The Next 50 Civic Action Committee seeks video submissions for a new filmmaking initiative, “A Story Runs Through It,” which invites residents of all ages to create visual tales featuring Seattle’s neighborhoods and communities. Films will be accepted through Aug. 31. Entrants must be 13 years of age or older to enter on their own, and entrants younger than 13 can have their film entered by a parent or guardian.
A Story Runs Through It aims to capture Seattle’s civic fabric, engage communities in the art of filmmaking as a means to develop their own future narratives, and establish closer ties between Seattle neighborhoods. Participants will develop short videos of up to three minutes, with a minimum running time of 60 seconds.
Filmmakers may approach their topics through a variety of techniques including interviews with subjects, histories of events or locations, mythologies, fictions, examples of good works or local agents of change, and neighborhood needs or improvements. Filmmakers may also feature any region of the city, regardless of their residential address.
The first phase of the project encompasses the theme “Know Thyself,” in which stories focus on one Seattle-area neighborhood. Participating films are eligible to move on to the second phase, “Know Thy Neighbor,” in which films are shared and created between neighborhoods. Selected participants will receive modest cash awards and the opportunity to screen their videos at a festival in October and at other Next 50 events in 2012.
Submission requirements, rules, resources and more are available at the project’s website at www.thenextfifty.org/filmproject. For additional information, contact Karin Butler at Karin.butler@seattle.gov.
