NEW YORK / LONDON (April 26, 2010) – After evaluating a shortlist of eligible films, the professional jurors of the 3rd Babelgum Online Film Festival (BOFF3) – Carlos Battilana, Jean-Pierre Bekolo Obama, Richard Linklater, Shooting People Patron Sally Potter, Annie Sundberg, Eric Watson and Jason Wishnow – announced today the BOFF3 Jury Award winners, which will screen for the public on April 28th (SV2 Theater, 9:30pm), during the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.
Annie Sundberg said “I was encouraged by the quality of the films and I’m happy to see the mission of the festival more and more fulfilled. An online and mobile competition focused on seeking out and rewarding emerging filmmaking talent has been long overdue.”
Fellow juror Jason Wishnow added “I was honestly captivated by many of the films in competition, which were eclectic but all unique in style. Choosing a definitive winner from so many fun, surprising and technically accomplished shorts was the toughest part of an otherwise enjoyable process”.
The Babelgum Online Film Festival, run in association with Shooting People, was created to celebrate and reward the very best in international independent short filmmaking by providing international exposure and significant cash awards for emerging talent. This year’s festival broke new ground, not only in terms of the quality of submissions in every category, but in the truly global origins of the
competing films. Shortlist filmmakers hailed from Taiwan, Ukraine, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, India, Romania, New Zealand, Germany, Canada, Argentina and the United States.
The Winning Films Are:
Animation category
Jury Award Winner
“Shadows & Dust” Shooting People Member Jon Dunleavy (U.K.)
Runner-up
“Bottom of the River” Shooting People Member Alasdair Brotherston and Jock Mooney (U.K.)
Stoli Emerging Filmmaker Award
“Nature IT” Marek Straszak (Poland)
Audience Award
“Bruce McCall’s Clear Conscience” Jonas Diamond (Canada)
Narrative category
Jury Award Winner
“Where the Monsters Go” Shooting People Member Van Poynton (U.K.)
Runner-Up “The Last Piece” Shooting People Member John Dayo and Bola Agbaje (U.K.)
Stoli Emerging Filmmaker Award “Love Seat” Shooting People Member Jennie Allen (U.S.)
Audience Award “A Hustler’s Finale” Carey Westbrook (U.S.)
Non-narrative category
Jury Award Winner
“Not with a Bang” Alessandro Amaducci (Italy)
Runner-up
“Cine-Reminiscence” Chi Lungzin (Taiwan)
Stoli Emerging Filmmaker and Audience Awards
“Hungerford: Symphony of a London Bridge” Shooting People Member Alex Barrett (U.K.)
Documentary category
Jury Award Winner
“Families on Trial” Shooting People Member Raj Yagnik (U.K.)
Runner-up
“In Recovery” Shooting People Member Claire Reynolds (U.K.)
Stoli Emerging Filmmaker Award
“Under the Covers with Chip Kidd” Rachel Talbot (U.S.)
Audience Award
“Mark Webb – BMX Champion” James Harrison (U.K.)
Best Viral Short Award Winner
“Probably …” Shooting People Member Kate Anderson (U.K.)
Grand Jury Award Winner
“Beyond the Clouds” Lee Phillips (U.K.)
Jon Patricof, Chief Operating Officer, Tribeca Enterprises, stated “We’re pleased to partner once again with Babelgum, a friend and supporter of the Tribeca Film Festival, to celebrate the third edition of its groundbreaking online film festival with a reception and public screening right here in New York City. We share a common mission with BOFF, highlighting the work of globally based independent filmmakers through new platforms”.
Over 35,000 people viewed more than 275 films in the competition and over 10,000 votes were cast via the Babelgum web and mobile platforms during the twelve-day voting period. Approximately ten films in each of the four categories – Animation, Narrative, Non-narrative and Documentary – were shortlisted and made eligible for cash prizes totalling USD24,000 with the final decisions being made by the jurors. The winning films can be viewed on Babelgum’s site and on the Babelgum mobile platform along with all the films entered in the BOFF3 competition, including the Audience Award winners.
Karol Martesko-Fenster, SVP, General Manager of Babelgum’s Film Division, said “We were especially fortunate this year to be collaborating with Shooting People on all aspects of BOFF3, and to have recruited such an accomplished professional jury, all working filmmakers based in places as far-flung as Austin, Los Angeles, London, Peru and Cameroon. Their participation allowed for a truly deliberative process that reflected a range of interests and passions as varied as those of our multinational competitors”.
“It’s been an exciting few weeks, leading up to the culmination of BOFF3″, said James Mullighan, Creative Director of Shooting People, from New York.”Everyone at the Babelgum Team should be very proud – there’s been genuine industry buzz, and our members have gotten very involved. And quite right too – there’s no other online festival that so well unearths the newest emerging talent”.
Festival Jury
Carlos Battilana Producer (The Blindness of the Woods, Amauta Project), Jean-Pierre Bekolo Director/Producer (Quartier Mozart, Les Saignantes, Aristotle’s Plot), Richard Linklater Writer/Director (Before Sunrise, School of Rock, Me and Orson Welles), Shooting People Patron Sally Potter Writer/Director (Orlando, Yes, RAGE), Annie Sundberg Director/Producer (The Trials of Darryl Hunt, The Devil Came on Horseback, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work), Eric Watson Producer (Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain), and Jason Wishnow, Director/Curator (Oedipus, Director of Film & Video, TED).
Categories
Animation Shorts – stop-motion, anime, hand-drawn, CGI, paper-cut, or any other animation form (5 min max.); Narrative Shorts – story-based, fictional live-action films in any genre (comedy, drama, etc.) (15 min max.); Non-narrative Shorts – visual, experimental, artsy live-action films (5 min max.); and Documentary Shorts – cinema verite, observational, presenter-led, narrated, real-life storytelling (15 min max.)
Awards
The Stoli Emerging Filmmaker Award is presented to a new or emerging filmmaker who displays clear and outstanding achievement through direction, animation, writing, and/or camerawork in any of the four categories; The Audience Awards are presented to an outstanding film receiving the highest number of votes determined solely by the voting totals from the global Internet and mobile Babelgum audience; The Best Viral Short Award is presented to an outstanding film with “viral” potential and a running time of less than 3 minutes. The winner receives a USD2,000 cash award; The Jury Awards are presented to an outstanding film in each of the four categories, determined by members of the Jury. Four first-place winners receive a USD3,000 cash award and four second-place winners receive a USD1,000 cash award; The Grand Jury Award is presented to an outstanding film chosen by members of the Jury. The winner will receive a $6,000 cash award.