There’s not a lot you can achieve in sixty seconds. Send an aggressive email, wiggle your toes, maybe anger your girlfriend. But a film? Shirley that’s too big an ask for even the sharpest editing cowboy. The average trailer is twice that length and they rarely offer a shadow of the plot (except for the Meet the Parents franchise, who manage to condense every available gag). But judging by what THN saw at the DISS awards this weekend, less truly is more. Tasty whiskey giants Jameson have teamed up with EMPIRE magazine for another year challenging film fans to strip away the Hollywood fodder and re-invent their favourite movie in just one minute. On Saturday the 25th of March, charlatan’s that we are, THN got all fed and watered (with oddles of Jameson, naturally) at the official award ceremony, held in London Film Museum.
THE KINGS SPEECH director Tom Hopper was originally booked to judge but was left indisposed in LA, leaving us with an Oscar-inspired video apology. The shortlist of 24 spectacular (and generally hilarious) submissions were put to the great deductive powers of panellists Chris O’Dowd (otherwise known as Irish Roy from the IT Crowd), DOG SOLDIERS director Neil Marshall and EMPIRE’S editor in chief, Mark Dinning. The bitesized screenings flashed by but each managed to hold its own. As judge Neil Marshall explained, “I don’t care if it’s a Robocop made from boxes or high-tec CGI, all the nominees need is a bit of soul”. Clearly the selection panel for these 24 shared the same view, it seemed the production value of each 60 second gem varied massively. From THE EXORCIST in plasticine to a full blown effects for AVATAR, it wasn’t a fat budget that won audience favour, it was having a film with a bit of heart.
Subjecting such carefully crafted works to criticism was a difficult task for judge Chris O’Dowd. Before the panel announced their top 5 nominees, he took the stage to spur on those who didn’t make the cut, “don’t be discouraged, you make think ‘they’re idiots for not picking my thing’ and I am here to vindicate that, you’re right” he said. Of course, his words were a little on the slurred slide thanks to endless helping of the gold stuff, but it was still quite touching. See his ‘I have a dream’ moment here:
And after all that, a succession of compuerised envelopes revealed their top 5 selection:
1. THE EXORCIST (“your momma stacks shelves in Morrisons!”) by Lee Hardcastle-UK
2. INDIANA JONES (with a very patient dog) by Samuel Heiligers, Frej Bengtsson and Stefan Lundaahl-Sweden
3. 127 HOURS (the extreme version) by Maeve Stam-Netherlands
4. THE LION KING (be warned, there is a change this could ruin your childhood) by Michael Whaite-UK
5. AVATAR (but it won’t rob 2 and a half hours of your life) by Valentina Karochkina-Russia
The best movie morsel was chosen at the awards tonight we can reveal the winner was……127 HOURS by Maeve Stam. A heartening choice given she was up against some pretty high-budget 1 minute remakes. Maybe art really can survive on a good idea. The Jameson Empire awards offer young film-makers, and first timers an opportunity to build on an idea and make it their own. We know better than anyone else how important it is to use film an interactive medium. Now in its fourth year, the submissions just keep getting better. For advice on how to take part in the DISS competition click here. Personally, I to challenge you to recreate JJ Abram & Steven Spielberg’s SUPER 8 for DISS 2012, it’s on!
*PHOTOGRAPHY BY GETTY IMAGES*
