straight 8

+ 1. global super 8 day 2020

10/10/20 is the 20th anniversary of GS8D (Global Super 8 Day) and the 55th birthday of super 8!

we're getting involved with the GS8D team helping connect super 8 events globally on, or around, that date

anyone anywhere can get involved - check the site out now: http://global-super8-day.info

+2 asif kapadia - writer/director of senna, amy and diego maradona is back on our jury for the 5th year in a row

despite trotting the globe on a promotional tour for his latest feature doc diego maradona - asif had time to agree to the enviable task of selecting the very best 8 of your films. the ones that will premiere at the cannes film festival in may 2020...

asif is a vocal, opinionated and now seasoned straight 8 jury member - which is just what we need. so it's awesome that he's on board for the 5th year straight. a big thank you from us

and if you haven't seen it yet, his latest feature film, diego maradona, is about the famous tour guide at macchu pichu who... OK. you know who it's about. asif will tell you about it better than we will, and this clip also contains some great comments on the documentary filmmaking process in general:

diego maradona is still in many cinemas worldwide and is available on some streaming services. try and catch it

+ 3. party tricks at sharks festival of creativity in kinsale, ireland

ed of straight 8 went to this drinking thinking festival in ireland to chair a panel discussion for cinelab london - a blather with filmmakers - about really getting down and dirty with film: scratching it, painting on it, burning it. yes! read the article complete with examples here

after the talk, at the pub, everyone who was up for it got one take on one roll of super 8 to do their best party trick. after shooting the roll, it was safely delivered to 'cinelab kinsale' (the pocket of cinelab london's adrian bull) and miraculously (professionally) made it safely to their day bath in london that monday. simples

click the thumbnail above to watch on our youtube channel

+ 4. animation dark master lee hardcastle talks straight 8

check out the claymation supremo explaining his approach and why animators should enter straight 8

we have huge respect for animation experts and their patience... which is why anyone making a 100% stop frame straight 8 gets longer than anyone else to deliver. see straight8.net/2020 for details

+ 5. straight 8 2020. 30 more places released 8th october. do you want to enter for free?

8pm uk time oct 8th we release just 30 places for straight 8 2020 as part of our rolling entry system. and when they're they're gone. till next month

everyone now gets 3 months from entry to film delivery and animators making 100% stop frame films get till march 8th no matter what

each month the prices increase. this is to spread the influx of your inspiring celluloid expressions over the year

so if you've got your idea and team ready, why not get going now!?

wait - what did we say about getting a free place? ok yeah...

we're giving away one free place, plus a roll of super 8 to shoot it on, at this link

too tacky for you? pay full price!

+ 6. in the limelight: louis bhose - director of bombay bicycle club, lewis capaldi, marika hackman music videos and "the last last supper"

louis bhose was featured in our 2018 london selection with his great film 'the last last supper' - if you haven't seen it, check it out above.

here's louis on how he made it...

"I wanted to do something that wasn't too based in narrative and thought it would be fun to come back to scenes while editing in-camera. It basically ended up being about an old guy who keeps dying, but then coming back to life. Never free of this world and then to treat it like it was all one giant hassle. A bit sad, a bit funny, a bit silly. Life!

I'm lucky to know the very talented songwriter named Fryars, who I sent a shoddy phone video of the rough film (shot alongside the super 8mm). He wrote a song based on the same themes I wrote the film about.

Make sure you HAVE BODIES AROUND. Rope some friends in to help. We were a bit thin on the ground and it made stuff a little difficult. Also, ON MOST CAMERAS THERE IS NO SIGN THE FILM HAS FINISHED. We kept shooting for like another minute after the stock had finished. Dumb first-timer."

great film for a first timer. but then look at his other work...

+ 7. straight8est hits vol 1 available to stream on our website now

we marked the beginning of this, our 20th, year with the premiere of 20 straight8est hits vol 1 back in january at london short film festival

and we just held the world premiere of straight8est hits vol 2 at the prestigious bristol based UK shorts, animation and vr festival, encounters. but that's coming soon

for now, you can (and should) check out the first two sides of this great double album from our first 20 years on our new-look films page

+ 8. some other festival-type-things we think you might want to know about

SHINY AWARDS

we like shiny - shiny like us. here's what they have to say:

Emerging directors worldwide! We want your videos - every entry gets written reviews from 3 industry VIPs and a free ticket to our next event. The best videos screen at London's iconic Spring Studios, Tues 29th Oct, PLUS added to global industry tastemaker, the #SHINYlist, PLUS shortlisted for the annual Awards. Screening judges are CANADA, Lee from Compulsory & Jen from Las Bandas Be Brave. Enter videos here: http://bit.ly/2nsCAco

In London on Oct 29th? Come along for the Q&A about stills & video commissioning opportunities - 3 brand commissioner panelists confirmed. Buy tickets here: http://bit.ly/2In7XfK

SLAMDANCE

we've screened straight 8s at slamdance before so can vouch for it being ace!

the final entry window for slamdance closes in just 2 days - on october 10th. it's a great festival supporting raw and innovative films.

get your entries in via this link.