TIFF in collaboration with Instagram has launched the TIFFxInstagram Shorts Festival, a digital shorts competition, which invites aspiring and established filmmakers from around the globe to upload their original 60-second-or-less short using Instagram video. Competition opens today; deadline for submissions is July 20, 2016. To submit, upload your entry on Instagram with hashtag #TIFFxInstagram and complete the submission form here.
“TIFF’s commitment to discovering and developing emerging filmmakers is unwavering,” said Piers Handling, director and CEO of TIFF. “Our collaboration with Instagram is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the work of filmmakers from all over the world and discover up-and-coming talent through the world’s largest creative digital community, showcased by the world’s largest public film festival.”
Marne Levine, chief operating officer of Instagram, said, “More than 500 million people are using Instagram each month for visual inspiration and creative expression, including video. Over the last six months, the total time people spent watching video on Instagram has increased by 150%. Filmmakers are already taking advantage of this platform to promote their work and to create films for the Instagram community. We are looking forward to be collaborating with TIFF to celebrate the craft of short filmmaking through the TIFFxInstagram Shorts Festival.”
TIFF programmers will select 30 finalists, which will be showcased on TIFF’s website and Instagram channel from August 8 to 17. A six-person jury comprised of film industry professionals and influential Instagram community members will then select one winner for Judge’s Choice Award. Judges include director Ava DuVernay (Selma) (@directher); writer-director Xavier Dolan (Mommy, I Killed My Mother) (@xavierdolan); music video director and photographer Nabil Elderkin, (Kanye West’s “Mercy”, John Legend’s “All of Me”) (@nabildo); and stop-motion animation artist Rachel Ryle (@rachelryle). In addition to the jury awards, online audiences can vote for their favorite film by liking it on Instagram. Voting closes August 17. The film with the most “likes” will receive the Fan Favorite Award. Awards will be announced August 18.
More judges and prizing will be announced in the coming weeks.
Snubs and Surprises In Oscar Nominations
In one of the more wide-open Oscar fields in recent history, there were plenty of nominations surprises Thursday. Not too long ago, it seemed that people like Angelina Jolie and Nicole Kidman were destined for best actress nominations, while general audience disinterest in the young Donald Trump movie "The Apprentice" might have indicated its awards chances were dead on arrival. But the members of the film academy had something different in mind. Here are some of the biggest snubs and surprises from the 97th Oscar nominations. SURPRISE: Jeremy Strong and Sebastian Stan, "The Apprentice" The young Trump movie "The Apprentice" has been one of the bigger awards season question marks, especially after it failed to resonate with moviegoers in theaters. And yet both Jeremy Strong, for his portrayal for Trump lawyer Roy Cohn, and Sebastian Stan (who was also in the conversation for "A Different Man" ), for playing the future two-time president, made it in. Only Strong got nominated by the Screen Actors Guild. SNUB: Marianne Jean-Baptiste, "Hard Truths" This will forever be one of the more confounding awards season oversights. Marianne Jean-Baptiste delivered one of the all-time great performances in Mike Leigh's "Hard Truths," as the perpetually aggrieved and sharp-tongued London woman Pansy. The general thinking is that it was either going to be Jean-Baptiste or Fernanda Torres, and Torres got in for the equally beloved "I'm Still Here." SNUB: Pamela Anderson, "The Last Showgirl" This is perhaps up for debate, but there was certainly a lot of goodwill behind Anderson's movie-star turn in Gia Coppola's "The Last Showgirl," especially considering her SAG nomination. But like with Jennifer Lopez and... Read More