Call Outs + Festival Deadlines (W.C. 6 March)

Call Outs

1.Blossom Film Commission Callout

Background

In 2022 Poet Laureate Simon Armitage and the band LYR won a major commission to work with the National Trust to develop their annual blossom programme and initiate an annual Festival of Blossom. The Blossom project will see Armitage writing a suite of poems, five of which will be made into songs by LYR. The songs themselves will be used by the National Trust at their blossom sites around the UK and incorporated into their promotion of the Blossom Festival via social media and other forms of dissemination. In spring 2024 LYR will make a small tour of the UK, playing a handful of shows at National Trust sites, showcasing the new work and celebrating the arrival of the spring blossom.

Brief

As part of the commission, Simon Armitage and LYR are looking to commission five young and emerging filmmakers to make short films (in the region of three to four minutes in length). The films will work as stand-alone pieces, but each one will also work in combination with one of the five songs and serve as a music video. For that reason, the films will be visual only – no soundtrack is required from the filmmakers. We are looking for a range of different approaches, from across the filmmaking sphere of moving image – which could include mixed or experimental formats across digital, analogue (for example Super 8 film), time-lapse, animation and motion graphics.

A fee of £1,000 will be paid to each filmmaker for the finished work and to cover the licensing of the work for the purposes outlined above. The filmmakers will be expected to use the spring period of 2023 to gather any blossom-related content and material that might be necessary for their film. Once they have been assigned one of the LYR songs, filmmakers will then be expected to produce a film that works in combination with that song and to explore the themes of the song in an innovative and engaging way. Although working individually, the five filmmakers will be part of a cohort with the other filmmakers and supervised throughout. The finished films will need to adhere to National Trust accessibility guidelines and format requirements.

This is an exciting opportunity for aspiring filmmakers to work with established artists and a major organisation, and a chance to produce work which will receive major national attention across a number of platforms.

How to apply

Submit a treatment that includes an outline (maximum 500 words) of your idea for the 3–4 minute film on the theme of blossom. This does not need to be a literal interpretation, but rather a creative visual response to the theme. This could include:

• Visual references like a moodboard or lookbook or storyboard
• Equipment you will be using and media format
• Form, mood and tone
• An overview of your experience which can include links to previous work

The commissioned filmmakers will be supervised by Carol Lynn, filmmaker & lecturer at Newcastle University

Submit the treatment and information required to: carol.lynn@newcastle.ac.uk

Deadline: Friday 17 March 2023 at 12.00pm

Requirements

  • Moving image experience: filmmaking, camerawork, editing, animation etc.
  • Creativity and commitment to deliver the completed film
  • Be between the ages 18-25 About you You will need to provide the following information:
  • Name
  • Age
  • Current place of study
  • Address and contact details
  • Experience
  • Equal opportunities monitoring form (optional) https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/GV6VLMX Payment: £1000 per film (inc VAT if applicable)

Key Dates

  • Friday 3 March 2023 – Callout to student filmmakers
  • Friday 17 March 2023 midday – Deadline for applications
  • w/c Monday 27 March 2023 – Commissions awarded
  • w/c 24 April 2023 – National Trust Blossom Week
  • October 2023 – Poetry and music available to filmmakers
  • October – January 2023 – Filmmaking
  • Monday 8th January 2023 – Films to be completed and delivered

We particularly encourage applications from those currently under-represented within the UK arts sector, including those of Black, Asian or Global Majority ethnicities, those who have faced socio-economic barriers, those who identify as LGBTQI+ and those who are disabled or neurodiverse.

Home

https://www.lyrband.com

2. BFI NETWORK Shorts School March 2023

Online; Mon 13 – Thu 16 Mar

  • Price: FREE
  • Running Time: 4 days (from 1pm each day)

The BFI NETWORK Shorts Schoo is a four day Lab dedicated to the moving image, in short form.

Over the course of a week, Shorts School participants will hear insights from BFI NETWORK-funded filmmakers and meet other creatives. Whether you’re working towards your first short or sixth, Shorts School is for early level writers, directors & producers to explore case studies, creative process, navigating the industry with your short work, and everything you need to know about applying to the BFI NETWORK Short Film Fund which will reopen in 2023.

