like that, do you ask The Beatles that?

TM: I have to ask you that because you have the nerve to question weather I care.

Dylan: Im not questioning you because I don’t expect any answers from you. Do you think someone wouldn’t go see somebody if they didn’t want entertainment?

TM: Of course not.

Dylan: Who wants to go get whipped? You know. And if you do wanna go get whipped, arn’t you really being entertained? Right. So do you think anyone that comes to see me, is coming for any other reason besides entertainment, really?

TM: I could tell you people with a couple other reasons..

Dylan: Well who cares what they tell you. Who cares what anybody tells you.

TM: Well, they think they know why there doing it.

Dylan: Do you know why there doing it? People say all kinds of things, and you have to sort of weed it out, you know, can you weed it out? Well, see your not gunna learn, I can’t teach you how to weed it out. Yeah well you know I have no idea. First of all im not even a pop-singer.

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