The top three films have been announced for the second ever ITN Source Short Film Competition in association with Sheffield Doc/Fest and Audio Network.
The finalists are:
- Adam Forrester, an Assistant Professor of Art from Columbus, Georgia
- James Arthur Armstrong, a film critic and filmmaker from Liverpool
- Matthew Sanger, an Archive Producer for TV/film productions, concerts & events from London.
Their short films will be screened at the Showroom cinema at Sheffield Doc/Fest from 10-15 June 2016.
Festival attendees will have the opportunity to vote for their favourite via the Sheffield Doc/Fest website and the winner will be presented with a cheque for £1000 at the festival’s awards ceremony on Tuesday 14 June.
ITN Source challenged filmmakers to create a one minute short film using archive material from ITN Source and music from Audio Network. There were no creative constraints, and in this year’s brief entrants were also given the opportunity to include up to 10 seconds of self-shot footage.
Yet again we have been blown away by the calibre of all 86 films submitted this year. We always love to see the unique and imaginative ways filmmakers use our footage to bring their stories to life. Amy Bigmore, Marketing Executive at ITN Source
‘Marfa, Texas’ by Adam Forrester
“Growing up in the American South, a region of the globe where stories often function as currency, I quickly became aware of the value of storytelling. I was blown away by the amount of fantastic footage to be found within the ITN Source archive. So much of this footage was beckoning me to come up with a narrative to string it together. What I was really interested in with this short film ‘Marfa, Texas’ was utilizing archival footage to blur the lines between myth and reality. The actual place of Marfa, Texas is a perfect setting for just such a mirage. Early in my career in filmmaking, I was living in Los Angeles, California and drove from Georgia to Los Angeles in about a week. The voiceover is a voice mail I kept from the other person that made this journey with me. Stopping in this bizarre, new place of Marfa, Texas was like a bizarre dream, and I think connecting such disparate events as you see here from the ITN Source archive is closely related to what happens when we ourselves dream and wonder.”
‘Ferguson, Missouri’ by James Armstrong
“I earned a bachelor’s degree in Animation and quickly began making short films for next to no-money, making approximately 12 short films in the space of 2-years. I found the films of Martin Scorsese and John Cassavettes inspired me to become a rule-breaking filmmaker who tackled controversial and socially aware topics. Last year I was made aware of the ITN Source Short Film Competition by a friend of mine who thought it would be a good opportunity for me. I saw potential in the story of the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014. What piqued my interest was the sheer lack of humanity shown by police and authorities, and the outrage that ensued. The impact of social media was at the forefront of this unrest and really struck a chord with how powerful Twitter and Facebook can be — for good or bad. Today, the events of Ferguson are still being felt; America is still under the microscope regarding issues with racism. The unrest in Ferguson is merely the tip of the iceberg.”
‘Mask’ by Matthew Sanger
“Rich Hubbard (who edited the film for me) and I both work at the TV production company Nutopia. We thought the ITN Source Short Film competition would give us the freedom to experiment and produce an independent film without the usual constraints of television. The inspiration for ‘Mask’ came from an interest in the idea of people concealing their identities by hiding behind masks. I viewed a lot of riot and protest footage during the research for this film and noticed that it’s not only the demonstrators and rioters who wear the masks these days but also the police. This blurs boundaries, adding confusion as to who the ‘good guys’ are. The ‘Anonymous’ mask is also an interesting phenomenon – originally styled on the Guy Fawkes mask and then lifted from the novel and subsequent film ‘V for Vendetta’, it’s been adopted as the face of counter-culture and protest. It’s now central to the online hacktivist group ‘Anonymous’ and various other anti- establishment protests around the world. However, ironically it’s Time Warner Inc., the multinational entertainment conglomerate, who produced the ‘V for Vendetta’ movie who profit every time a mask is bought.”