2880 Film Blitz

Hi guys,

This is how student newspapers fuck up with your articles. Because the Blitz lasts 48 hours, and not 68. Cause 2880 minutes makes 48 hours. AND I GOT TO WRITE ABOUT SUONI PER IL POPOLO FIRST!!!

A film in 68 hours

The Blitz is back and the heat is on

The Link, June 12

One short film. 2,880 minutes to make it. $10,000 to win. These are the guidelines for the 14 teams participating in 2880 Film Blitz from June 15-17.

“Everyone can do it, but whether everyone can do it well under the pressure is a big difference,” explains John Christou.

The young filmmaker knows what he is talking about. He participated—successfully—in the first two editions of the competition. Christou then became a member of the jury before to get on the board of Doc-Quebec, the organization that is putting “the Blitz” together.

What started as an original fundraising event quickly became an important platform of recognition for young Montreal filmmakers.

Doc-Quebec is an organization that brings together documentary filmmakers on a national scale. Like most film companies, it operates on a tight budget. Five years ago, its board decided to create an event that would become one of their main sources of revenue.

For them, fundraising didn’t have to be dull or formal. They wanted to have fun and other people to have fun with them. And to give filmmakers the opportunity to accomplish something unique: make a film in three days.

“What’s great about the Blitz is that it forces you to make a movie in a week-end, whereas people take months and months to make even a short film,” says Christou. “To be motivated to do it is such a daunting task.”

The only rules of the competition are to stick to the theme given during the launching of the event and to keep the film within five minutes. This year, the limits have been pushed forward: the only “theme” to respect will be a five-second video-clip to insert in the film. For the first time, there will be no limitation concerning the format: film, video, even a cell-phone camera will do, a freedom that promises to tickle the creativity of the participants.

“Usually in short films, especially shot on video, if you try to follow more the Hollywood type of formula, which a lot of people try to do, it just never comes across as good as what you were imagining in your head,” warns Christou. “The ones that end up winning are the ones where people take risks and they use the fact that they don’t have a lot of time.”

Being creative with the Blitz pays. The winners not only obtain generous prizes, they also get to present their work to a crowd of professionals, making it a great opportunity to boost an incipient career, especially since the event grew in popularity over the years. There were so many subscriptions this year that the participants had to be selected by a raffle. More participants mean tighter competition.

“The quality of the films has actually gone up every year. I think people are more prepared now, and having seen what other teams have done in the past, have taken it more seriously,” says Christou. “It would be harder to win now if I would enter again this year!”

The projects from the 2880 Film Blitz will be presented on June 17 at La Tulipe (1220 Ste-Catherine E.) at 7 p.m.