Call for entries: “ACTION!” Film Festival 20072 min read

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The Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) has teamed up with the Tourism Board (STB) and Intel Corporation to organise a national filmmaking competition entitled “ACTION!”.

Designed to spur filmmakers to create works that showcase Singapore through film, the “ACTION!” Film Festival 2007 calls for submissions that show Singapore in a unique light, with identifiable aspects such as cultural diversity, building structures or landmarks in the form of a scripted short film.

Event co-sponsers Adobe and JVC have also provided equipment for contestants, such as video cameras and Intel Core2 Quad-based PCs. Contestants can still, however, choose to use their own equipment. The film festival also hopes to highlight to the general public the ease of creating their own videos through the readily available high-performing PCs and the affordable DV camcorders, along with a suite of video-editing applications.

“Filmmaking is no longer just the preserve of hardcore industry professionals with their high-cost cameras and video-editing equipment,” explains Patrick Liew of Intel Corporation, Singapore. “The barriers have come down, and that has given rise to the phenomenal growth of video content that’s popular on Web 2.0 sites everywhere. What’s interesting is that videos are becoming more creative and richer, fuelling demand for better-performing PCs, higher definition video camcorders and richer multimedia application suites.”

To demonstrate the latest advances in digital media technologies, the “ACTION!” Film Fest 2007 incorporates a series of workshops open to all contestants, where they can observe demonstrations on how to capture and edit their videos using the latest technologies using JVC digital camcorders and Intel-based Quad Core PCs using the recently launched Adobe Premier Pro CS 3 application. The workshops will be held at newly opened Virtualand on the East Coast from October 19-27.

Respected director Jack Neo pitched in with his two-cents worth, pointing out that these tools and skills could help any filmmakers, “big or small”, to “share their vision with the public”. He added: “I’m hopeful we’ll see tremendous creativity and talent from this exciting event that shows the best side of Singapore.”

All entries should be in by 7 November 2007, and will then be judged by an expert panel (which includes Jack Neo) at an outdoor screening in Clarke Quay, 24 November 2007. The winners will walk away with $30,000 worth of cash and prizes. For more information, visit the official website.