An annual countdown calendar showcasing
the best of young people's short films
Electric December is Watershed’s original end of year online showcase of young creative filmmaking talent from across Europe. On this page you can view some fantastic filmmaking and other digital treats from thirteen years of previous Electric Decembers and find out more about entering a film for Electric December 2012.
Are you a young European filmmaker (under 21) or an organisation working with young creatives? Have you made a short film (under 5mins) this year already or are you thinking of picking up a camera for the first time?
Submit your film(s) into this high profile annual online showcase of shorts by new talent from across Europe!
Get your work out there, viewed by your peers and some of the most influential people in filmmaking – not only online
at electricdecember.org but also through the official Electric December DVD, the UK’s BBC Big Screens and at the high profile Electric December launch as part of Fresh Flix (November 2012, Bristol, UK.)
Deadline: Fri 28 September 2012
Young people from Bristol, including BTEC Media students from Fairfield High School and Redland Green, co-curated 2011’s Electric December. 24 highly original short films were selected for 2011's countdown calendar – you could find yourself in a Bangladeshi folktale, a Bristol boxing gym or back at school in a detention with a difference.
Young people from across Bristol, including students from Fairfield High School, helped shape 2010’s Electric December. They selected 24 mini masterpieces for you to watch and enjoy from over 100 entries from 10 countries.
A group of young people from eShed (a Watershed-hosted project for 14-21 year-olds who love film) worked in partnership with young people from Vilnius, Lithuania to select a diverse range of films for you to unwrap throughout the December – watch and enjoy!
In 2008 Electric December showcased films made by young people from across Europe. These films were hand-picked by young people in Bristol in partnership with young creatives from Spain, Germany, Poland, France, the Netherlands, Lithuania and other regions of the UK.
With more and more people generating great content for the web - particularly young people, Electric December 2007 showcased some of the freshest films and animations made by young people (14-21), not only from Bristol and the South West but also from around the rest of the UK.
Electric December 2006 took the theme of ‘wishing’ as inspiration with Bristol-based schools, colleges, organizations, individuals and creative companies getting together to create a huge range of films, animations, games, and interactive pieces.
Contributors interpreted a theme of Connecting Bristol in response to the Government's Digital Challenge. In the seventh year of Electric December, contributors included media companies, arts organisations, community groups, artists and educational organisations.
In 2004, Electric December again spanned the South West reflecting the digital creativity and talent resident in the region. Focusing on education and out of school groups, contributors interpreted a theme of Transformation reflecting the redevelopment of Watershed.
The fifth year of Watershed's seminal digital advent calendar sees the project getting bigger and better as creatives, schools, artists and groups from Cornwall & Plymouth join with Bristol & Bath contributors to double the fun.
This year's contributors are the largest and most diverse group yet. A varied mix of creative companies, schools and young people, community groups and artists, who have come together to produce 24 digital delights.
This year's contributors have each interpreted life in the city at a particular hour of the clock. Over the 24 days of Electric December 2001 a picture of city life gradually assembles as we travel from 0100hrs on Sat 01 Dec to midnight on Mon 24 Dec.
Electric December 2000 is an advent calendar that looks to 2001 and imminent broadband networks, it looks forward creatively to the future and offers a taste of what is to come. A live webcast by Bristol saxophonist Andy Sheppard also featured this year.
Electric December was launched in 1999 as a "31-day selection box of fun and festive 'virtual chocolates', produced to celebrate Bristol's creative energy at the start of a new millennium".
Young filmmakers of the future from eight schools were at Watershed at the beginning of March for a workshop designed to get them inspired to create short films for Electric December. The workshop gave schools a rare opportunity to make a short film on a low budget, and included sessions on all the essentials: storyboarding, camera and editing training and live pitching.
Young people from Fairfield High School and Redland Green School, Bristol have co-curated this year’s Electric December. Find out what Electric December means to them and what they gained from being involved.
Below is a selection of five films from recent Electric Decembers.
To view more films, games, animations and interactive pieces visit previous Electric Decembers to the left.
Electric December is a Watershed project with support from Bristol City Council as part of Fresh Flix 2012
Fresh Flix 2012 (Sep – Dec 2011, Bristol, UK) is presented by Encounters International Film Festival and Watershed
Electric December, Watershed, 1 Canon's Road, Harbourside, Bristol, BS1 5TX
Tel: +44(0)117 9275100
Fax: +44 (0)117 921 3958
Email: electricdecember@watershed.co.uk