Guest speakers include:

  • Isher Sahota, writer & director (Goodnight Henry)
  • Jamie MacDonald, producer (Goodnight Henry)
  • Aminder Vardee, writer (My Eyes Are Up Here)
  • Arthur Meek, writer (My Eyes Are Up Here)
  • Nathan Morris, director (My Eyes Are Up Here)
  • Toby Wharton, writer & director (Held)
  • Marco Alessi, writer & director (The Bower)

Register your interest HERE

3. The BMW Filmmaking Challenge In Partnership with BFI

BFI has partnered with BMW UK and Michaela Coel to offer five filmmaking teams the chance to break new ground and quite literally push the boundaries of what our screens can offer.

Encouraging filmmakers to dream big and expand their ambitions, The BMW Filmmaking Challenge in partnership with the BFI is inspired by the all-electric BMW i7 and its ultra-wide 31.3-inch rear-passenger theatre screen. We’re looking for filmmakers who are excited to experiment with this new visual form and create a short film that makes the most of the brand-new 32:9 aspect ratio.

They are welcoming applications from filmmaking teams made up of writers, directors and producers in any genre or style, across fiction, documentary or animation. Under the theme ‘Evolving Perspectives’ we’re looking for ideas that aim to surprise and inspire within a duration of 90 seconds. 

Applications are now open.

Upcoming Film Festival Deadlines

1.Cork International Film Festival: 10 March

Cork International Film Festival is rightly positioned and valued at the forefront of Ireland’s film culture. By curating and presenting a programme of exceptional films, our vision is for a film festival recognised and respected around the world for its record of launching and nurturing the careers of the filmmakers of tomorrow. We celebrate award-winning films alongside emerging talent, providing a unique festival experience in Ireland, delivering a depth of engagement for audiences through the medium of film in all its diverse forms, and the opportunity to see these films first in Cork.

Cork International Film Festival is accredited by the following Awards Academies:

– Academy Awards®: winners of the Grand Prix Irish Short, Grand Prix International Short and Grand Prix Documentary Short categories qualify for the long list of the Academy Awards® for the Animated Short Film/Live Action Short Film and Documentary Short categories.

– BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television): filmmakers whose British shorts are selected for competition in the Festival’s Grand Prix International Short competition may enter their films for BAFTA consideration

– BIFA (British Independent Film Awards): filmmakers whose British shorts are selected for competition in the Festival’s Grand Prix International Short competition may enter their films for BIFA consideration. 

– European Academy Awards: Cork International Film Festival submits a short film nomination to the European Short Film Awards. 

2. Hong Kong Lesbian & Gay Film Festival: 10 March

The Hong Kong Lesbian & Gay Film Festival is the longest running LGBT film festival in Asia. We are a registered non-profit society seeking to promote equal opportunities and eliminate discrimination against sexual minority groups in Hong Kong through cinematic works of art. We program films with a wide range of LGBTQ+ topics from Hong Kong and across the world.

With the easing of pandemic restrictions in Hong Kong and no more mask mandates, we hope things will be “back to normal” later this year as HKLGFF celebrates 34 years! 

To encourage you to send in your short films, they have lowered the entry fees and set up lower fees for students! 

3. Asian American International Film Festival: 10 March

The Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF) is proudly known as “The First Home to Asian American Cinema.” Organized by Asian CineVision, it’s the first and longest-running festival dedicated to showcasing the moving image work by media artists of Asian descent for and about the Asian diaspora experience. The Festival takes place in New York City, the second-largest Asian American market in the U.S. Every year, AAIFF attracts audiences from all five boroughs of New York City, the tri-state region, and around the world.

Asian CineVision (ACV) is a media arts nonprofit devoted to the development, exhibition, promotion, and preservation of Asian and Asian American experiences through storytelling. Our mission is to nurture and grow the community of makers and lovers of Asian and Asian American independent film, television, and digital.

Films submitted and screened at the festival are eligible to participate in our National Tour program, bringing Asian diaspora stories to broader audiences across North America through a rental service for cultural and educational institutions.