Betting on Shorts is a film contest with a difference, as it requires audience members to place bets on which film will be the winner. Established in 2005 as part of activities for the London Consortium’s European Summer School, Betting on Shorts has taken-on a life of its own. 2007 will see the third annual contest, and this time it’s taking place across Europe and beyond - a Eurovision of short film. This year’s theme is ‘Mad or Bad?’

See the Call for Submissions here..

The theme: ‘Mad or Bad?’
Filmmakers from around the world are invited to submit shortfilms (animation, music video, artist films, narrative films, documentary etc.) of up to 10 minutes on the theme “mad or bad”. Break the conventions, break free, break your heart or someone else’s, take drugs, become a criminal, become a victim, wherever your fancies take you – are you mad, or are you just bad? You could look at trick or treat, crime and punishment, genetics and eugenics, or: simply consider Michael Jackson.

The twist: What makes this contest different from any other shortfilm contest is that the audience place bets on which film will be the winner – however, bets must be placed before the screening. Short clips of the films chosen for BoSs 2007 will be on our website a week before the screening. In addition all contestants will be asked to write a short but informative blurb about their film and give some background information about themselves. This information, together with a still from the film will be available to the audience about 2 hours before the screening, when they will also be asked to place their bets.

The screenings:
Films will be screened on 28 November 2007 at the ICA in London. Screenings will also simultaneously take place in:
Germany (Berlin: Künstlerhaus Bethanien), Greece (Athens: Mikrokosmos Prince), Spain (Barcelona: VoidZelig), Serbia (Novi Sad: NFC Kinoklub), Slovenia (Maribor: Multimedia Center KIBLA) and Turkey (Istanbul: NOMAD @ santralistanbul/ Bilgi University).
More venues are to be confirmed in Belgium (Brussels), Dubai, France (Paris), Holland (Amsterdam), Poland (Posnan), Russia (Moscow), Switzerland (Zurich).

Awards:
Special European Jury Prize
Various Local Jury Prizes

For more information please contact Ricarda Vidal at info@bettingonshorts.com or visit the website: http://www.bettingonshorts.com/