Electric December annual online advent calendar calling for entries
Online 1st - 24th December Shoot, Share, Show
Deadline for entry: Monday 12 October 2009
Young People Across Europe
Get ready – Electric December, Watershed’s original end of year online showcase of creative talent, is back, led this year by an international team of young people from across Europe.
We’re calling for all filmmakers under 21 from Europe that have made a short film or are thinking about picking up a camera for the first time to join us, get involved, and help us create the content behind our webby windows to wonderland.
Your films will be in good hands: Watershed has electrified the world’s imagination for over a decade producing Electric December. Every year, electricdecember.org receives thousands of hits from over 90 countries worldwide. In 2008, thanks to the support of the European Commission, Electric December showcased shorts by young people from across Europe for the first time in its 10-year history as part of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue.
Work is already going on behind the scenes to make 2009 the best year ever, within the wider context of European Year of Creativity and Innovation. Young people from eShed.net, Bristol, UK and Skalvijos, Vilnius, Lithuania are working collaboratively to set the agenda for the project, thanks to the European Commission for their support through the Youth In Action programme.
The Bristol and Vilnius groups recently spent three days at Watershed working hard and playing hard producing trailers and posters for Electric December 2009 and soaking in the sights of the city. Later on this year this international steering group will regroup online to hand pick the 24 mini masterpieces that will be the content for this year’s calendar and to decide who the lucky winners are. They’re looking forward to receiving snappy shorts from other like-minded folk across the continent! Follow their diary online at: electricdecember.org/09/diary.
Adibah Iqbal, a member of eShed, said:
Working on electric December has been a wonderful experience, which has opened many doors for me. Having worked with young filmmakers from Lithuania, I have gained a very good friendship, and a deeper understanding of organising a film festival. Working with e shed was very fun and I hope to take part in other advents they will be holding in the future.
This is a unique opportunity for young people to get their work out there, viewed by their peers and some of the most influential people in filmmaking – not only online, but through the official Electric December DVD, the UK’s BBC Big Screens and at venues and festivals in the UK and beyond.
Last year’s winners received a travel bursary to attend BUFF Young People’s Film Festival in Malmo, Sweden and took part in workshops, met key people in the industry, screened their films in a cinema and generally had a fantastic film-filled weekend. We have similar treats in store for the eventual winners of Electric December 2009. For further information on how to submit film(s), log on to electricdecember.org.
Hurry, the deadline for entry is Monday 12 October 2009.
