We’re pleased to announce that so far we’ve received over 1700 entries for the second Babelgum Online Film Festival.
And there’s good news for filmmakers who have been busy during the holidays and have not yet entered the competition, as we have decided to extend the entry deadline until January 11th at 11.59pm GMT.
So if you’ve got a film, or multiple films, to enter in one of the four categories, now’s your chance.
Sign up for the Festival here, click on the “Submit your film” button, and make 2009 the year in which you win 20,000 euros ($27,000 +) in cash and an accolade from Spike Lee.
Watch this space for details of the screening and voting period, coming soon.
There are plenty of things you can do in 3 minutes: boil an egg, brush your teeth, listen to your favourite song…
But here’s something a little different: three-minute stories told by Oscar- and multiple-award winning documentary filmmakers, including Steve James (Hoop Dreams), Ross Kauffman (Born into Brothels), Jessica Yu (Breathing Lessons), Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) and many others.
If you like the sound of that, check out the new Cinelan channel, launching today on Babelgum. You’’ll find short, compelling non-fiction videos on just about any topic you could think of.
These impactful and extraordinarily-produced films will brighten up the short days of January, once all the celebrations have wound down. We guarantee you won’t be able to resist them, rather like a box of chocolates – go on, have another…
Round 3 of the Babelgum Music Video Awards has now finished, and Round 4 started today. These are the 10 winning entries which will go into the Semi-Finals phase (starting January 7th):
Insiders’ Pick:
Quio – So Dazed (Christine Lang)
Audience choices (the 9 videos with the most votes at the end of Round 3):
I am vexed – Be Wise (Leo Hobbs)
fire Zuave – Colors of the Sun (Christine Rentschler)
Farven Luft – Circus (Ulrik Gerber)
Casey Fallen – HollyWood (Casey Muller)
I Am Torn (Mark Alan Dooley)
New Umbrella (Raz Segev)
ANTI (Jostel Hason)
Maldroid – Heck No! I’ll Never Listen To Techno (Ryan Divine)
Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head – Sophisticated Side Ponytail (Luke Smith)
Well done to all the artists and filmmakers concerned!
And for everyone else, do keep voting and help pick the last batch of semi-finalists – you have from now until January 7th.
Whether you’re celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, tis the season to be jolly – no matter how much turmoil is going on in the world . So bring on the comedy: Red Green, Ricky Tomlinson and the cartoon characters of Christmas Inc. provide an alternative take on the festivities that’ll have you laughing your way into the New Year.
Now contrary to popular belief, Santa doesn’t always pull up on a sleigh… apparently in 1956 he left the reindeer at home and travelled by Flying Saucer (what do you mean you don’t believe in flying saucers?!)
Those who haven’t yet put up a Christmas tree might take inspiration from the 44 Designer Christmas Trees that went on show for charity in Paris last year, created by fashion houses including Chanel and Dior.
And if you’re daunted by the idea of cooking Christmas dinner, take a look at these tips on How to Carve a Turkey and how to serve those dreaded Brussels sprouts… and if you end up over-indulging (let’s face it, who doesn’t), Bare Beauty shows you how to detox in style.
Do you Wish it Could Be Christmas Every Day? OK maybe not. But even if you’re a Christmas humbug the hilarious outfits, big hair and facial furniture in this Seventies glam rock classic are sure to jingle your bells.
Happy Holidays to all!
Round 2 of the Babelgum Music Video Awards has now closed, and these are the 10 winning entries which now go into the Semi-Finals:
Insider Pick
Mia Riddle: Open Wide (Arlene Muller)
Audience choices (the 9 videos with the most votes at the end of Round 2):
Ostin Torre – ALIVE (Filippo Paratore)
J Ryan: Zoe (J Ryan)
Metal Guru: Big Smile (Dean Zahtila)
The Filmakers: Octopus Mantra (Angelo D’Agostino)
The Blue Glass Bird (Jisuk Jung)
Gongmoodohaga (Jisuk Jung)
[15]Amphetamine (Juan Valencia)
The Filmakers: America (Angelo D’Agostino)
The Filmakers: Taken (Angelo D’Agostino)
Well done to all the artists and directors who made it through Round 2.
Round 3 is now open and will continue until December 22nd – go to the Music Video Awards channel and cast your votes to decide the next ten semi-finalists!
Exciting news for Babelgum fans who want entertainment on the move: we’ve created a specific video platform for mobile phones. It’s available as of today for Vodafone customers in Italy and from tomorrow in the UK, for those who have a Nokia N95 or 6210, as well as the iPhone 3G in Italy only. Other new generation smart phones, starting with the N96, will be added in the near future.
Babelgum Mobile is the first service of its kind, offering free videos for both WiFi and 3G phones streamed at 250 kbit/s through Vodafone’s HSDPA network. It is being launched through an innovative partnership deal with Vodafone, to allow people to enjoy web-inspired content tailored to mobile phones. Content and traffic are totally free and unlimited for all Vodafone contract customers with data bundles.
Babelgum Mobile reflects the spirit of our web platform and is integrated with the world of social networks, so that users can post short, fun “video messages” on Facebook, vote for their favourites and share them with friends.
The editorial focus is firmly on independent film and music, comedy, animation and of course our contests to find new talent.
There are music videos from artists such as Coldplay, Robbie Williams and Kings of Leon, as well as web exclusives with Kaiser Chiefs and Franz Ferdinand among others. There are also bite-sized clips of animation, BBC nature docs and comedy such as The Office and the Mighty Boosh, and previews from the 2nd Babelgum Online Film Festival.
You can get your hands on Babelgum Mobile through the Vodafone live! portal or the App Store. For more details, click here for info in English, and here for details in Italian.
We promised we would have Babelgum ready for Mac early this week, and I’m pleased to say that it is nearly ready for release – in just a few hours in fact!
Our developers have been working hard and are putting the final touches to the much-awaited Mac version.
So, Mac users, thanks for being patient and not losing faith!
Come back 2-3 hours from now to try out the new Mac Version; and please do let us know what you think.