Every year, the shortlisted DepicT! Filmmakers are given the opportunity to network at the Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival (18-23 Sept 2012) where they get to meet distributors, producers, funders, exhibitors, other filmmakers and, of course, enthusiastic short film fans. The role of Encounters for the development of short-film careers is paramount  -   ‘The cinematic Trojan horse returns, smuggling short film-makers into the big league, even more so now it’s a qualifying festival for the Oscars and Baftas.’( The Guardian on the Encounters Festival 2011)

DepicT! is now in its thirteenth year and we pride ourselves on the quality of our little gems. Just make sure your tiny film is hugely distinctive, imaginative and engaging.

Previous DepicT! winners have regularly gone on to be screened at other international film festivals and been picked up by commercial distributors, and some have carved themselves successful careers in the film industry – even being recognised as Stars of Tomorrow by industry magazine Screen International. Sarah Cooper from the magazine and a member of the International DepicT! Jury in 2011 says about the festival: ‘With a host of talented UK and international short film-makers mingling with buyers, producers and industry bigwigs, it felt like a great place to make contacts, talk business and spot potential stars of tomorrow…

The 2011 DepicT! winner Nick Fogg shares her take on the competition:

“It’s brilliant, and very exciting! There’s been such a positive response to the film so far. And hopefully it will now be screened in lots more places. DepicT! is a very accessible competition with a fantastic set of prizes. The DepicT! Award is an amazing prize to win, and the prize money will be a huge help towards the budget of my next project. Thank you DepicT!”

You have until Mon 9 July to upload your short film which gives you plenty of time to read the rules and also get a little inspiration by checking out our archive of over ten years of snappy shorts. If you have any questions or comments don’t hesitate to drop us a line on depict@watershed.co.uk

PLUS: Our friends at Shooting People, the international networking organisation dedicated to the support and promotion of independent filmmaking, are offering every filmmaker who submits a film into DepicT! a discounted membership!

Now time to put that thinking cap on, go out and make those films!

A huge thank you to the sponsors, partners and supporters of DepicT! who enable us to run the competition, and also to all the filmmakers who submit their 90 second films without which we wouldn’t have a competition!

Keep up to date with the latest DepicT! news…
On Twitter @EncountersSFF @wshed @dshed
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Do you have a film that’s longer than 90 seconds? Filmmakers and animators from around the world are invited to submit to the 18th Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival competition between 1 March – 6 June 2012 for a chance to win a major prize or a prestigious award nomination including BAFTAs, Cartoon d’Or, European Film Awards & Oscars® for which Encounters is a qualifying festival. For more info, visit: encounters

Singapore’s very first independent cinema, Sinema Old School, will hold its last screenings on Saturday 17 December 2011.

Film lovers will be able to catch the award-winning films “Red Light Revolution” (M18), a humorous film about a Chinese man who opens a sex toy shop in his conservative hometown, as well as the emotive drama “Breath” (M18) from Korea, along with the Korean coming of age film “Spring, summer, fall, winter and spring” (M18) over the weekend.

Although many people think that the screenings will mark the closure of Sinema Old School, co-founder Nicholas Chee says this is simply a misconception – Sinema Old School still has six months on its lease, which will see it remain open till mid 2012, after which it will close to make way for redevelopment.

“The last screening is this Saturday, but we have six more months [after that], we are not doing programmed screenings but we are going to make a lot of events happen,” said Chee, explaining that the authorities had earlier generously granted Sinema Old School a six-month extension on their lease, in addition to the one year extension they received previously.

“We are talking to film festival programmers to do film festivals here.”

“The whole idea is that we want the last six months to be ultra exciting, go out with a huge bang.”

A fruitful four years

Chee isn’t upset about Sinema Old School’s impending closure and preferred to look at what it had achieved so far since it began operating in 2007.

“We have seen a number of films that have been screened here that may not have had a chance [otherwise], and a lot of Singapore films have gone out to other places because of our contacts.

“We have made some contribution towards creating a platform [for filmmakers]. If you are an independent filmmaker, you know that you can show your film here,” said Chee.

But for him, Sinema Old School’s biggest triumph was that it had been a good space for people from all creative disciplines to come together and build a more exciting creative industry in Singapore.

New chapter for Sinema

Chee said it won’t be the end of the road even after Sinema Old School closes.

The team which operated the cinema will still stay together to develop Sinema TV, an independent public service webcast channel set up in April on YouTube, while they hunt for a suitable place for a new cinema.

According to Chee’s associate Jillyn Koh who manages Sinema TV, their YouTube channel will “give a new meaning to public service broadcasting” in Singapore and create “independent, purposeful content” that educates people as well provide regular glimpses of what life is like here.

Despite the strong focus on growing Sinema TV, film buffs and Sinema Old School fans will be happy to know that Chee and his team is determined to set up a new cinema, which would double as an important physical space for creative minds to meet.

Chee says he already has an ideal place in mind which, if they can obtain it, will be much more accessible than Sinema Old School’s current address.

