SHORT FILM COMPETITION RETURNS BIGGER AND BETTER

ciNE65 is back for a second run, and this time, it's bigger and better, said its organisers.

The second season of the short film competition, or ciNE65 II, will see the addition of a new award category - the Inter-School challenge trophy, and a new Best Animation technical award. This means that there are now 20 awards across three award categories up for grabs, up from 17 in its first run in 2011.

Film-making workshops, seminars and field trips have also been lined up to help aspiring film-makers develop their potential in film-making. To date, close to 200 have participated in activities such as visiting production house Infinite Studios and hearing from veteran director Jack Neo on film crafting.

"We want to provide avenues for people to tell their stories," said Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) George Goh, deputy director of organiser Nexus at Objectifs, a visual arts centre that focuses on film-making and photography, on 9 Apr. Nexus is the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) department that is responsible for Total Defence and National Education.

On why the organisers decided to bring ciNE65 back after a year's hiatus, LTC Goh said: "We had a great run in 2011. There was so much talent and that gave us a lot of confidence to come back this year... We hope that more Singaporeans will have a chance to watch these films."

A platform for budding Singaporean film-makers, both local and overseas, to share stories about Singapore through the timeless medium of film, ciNE65 is "about creating over time a repository of films about Singapore to engage Singaporeans to love Singapore better", explained LTC Goh.

For instance, independent film-maker Mr Ray Pang, who won Overall Best Film and Best Editing (Open Category) in the first season of the competition, also went on to win the Young NTUC You are only young once' award given out by the Very Short International Film Festival with his winning entry The Team. His other short films have also made their rounds at the Japan's Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2012 and the 66th Cannes Film Festival post-ciNE65.

Mr Pang, who has been making films for the last seven years, said of his ciNE65 experience: "I gained more visibility on the local circuit, and it has definitely opened more doors for me."

This year's theme I'll be there for you, Singapore is a call to Singaporeans to reflect on the things that remind them of the reasons they call Singapore home. The organisers hope to strengthen Singaporeans' connection to Singapore through the different interpretions of the theme.

Eleven films have been submitted since ciNE65 II's launch on 20 Feb with Going Away, directed by Temasek Polytechnic student Tariq Mansor, garnering the most views so far. The film is about a young lady on the cusp of making an important decision.

For the amateur director, ciNE65 is a good platform for local film-makers to not only share, but learn as well. "You learn from previous winners and you try to make it your own by applying it to your films. This kind of friendly competition helps film-makers to go out of their boundaries," said Tariq.

In the process of producing the film, Tariq not only learnt how to communicate more effectively with his actors to "fish out their emotions", he also explored the things that made Singaporeans unique, which led him to appreciate and love Singapore more.

While the current number of submissions is a distance from the 72 films that were submitted in the first run, LTC Goh said that they are expecting more submissions in the weeks to come. "The numbers are not the most important thing. We are after great stories about Singapore to touch and engage Singaporeans," he said.

This year's edition of ciNE65 also sees technology giant Panasonic and film distributor Golden Village coming on board to sponsor prizes and air time respectively. For example, shortlisted films will also be screened at Golden Village cinemas.

The closing date for submission of films is 12 May, and the winners will be announced in an awards ceremony in July.

Participants can submit their films through the Student Category, open to students who are studying full-time in local educational institutes, or the Open Category, open to Singaporeans, both local and overseas, and non-Singaporeans residing in Singapore. To find out more about the film competition and to vote for your favourite entries, visit www.cine65.sg.

New awards at ciNE65 II

Film-makers have a few more reasons to submit their films about Singapore to ciNE65 II as this year's competition boasts more awards and recognition for participants.

For example, the Best Animation award joins the list of technical awards to be given out as part of the Jury's Choice award category this year, bringing the total number of technical awards to be given out in each submission category to eight.

The grand prize of an overseas trip to a regional film festival, which was previously awarded only to the winners of the Overall Best Film award in the Student Category, will also be given to winners of the same award in the Open Category.

An Inter-School Challenge trophy will also be awarded to the school with the highest number of quality entries submitted by teams made up of members from the same school.