London Surf / Film Festival has just announced a £1000 prize fund for the 15th Edition of The Shorties short film contest presented by Exhale. With a week left to enter, there’s plenty of time to add the finishing touches to that 5 minute cinematic masterpiece you’ve been brewing.
While LS/FF is a celebration of the cream of international filmmaking, The Shorties short film strand sits at the very heart of the festival and is open exclusively to filmmakers from or based in Britain and Ireland.
“We established the Shorties in 2011 as a platform to showcase the wealth of talents we have here on our shores and it’s fast become one of the most prestigious competitions for emerging and established surf filmmakers in the world,” says Festival Director Demi Taylor. “For our 15th edition we’re delighted to support homegrown creatives with three cash awards through our partnership with the good folk at Exhale Coffee. As always we’re seeking out those projects that bring a fresh perspective whether through exceptional storytelling, surfing, cinematography or creativity.”
Surfing is wide open to interpretation and filmmakers are invited to enter their shorts of up to 5 minutes in length, exploring any aspect and angle though any genre. It’s not about whether your waves are big or small, it’s about the way you choose to shoot them. Or don’t. After all there’s more than one way to tell a surf story. Shorties entries close 14th October, find more details and enter online HERE.
The shortlisted films will be premiered on the big screen as part of this year’s London Surf / Film Festival program. These stand out shorts will be considered by the screening panel - comprised of some of the most influential names in surfing and media - for prestigious awards including Shortie of the Year and Emerging Talent with £500 and £250 awarded respectively to the winners. New for this year, The Shorties People’s Choice Award is also accompanied by £250 filmmaker prize.
“Checking the surf first thing with a coffee there’s just nothing like it. All that potential in the day ahead... If you love surfing, as I do, a good surf film is always worth stopping for,” says Exhale Coffee founder Alex Higham. “That’s the beauty of The Shorties: in the time it takes to enjoy a coffee, you can get fully lost in someone else’s story - a little five-minute reset. We’re very proud to partner up with the LS/FF and help bring these amazing independent surf stories to more people."
15th Edition London Surf / Film Festival presented by Finisterre is hosted 5-7 November at the iconic Riverside Studios. A celebration of the cream of surf culture, LS/FF brings to the UK a hand-picked line up of the very best surf cinema from across the globe – documentaries to inspire, travelogues to stir up the wanderlust and cutting-edge action to blow minds – accompanied by Q+A’s, talks, good times and more.
