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Filminute is the internationalone-minute film festival dedicated to presenting, promoting and awarding one-minutefilms. Filminute was founded in 2005 and the inaugural festival ran in September 2006. Filminute looks for films that deliver a well-balanced equation of content,acting,dialogue,storytelling,photography andsound design. Filminute accepts films from the categories offiction,animation,documentary andmashup.
The annual festival and competition runs during the month of October (Filminute 2021 ran from 15 October to 15 November). An internationaljury consisting of people from the fields offilmmaking,literature,art andcommunications is responsible for the awarding of Best Filminute.Audiences worldwide are invited online to view and vote for the People's Choice Award.
Filminute 2006 featured submissions from 25 countries. Best Filminute honours went to Anton Groves for his UK-Romanian productionLine. The People's Choice Award was won by Wayne Campbell for his UK productionIt Could Be. According toEkow Eshun, artistic director of London'sInstitute of Contemporary Arts and Filminute 2006 jury member, Filminute "demonstrated a high level of polish and a strong and exciting progression in user-generated content. Filminute has raised the bar in its first year and I am very interested to see how high the bar can go".
Filminute 2007 generated submissions from 45 countries. The jury-awarded Best Filminute went toKristina Grozeva'sGame (Bulgaria), while the People's Choice was awarded toSiddartha Jatla'sMissing (India). During an October 2007 television interview with Filminute co-founder and executive director John Ketchum,CBC journalist and hostEvan Solomon described Filminute as "the future of modern storytelling".
Filminute 2008 drew submissions from 60 countries. The jury-awarded Best Filminute went to Oli Hyatt'sStitchUp Showdown - Gym Jam (UK) and The People's Choice was awarded to Pici Papai'sQuick (Hungary). The 2008 festival attracted a great deal of media attention including that of Wired.com whose headline ran, "If those sprawling three-minute YouTube clips seem to drag on forever, Filminute, the international one-minute film festival, might be right up your alley."
Filminute 2009 drew submissions from 55 countries. The jury-awarded Best Filminute went to UK's Phil Sansom & Olly Williams for their filmBlack Hole. The People's Choice was awarded to Canada's James Cooper forLife. The 2009 festival drew many positive reviews including byRonald Bergan inThe Guardian which praised Filminute's collection of "technically impressive mini-movies" and the festival's commitment and focus "on story".[1]
Filminute 2012 marked the second time an animation won Best Filminute, with Director Ant Blade'sChop-Chop (UK) taking the top prize. As well, Ant Blade was only the third filmmaker in the festival's eight-year history to have two films shortlisted in the same year. The People's Choice award was won by Ben Jacobson for his smirk-inducing dramaCandy Crime (UK). In addition to a record 134 countries tuning in to see the films, and a surge in the number of comedies, 2012 also saw the festival's eastern presence grow with strong shortlisted films from Lithuania, Georgia, Turkey, and Russia.
Filminute 2013 welcomed American independent filmmakerRichard Linklater andFIPRESCI film critic Carmen Gray to the jury who, together with the other members, awarded Best Filminute honours to Dutch filmmaker David Stevens for his excellent documentaryM-22. At the same time, the big story at the festival's 8th edition was Martinique filmmakerKhris Burton's filmMaybe Another Time, which won the People's Choice and Top Rated awards, as well as finishing first in the Jury Commendations. It was the strongest finish ever for a single film at the festival.
At Filminute 2014,[2]Ignacio Rodó's thrillerTuck Me In (Spain), won the jury-awarded Best Filminute. The People's Choice award went to André Marques' filmGrandpa (Portugal), which also impressed with a Jury Commendation, a runner-up ranking for Top Rated, as well as the inaugural Cineuropa Audience Award.
Filminute held its 10th anniversary in 2015 with Guillaume Renusson's French sign-language filmA Minute of Silence winning Best Filminute. Multiple Filminute award-winner Khris Burton returned to take the People's Choice award for his filmNanny (Martinique). And the Top Rated award went to Romania's George Molesag for his dramaRematch.
