The Miami International Film Festival is holding an online short film competition for college students to gain entry into this spring's festival as part of the "Florida Focus" program.
The MIFF is calling its inaugural contest CinemaSlam. Short films created by undergraduate and graduate students of Miami Dade College and several area universities will compete online at
miff.openfilm.com.
Online voting began on December 7 and continues through January 28, 2011.
The films, capped at 20-minute running times, represent a mixture of narratives, documentaries, experimental works and animation created since September 2009. Three films from each institution will be selected as CinemaSlam finalists in an American Idol-style voting contest, with 50 percent of the score determined by online public voting and 50 percent determined by a select group of faculty member judges. The winning film from each school, plus the grand prize winner of "Miami Student Film of the Year," will be selected by MIFF's Florida Focus jury. CinemaSlam winners will be announced and screened on March 9 at the CinemaSlam Awards Ceremony during the 28th edition of the Miami International Film Festival, which runs March 4-13, 2011.
The top winner will be automatically entered in Openfilm's second annual nationwide "Get It Made" competition for $50,000 in cash, $450,000 in financing to turn the student project into a feature-length film and free professional advice from Openfilm's board of advisors, which includes acting legends Robert Duvall, James Caan and his son, Scott Caan, star of the CBS breakout-hit remake of Hawaii Five-O.
CinemaSlam Key Dates & Deadlines:
Online Voting: December 7, 2010 – January 28, 2011
Finalists Announced: February 1, 2011
Winners Announced: March 9, 2011, during the CinemaSlam Awards Ceremony of the Miami International Film Festival (venue and show times TBA).