26th May 2006

DEPICT! 2006 CALL FOR ENTRIES NOW OPEN FOR MICRO MOVIE COMPETITION

DepicT! is the short film competition which challenges budding filmmakers from around the world to make mini-masterpieces of under 90 seconds, in two categories - live action and animation. Now Watershed's popular filmmaking challenge, part of the renowned Encounters Film Festival, is inviting entries for this year's competition.

What makes this competition special?

DepicT! is open to anyone, on any budget, from anywhere in the world. Not only that but it is a huge stepping stone to further filmmaking success - see below for stories of previous winners. The brief is a challenging one that demands new ideas - BAFTA winning director Damien O'Donnell (East is East, Inside I'm Dancing) says:

"I first came across the DepicT! films on a visit to the Brief Encounters Film Festival. I was struck by the ingenuity, originality, humour and poetry of the ones I watched. It is a whole new territory in filmmaking and the people making these films are the pioneers. With low budgets, no sponsors and no impetus to sell anything other than themselves, they are the avant-garde of short films in the frenzied, instant satisfaction world of the 21st century."

So how do you engage an audience in 90 seconds? The answer might not be as obvious as you'd first think... Mark Cosgrove, who is currently Head of Programming at Watershed and Creative Director of Encounters Short Film Festival has the following advice for this year's DepicT! entrants: "Stories can be told in many different ways, that is the beauty of the moving image. Remember Jean Luc Godard's dictum 'A film must have a beginning, middle and end but not necessarily in that order'."

DepicT! encourages entries from all over the world - in 2005 films were submitted from over 25 countries, from Germany to China, Hungary to Brazil. The dedicated website at www.depict.org has handy hints and tips for entrants.

The prizes

DepicT! has formed a key part of Brief Encounters International Short Film Festival for over 7 years. This year sees Brief Encounters join forces with Animated Encounters to create one single Encounters Film Festival, combining the very best live action shorts with the cream of animation. It will be taking place from Tue 21 to Sun 26 Nov at Watershed: www.encounters-festival.org.uk

To celebrate this merger, DepicT! is re-introducing two separate Awards in 2006, one for Live Action and one for Animation (£2,000 each). The winners will also each receive a 1-year membership to LOVEFiLM.com, Europe's no. 1 DVD rental service. The DepicT! winners will be selected by a panel of distinguished industry professionals, whose brief is to uncover distinctive voices with originality, imagination, and the ability to engage the audience with a compelling idea told in a mere 90 seconds.

Previous judges have included renowned actor Pete Postlethwaite, multi-Oscar winning director Peter Jackson, Executive Producer at BBC Talent Jeremy Howe, award-winning director Damien O'Donnell, and David Sproxton, Executive Chairman of Aardman Animations. The full panel of judges for this year will be announced shortly at www.depict.org

Orange DepicT! 2006 Audience Award

Once again, we are inviting the public to vote for their favourite DepicT! films. Short-listed films will be posted on the DepicT! web site, on LOVEFiLM.com and Orange World from Mon 9 Oct '06 for you to vote. The winner of the Orange DepicT! 2006 Audience Award will take home a top of the range mobile handset and other Orange prizes and a three month membership to LOVEFiLM.com

Previous Winners

Winning DepicT! often leads to wider distribution for filmmakers. Oliver Manzi, co-winner of DepicT! '04 with 'Non-Fat' says: "Winning the jury prize at DepicT! was both great and unexpected. The win led to distribution deals with Interfilm Berlin and Dazzle UK, and both Canal+ and Studio Universal bought the rights to broadcast my short. 'Non-Fat' then received funds from the British Council to finance a 35mm print and was screened at the Curzon Soho Cinema in London for two weeks alongside the feature 'Old Boy'. It was short-listed for a number of film festivals worldwide, won the audience award at Clermont Ferrand, and was released as part of the Experience[s] 01 DVD distributed by Reperages in France."

Steven Sander, winner of the Orange DepicT! 2005 Audience Award with Screen Kiss: "Just being short-listed for the Depict! 2005 Award was a great way to meet fellow filmmakers and producers... 'Screen Kiss' went on to become one of five films to win the CFX Short Film Award and a 35mm print."

For entry rules and to download an entry form visit www.depict.org
Deadline for Entries: 1700hrs (UK time) on Mon 4 Sept '06

DepicT! 2006 is a Watershed project as part of Encounters Short Film Festival, supported by Aardman, Films@59, Orange and LOVEFiLM.com