Filminute 2016 featured the Taiwanese filmmakerHou Hsiao-Hsien on the jury. Together with authorJohn Vaillant, FIPRESCI journalist Barbara Hollender and others, the jury awarded Best Filminute honours to Rohin Raveendran's filmPaijana (India). The French animationVoltige won the People's Choice Award.Cutting Room by Canadian directors Nathan White and Richard Colmer won the Top Rated award.
Filminute 2017 included on its juryBaronessa Beatrice Monti, the founder and president of theSanta Maddalena Foundation, theTuscan writing retreat that has partnered with Filminute since the inaugural festival in 2006. Through its partnership with Women In Film, Filminute also included Ghanaian-American film directorPriscilla Anany. Together with their fellow jurors they awarded Best Filminute honours to Iranian directorKaveh Jahed's migrant thriller,A Share of a Share. The People's Choice award went to American director Jin Ryu for his docu-dramaMegan. The Top Rated award went toComic Relief by Colombian director Carlos Andres Reyes. Filminute 2017 also saw the launch of the first Filminute Development Prize, sponsored by CineCoup.
Filminute 2018 welcomed to the jurySebastian Lelio, winner of the 2017 Academy Award (Best Foreign Film) for ‘Una Mujer Fantastica.’ Alongside the award-winning Colombian writer Juan Gabriel Vasquez, the ground-breaking American talent agent and producer Nikki Weiss-Goldstein, and others, the jury chose South Korean director Nuri Jeong's deftly directed thrillerEdge of Seventeen for Best Filminute. Argentinian director Alejandro Itkin's corruption taleAir Time received top honours from the public, and the Top Rated award went to Iranian director Mahdi Borgian for his touching filmSoul Mate. Nuri Jeong also took home the CineCoup sponsored Filminute Development Prize.
Filminute 2019 featured a strong female jury presence including: prolific, award-winning French editor & directorAnne Goursaud; American PEN award-winning fiction writer Maile Meloy; acclaimed Canadian Executive Producer, Indira Guha; and the respected TurkishFIPRESCI film critic, Alin Tasciyan. Together with rest of the jury they awarded Best Filminute to French directors Merick & Gohu for their powerful and original migrant taleI Am Not Afraid. The People's Choice Award was won by Uruguay's Facundo Sosa for his chilling look at the future of immigration entitledUno de Nosotros. And the Top Rated award went to Spanish director Manuel Martin Merino forSearching his light-hearted and comedic look at dating in the digital age. Hungarian director Regős Ábel won the Filminute Development prize for his action-packed discrimination dramaThe Tenants.
Due to the worldwideCOVID-19 pandemic, Filminute 2020 was postponed.
After the worldwide pandemic forced the postponement of the 2020 festival, Filminute 2021 returned with a strong international jury and 25 films drawn from over 3,000 entries. Led by Filminute Executive Director John Ketchum, influential Turkish filmmakerPelin Esmer, and prolific Canadian animatorAnne Marie Fleming, the jury awarded Best Filminute to Iranian director Moein Rooholamini for his moving refugee drama,Leo. And for only the second time in the festival's history, one film,Uncounted, by Colombian director Carlos Andrés Reyes, was awarded both the People's Choice and Top Rated awards.Uncounted also received the first jury commendation, completing a spectacular run for a deeply moving film about a mother's love for her children set against the backdrop of drug cartel-inspired violence. It was the second Top Rated award for Carlos Andrés Reyes following his 2017 win forComic Relief.
Filminute 2022 featured a predominantly female jury led by Canadian producer and directorMiranda de Pencier, Romanian filmmaker Cecília Felméri,FIPRESCI film critic Marta Blaga, and Film and Festival Sholar Dr. Estrella Sendra. Along with the Filminute jury team they awarded Best Filminute to Georgian animator, Petre Tomadze for his incredibly powerful domestic abuse drama,Night Session. It was only the second time in Filminute history that an animation won the top award. The People's Choice award, amazingly, also went to a Georgian animation: Khatuna Tatuashvili's delightful, emotional ode to the love of cats,Oh! Mother, Mother... Filminute 2022 also saw the inauguration of its Best Performance award, won by Jana Errando for her superb comedic timing and pent-up turn inPaper-Thin Walls.