The Do-It-Yourself film festival for the Do-It-Yourself filmmaker
By Andrea Archibald, staff writer

MONTREAL (RPRN) 07/10/2009—The second annual Montreal 60 second film festival, aptly-named M60, is set to kick off tonight, July 10. The festival, an unadulterated celebration of filmmaking, does away with the standard judge-jury-prize format, instead accepting films from any and all, from first-timers to Academy Award winners, as long as they stay within the required 60 second format.

All films are then pieced together and screened as a single film, forming a kaleidoscope of interpretations on the given theme.

“M60 is a festival that celebrates the best parts of cinema: good movies, big premieres, the spurs of the moments,” explains one organizer, Sean Michaels.

Why 60 seconds, you may ask? “You only need 60 seconds to make a masterpiece,” explains Michaels, who, along with Toby Harper, Douglas Hollingworth, Lily Lanken, and Sylvan Lanken, launched the annual event last summer to sell-out crowds across all three screening nights and rave reviews.

“The idea came on the eve of the lunar eclipse in 2008. No joke,” says Hollingworth. “We were all sitting around Sala Rossa [where the event is to take place] talking. It was originally conceived as a film that was a series of 1-minute parts.  As we got talking, we decided that it would work as a film festival.”

Last year’s theme, ‘In a Montreal Minute’, brought out films from Oscar-winner John Weldon and filmmakers who have worked on such critically acclaimed movies as Roadsworth, Who is KK Downey, and 300.

This year’s theme, a much-discussed guarded secret, will finally be announced at tonight’s launch party. Filmmakers then have exactly one-month to write, shoot, edit, and submit their 60-second films.

“It was originally supposed to be 60 films of 60 seconds, but due to overwhelming demand we upped it to 90 [last year] and now this year we have a cut off of 120 films,” explains Hollingworth.

Tonight’s party is an opportunity to learn about the festival, chat with organizers and filmmakers, hang out with fellow film lovers, and celebrate cinema.

Registration, starting tonight at 9:00 pm, will take place during the kick off party. As usual, there are no registration fees, and participants will be accepted on a first-come first-serve basis, up to 120-signatures.

Launch & Registration Party
Friday, July 10th
La Sala Rossa, 4848 boul. St-Laurent
Montreal, Que.
9:00 pm – Free

M60.ca