Screen Shot of the OIFF site, www.oiff.ca
If the Ottawa International Film Festival’s 72-Hour Film Challenge was a blog post, it might look a little somethin’ like this:
“Hey, it’s Ryder!” proclaimed a voice in the nerd crowd at an Ottawa IT Fashion Week soirée. At the sound of his distinctive southern drawl, I jumped up immediately, surprised that my friend was home early from Taiwan. In my excitement, I sent a nearby display of hockey sticks crashing down on my lovely companion. Usually a well-behaved
public relations film enthusiast, she screamed from the bottom of the pile and muttered,
“It is true, a ship is safe in the harbour but that’s not why ships are built.”
The Challenge? Ottawa filmmakers were assigned a seemingly random assortment of things, topics, and quotes, and were then sent away for 72 hours to incorporate all criteria into video masterpieces. As attempted in my story above, challengers strung together subjects as distinct as hockey sticks, “Ottawa IT Fashion Week,” and travel to Taiwan, and created a collection of local films. Check out the eclectic list of criteria here.
The best part? Now that the films have been submitted and posted online, the OIFF wants you to watch and vote for your favourites. All films will be screened at the Lieutenant’s Pump on January 27, and the top three will be featured at the OIFF’s summer festival, August 17-21, 2011.
According to Nina Bains, Exec Director of OIFF, the Challenge is a fun way to get filmmakers and film aficionados out of their winter ruts.
“We do it every January,” she says. “It’s a way to get people moving after the holidays, including myself.”
It’s also an innovative initiative to nurture filmmaking in Ottawa. “There are no limits on participation,” says Bains. “This 72-hour challenge is geared towards all levels of filmmakers.” The laid-back screening at the Pump is also good for connecting film enthusiasts, and many of this year’s filmmaking teams met eachother at previous challenges.
Wishing you could have played too? The OIFF’s next speed challenge will a music video competition at their summer festival.
Vote online before January 26th at midnight. ALL films will be screened at 6:30 pm on January 27th, 2011 at the Lieutenant’s Pump, 361 Elgin St. Arrive early to get a good seat!