Still, he believes that having such a space will be for naught if people are unwilling to step up and tell their stories.

“At the end of the day, people have to come together, put good ideas into practice and not be afraid to create,” said Chee.

via Channelnewsasia

World Event Young Artists (WEYA) is the first of it’s kind and will take place in the cultural city of Nottingham, England in September 2012.

This global event will showcase a selection of the best international creative talent, across the spectrum of art forms, in one city, providing an opportunity for 1000 artists from 120 nations to join together and share their creativity on an international platform.

SCYA (Singapore Contemporary Young Artists) is the official partner for WEYA 2012 and host for this Open Call for aspiring young film makers, visual artists and poets from ages 18 to 30 years old. This will be an exciting opportunity for artists to be showcased and to represent Singapore in an international and prestigious setting!

For more details, please visit their website or facebook page.

Film-makers, Visual Artists & Spoken Word Poets submit your best works from now till the deadline 20th Jan 2012!

Sex Volunteer (R21)
Date: Sat, 10 Dec 2011, 9.30pm
Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2011, 3.30pm (with post-screening Q&A from 5.30pm – 6.3pm – Free Entry. RSVP not required.)

The film has also been invited to several prestigious film festivals including the upcoming Houston International Film Festival, Singapore International Film Festival, Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Films and Reel World Film Festival.

Directed by Cho Kyeong-duk,
Korea | Drama | 2010 | 123mins | Korean (with English subtitles) | R21

Helmed by director Cho Kyeong-duk, received the Humanitarian and International Jury award at the Sao Paulo International Film Festival in 2009.

Starring Jo Kyeong-ho, Lee Yoon-ho, Han Yeo-reum and Hong Seung-gi, is about the discovery of an organization that offers sex to disabled people.

A group of three people, a young female student, Ye-Ri, a disabled handicap, Chun-Guil, and a priest, gets arrested in a hotel room for a suspected prostitution. During police investigation, the group claims that the girl was a volunteer, a sex volunteer.

Chun-Guil, who can not use arms or legs, has taught himself to become a poet. However, he failed to express his feelings to his first crush. He also fails to meet his online date due to her family’s objections.

Feeling desperate and knowing his death is imminent, Chun-Guil confesses to the priest that he wants to feel a sexual pleasure in his life time. As the priest contemplates Chun-Guil’s confession, Ye-Ri, a young film student, comes to the light.

Ye-Ri, who’ve made a short film about red light districtprostitutes, wants to create a film about “sex volunteering” based on her own story…

Post-Screening Q&A
Speakers for Sun 11 Dec 5.30pm to 6.30pm (Free entry. RSVP not required.)

Michael Switow, Moderator
Michael Switow is an anti-poverty campaigner and freelance writer/producer.  He is a co-founder of  ONE (SINGAPORE) [http://www.onesingapore.org/] which is dedicated to raising public awareness and taking concrete actions to Make Poverty History — and serves as a representative on the Global Council of the world’s largest anti-poverty coalition, the Global Call to Action Against Poverty [http://www.whiteband.org/]

Wong Yock Leng, Speaker
Wong is equipped with 16+ years of experience in both social work and NGO work, having spent 7 years in Hong Kong in an international NGO on students’ empowerment/development. has also worked on issues on women workers in Asia Pacific, migrant workers, sex workers in Hong Kong/China.

Brian Bergen-Aurand (Assistant Professor), Speaker
Brian Bergen-Aurand teaches film and critical theory at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, where he specializes in the relationship between film, ethics, and embodiment. He earned his PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Maryland College Park in 2004 with a dissertation entitled Seeing and the Seen: Post-Phenomenological Ethics and the Cinema. His most recent articles have appeared in Journal of Information Ethics, Journal of Intercultural Studies, New Review of Film and Television Studies, Photovision, Romance Studies, and CineAction. Currently, he is completing a book entitled Cinematic Provocations: Ethics, Justice, and the Body and compiling The Encyclopedia of Queer Cinema. He is the former sex and gender editor at Clamor Magazine.

After its blockbuster success in India, Aamir Khan starrer 3 Idiots is all set to get a Hollywood remake.

“We are in talks with 3 studios in Hollywood and one company in Italy for the remake of 3 Idiots,” Vinod Chopra told PTI on the sidelines of the ongoing International film festival of India (IFFI).
 

And that’s not it. The film, which released in India in December 2009, is all set to explore other markets. It is releasing in Mainland China with a whopping 900 prints next week.

“Its a first for any Hindi film to release with so many prints in China. It is also being adapted into a stage musical in Taiwan. The film has already made 2-3 million dollars in Hong Kong,” said Chopra.

The film is also getting a Chinese remake.
“The director of Kung Fu Hustle Stephen Chow is also remaking it in Chinese. My films are made with universal values so they connect with audience all over the world. I am hoping my next Ferrari Ki Sawari also tastes the same success.”

Ferrari… starring Sharman Joshi is a film about a father-son relationship and will release in April next year.

via hindustantimes