24 Windows to Wonderland
The original online countdown calendar from Watershed is now live at electricdember.org.

Electric December 2008 Award Winners Announced - our gift to you: 24 presents and 24 premieres from a European smorgasbord of emerging cinematic skill.

On the evening of December 1st, Watershed in Bristol, UK celebrated the launch of Electric December 2008, the online seasonal countdown calendar featuring a selection box of 24 short film treats brought to you by eShed.net. In partnership with like-minded young creatives from Spain, Germany, Poland, France, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Romania and the UK, Electric December brings you a new short film each day from a smorgasbord of emerging European cinematic talent in the run up to Christmas – 24 in all which range from quirky, colourful stop-motion, 2D and 3D animations to experimental dance films and French hip hop music videos

During the launch event, two prizes were announced: the ED08 South West Award sponsored by the Real Ideas Organisation CIC and the ED08 International Award.

The South West Award winners were Josh Cawthorn and Simon Roberts, two undergraduates from the School of Creative Art at UWE, with their beautiful stop animation film, Stand and Stare (Day 1). This film won the award for “its outstanding animation, soundtrack, message and seasonal feel” as judged by members of the eShed steering group. Josh Cawthorn and Simon Roberts will be awarded a travel bursary to attend a European Young People’s Film Festival, most likely to be the SCREEN workshops at BUFFin March 2009.

The three runners up were:

• In the Gateaux (Day 3) - a comedic fairytale devised, filmed and edited by Knowle West Media Centre’s ‘Digital Fish’ film club of 13-17 year olds.
• Tacky UK (Day 5) - a skate film by Niall Kenny, James Gardiner and Ben Norberg.
• Year 5 Go to Egypt (Day 7) – an animated crazy journey to Egypt from Suited and Booted and St Michael’s Juniors, Twerton.

The International Jury Prize winner was announced as Michal Mróz from Warsaw, Poland with his surreal yet compelling and humorous animation, Drzewo / The Tree (Day 4). Michael will also be awarded a travel bursary towards attending a European Young People’s Film Festival in 2009, also likely to be SCREEN workshops at BUFF in March 2009..

The three runners up for this prize were:

• Ma Rue / My Street (Day 13) - a collective work with 150 young people from a wide range of schools in France.
• Animated Hove, (Day 9) - a short animated film about a girl who wants to find a Spinning Top, from Carousel with children from Hillside School, Brighton
• Cafe Loop (Day 19) – a soap based around an ever changing café scene by Chew TV and Exeter Phoenix

To see these films and more visit http://www.electricdecember.org

The eShed.net ED 08 trailer is now online on You Tube

The MySpace ED 08 and the ED 08 facebook group are also live so please join, sign up, post, paste, promote as much as you can…

Felix, a member of e-Shed’s steering group, said: “Electric December is a unique way to connect with other young filmmakers from different countries, cultures and backgrounds. It gives you an excellent opportunity to showcase your talents to people all over Europe and see their absorbing work in return.”

Electric December ( ED) is a young people’s media production and online exhibition platform led by a group of young people aged 14-21 - eShed.net, supported by Watershed in Bristol, UK. This year, the project has expanded from its UK focus to build a European network of young people’s filmmaking and cultural exchange by working with members of the Europa Cinemas Network (europa-cinemas.org) as part of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. Each partner has acted as a hub for their country by putting forward work made by young people or children from its respective country involving young people in the selection process.

The project celebrates the diverse range of short film work which is being produced by young people from across Europe - often done behind-the-scenes - yet which is key to developing an appetite for cinema and media amongst young people. To access Electric December ‘08 flyers, posters and graphics that you can customise, etc, go to the DOWNLOAD SECTION.

For further information about Electric December, please contact: electricdecember@watershed.co.uk

See above some images from last year’s Electric December launch in Bristol, UK and here’s what some of the young people involved in last year’s project had to say about it:

“It [Watershed] ’s an exciting place to work. And gives me a sense of importance and focus.”

“I thought the launch was great, well planned and damn snazzy!”

“I’d like to see it get bigger. More submissions from lesser known countries within Europe and the British isles.”

FFI on last year’s ED project, refer to the ED07 evaluation report: http://www.electricdecember.org/ED07reportfinal.pdf

Meet the Eshed team behind Electric December

eShed.net is run by a steering group of young people who attend weekly meetings at Watershed. These dedicated young budding film and media types make all the key decisions about the future of eShed.net, Shedloads events and projects such as Electric December. The planning and organisation for this year’s Electric December is all coming together and the e-shed steering group at Watershed, have now made their selection of the 24 films, out of over 40, that will be included in this year’s calendar. They’re a really interesting mix of drama, documentary, and both drawn and model animation, that have come from 8 European countries. E-shed have also been dreaming up how we can celebrate both the 10th year of Electric December and the inclusion of Europe in the project at the launch event at Watershed on December 1st.

Contact the eshed team directly at info@eshed.net
Visit our eshed’s sites: MySpace page and YouTube page

The eShed.net ED 08 trailer is now up on You Tube

The eShed steering group meets to discuss possible designs for this year’s calendar. To follow their progress, visit eshed’s contributor blog.

“I feel that ED is a really exciting project for a young person of my age to get involved in. I think that it’s full of promising opportunities to really get involved, have fun, but also get a great work ethic for the future.” - Amy Phelps, eShed Member

“ED is a brilliant opportunity for young people all around europe to share ideas, inspiration and culture through film. It gives young people a huge platform to express their ideas in a unique showcase that spans across many different countries, cultures and backgrounds.” - Sam Woodcock, eshed volunteer.

“The ED project is totally new to me, but already I’m excited about future prospects and how everyone is working together to make a truly amazing event which will provide a connection for cultures and people to get together to share views and ideas.” Jacob Dyer, newest eShed steering group member

About Europa Cinemas:

Electric December ‘08 involves a selection of European venues that are part of the Europa Cinemas Network - 44 countries, 393 cities, 686 cinemas, 1703 screens. Created in 1992, thanks to the financing from the MEDIA Programme of the European Union and of the Centre National de la Cinématographie, Europa Cinemas has become the first cinemas network with mainly European programming. The network provides financial support to cinemas that commit themselves to the programming of a significant number of non-domestic European films and to the organisation of promotional activities concerning European films for young audiences. Thanks to the support of Eurimages and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the activity of Europa Cinemas has extended to eastern European countries. Thanks to the support of Euromed Audiovisuel of the European Union, the network has been set up in 12 Mediterranean countries, offering support to the promotion, distribution sector as well as to the exhibition of European and Mediterranean films.

About The European Year of Intercultural Dialogue (EYID) 2008:

Europe is becoming more culturally diverse. The enlargement of the European Union, deregulation of employment laws and globalisation have increased the multicultural character of many countries, adding to the number of languages, religions, ethnic and cultural backgrounds found on the continent. As a result, intercultural dialogue has an increasingly important role to play in fostering European identity and citizenship.

The European Year of Intercultural Dialogue (EYID) 2008 recognises that Europe’s great cultural diversity represents a unique advantage. It will encourage all those living in Europe to explore the benefits of our rich cultural heritage and opportunities to learn from different cultural traditions.

The Year will feature a small number of flagship projects on a European level, as well as EU support for a national project in each Member State, and a Partner programme aimed at mobilising civil society. The active involvement of civil society will be essential in highlighting good practices and identifying needs in intercultural dialogue. Well-known ambassadors have also been appointed to raise awareness of the importance and benefits of intercultural dialogue.
The European Year of Intercultural Dialogue (2008) was established by Decision N° 1983/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council. (18 December 2006).