UK ANIMATION WINS BEST FILMINUTE
Top honours also go to Hungarian and Romanian productions at Filminute international one-minute film festival
LONDON/BUCHAREST, 12 October 2008 — Maniacally competitive sock puppets, an innocent take on the proverbial “quickie,” and a sci-fi rendering of the wonders of antacid take top honours at Filminute, the international one-minute film festival. The 2008 Filminute Awards were announced today at a live event at the Orange Concept Store in Bucharest and on a televised special on ShortsTV in Europe.Filminute’s seven-member international jury awarded the Best Filminute to UK director Oli Hyatt’s animated romp STITCHUP SHOWDOWN – GYM JAM. Produced by Blue-Zoo and Nickelodeon, Hyatt’s animated film features sock puppet warriors in a death-defying gym work out.
Determined by a worldwide audience from more than 90 countries, Filminute’s People’s Choice Award goes to Hungarian director Pici Papai’s QUICK, which looks at an adult relationship through the eyes of children.
This year’s Top-Rated film is IMMERSE, the animated, Romanian/UK co-production directed by Anton Groves. A nano-technological take on acid-reflux relief, IMMERSE scored 4.2 stars out of a possible 5. A repeat winner at Filminute, Anton Groves won Best Filminute in 2006 with the one-minute film Line.
The Filminute 2008 Jury is also responsible for the presentation of five jury commendations. The nods from the jury went to:
NEW ORLEANS FOR SALE, directed by Brandan Odums, USA
THE HOBBYIST, directed by Justin Waite, UK
BELGRADE, directed by Mark Nava, Serbia/USA
RAHIM MURGE PE MAT RO, directed by Devashish Makhija, Rajat Nagpal, India
BIRTHDAY PRESENT, directed by Markus Virpio, Finland
The 2008 winners were selected from the Filminute line up of 25 films from 16 countries which were shortlisted after a review of more than 1500 films, animations, and mashups.
The 2008 Filminute jury was comprised of
- Academy Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Paul Haggis (Crash, Million Dollar Baby)
- David Kennedy, co-founder of the Wieden + Kennedy advertising agency
- Dr. Andrea Dittgen, editor of the German daily, Die Rheinpfalz, and board member of FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics); award-winning novelist and journalist
- Francisco Goldman (The Long Night of the White Chickens, The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed the Bishop?)
- Taketo Oguchi, editor-in-chief and publisher of Japan’s SHIFT magazine; and Filminute co-founders John Ketchum and Sabaa Quao.
“No country has a monopoly on good stories, and the People’s Choice award winner, QUICK, helps affirm that belief,” says Quao “The film jockeyed for position against RAHIM MURGE, STITCHUP SHOWDOWN, and SUPPORT from mid-September right through to the finish. That’s Hungary, up against India, the UK, and Iceland. The breadth of voters beyond just local fans in Hungary made the difference and that speaks to the quality of the story and to the film’s international appeal. You’ll see new details in the story each time you watch QUICK and you begin to appreciate the mastery of the director in delivering that film in one take.”
The 2008 edition of Filminute has been an unprecedented success, with audiences from 94 countries logging on to the main Festival site to view the collection of one-minute films. The online audiences, combined with the views of the site from broadband publishers, television specials in France, Belgium, Luxembourg (with ShortsTV France) and Romania (PrimaTV), and digital installations, cinema screenings, and mobile downloads at Selfridges in London, amount to close to thee million views of the films and related content. Filminute also launched its own network on the Adobe Media Player which festival organizers point to as an important broadband channel for future development.
The fourth edition of Filminute will be held September 1 through 30, 2009. The submission deadline is August 20, 2009.
Founded in 2006 by John Ketchum and Sabaa Quao, Filminute is a unique and truly international film festival. Filminute has vaulted past its online beginning and become a truly cross-platform media and entertainment property. The 2008 edition of Filminute held live events in Bucharest and cinematic screenings in London. Filminute’s international television broadcast properties are hosted by Peter Shinkoda, from Vancouver, Canada, with segments produced around the globe. Filminute thrives with minimal infrastructure, employing a handful of staffers based in Bucharest, London, Toronto and Vancouver.
Quao pointed to the sponsors as being a major factor in enabling Filminute to expand its global reach. Content delivery was provided by Limelight Networks which, having just streamed coverage of the Olympic Games for NBC, is one of the world’s most robust content delivery networks. The marquee screening venue in London was provided by Selfridges department store, which showcased Filminute in a customized cinema in the Ultralounge and a digital installation at the Wonder Wall.
Ketchum and Quao thanked all of Filminute’s sponsors and underlined the support of Selfridges, Limelight Networks, Adbeast and Orange.
The winning films and the complete Filminute shortlist can be viewed at www.filminute.com
Fun Filminute Facts
- A worldwide audience from 94 countries watched one-minute films and related content at Filminute.com and partner sites close to three million times.
- On average, a request to view a film was made every 20 seconds.
- Traffic to www.filminute.com came from the continents as follows: 55% Europe, 31% North America, 12% Asian traffic to the site.
- Tuesday was the most popular day to watch one-minute films.
- The most popular time of day to watch one-minute films at www.filminute.com was 10AM in Los Angeles (1PM in New York, 6PM in London, 7PM in Zurich, and 10:30PM in Mumbai), leaving Filminute organizers to ponder whether one-minute films go best with morning coffee breaks, lunchtime distraction, or after-dinner discussions.
- Top 12 One-Minute Film Fanatical Cities: 1-Bucharest; 2-London; 3-Budapest; 4-Vancouver; 5-Toronto; 6-Zurich; 7-Montreal; 8-Frankfurt; 9-Berlin; 10-Los Angeles; 11-Delhi; 12-Mumbai
- Top 12 One-Minute Film Fanatical Countries: 1-Romania; 2-USA; 3-Canada; 4-Germany; 5-UK; 6-Hungary; 7-India; 8-Slovakia; 9-Russia; 10-Switzerland; 11-Spain; 12-France
