You have to feel good about winning in an industry competition whose creators freely admit is a “terrifying process”. Mr+Positive is a winner in this year’s straight 8 shootout. And this year the terrifying process was made even more formidable by Covid. Entrants had to comply with both the competition’s tough rules and Covid’s tough production restrictions. As normal, each film had to be shot on one roll of super 8, edited in-camera only, with no post-production, and therefore no opportunity to tweak it or even see it before its global YouTube premiere. This year, strict lockdown conditions also had to be followed.
Both the Gold and Bronze awards went to Japan. The Silver went to Spain:
Bronze Winner: Mr+Postive, Tokyo with “Shoseph”. Donating bronze prize fund to The American School in Japan.
Credits:
Director & DoP: Andy Nagashima
Starring: Ikeda Big Baby & Aya Apton
Producer: Anna Briand Hashimoto
Executive Producer: Peter Grasse
Special thanks to: Yojiro Suda, Toshiki Yashiro, Vinod Vijay
Comment from Peter Grasse, executive producer, Mr+Positive:
“straight 8 shootout is the Olympics of fresh filmmaking, and it’s not been postponed. I’m thankful they stayed the course courageously and kept the boat afloat through the storm. The premiere was the pinnacle for our young team of state-of-emergency filmmakers. Over the moon 🌝 and grateful for the win!!”
Comment from Andy Nagashima, director & DoP, Shoseph:
“There is a playfulness, almost youthful spirit to making a straight 8 film. The limitations of the competition – especially this year’s isolation edition – brought me back to my childhood, making videos in-camera on my father’s camcorder. While for Shoseph, each shot was meticulously planned, timed, composed, and lit, the script-writing process was just as unbound and fun as those memories 20-odd years ago in my neighbour’s driveway.”
Silver Winner: Yolafilmo, Barcelona with “Face Me”. Donating silver prize fund to Beyond Blue Mental Health Charity.
Gold Winner: NION, Tokyo with “Stay Tricky”. Donating gold prize fund to 1% for The Planet.
This year’s competitors in The Isolation Edition were adamandeveDDB, Caviar, Iris Worldwide, JAM VFX, Partizan, Rockhound (all from London), Blur Films + 24/7 (Madrid office), Yolafilmo Productions (Barcelona), Voces Imaginarias (Mexico City), Mr+Positive and Nion (both from Tokyo), Gloria Content and 432 Films (Los Angeles).
The team at straight 8 replaced its annual cinema premiere in Cannes with a live YouTube format in which it live-streamed the work of thirteen creative companies from around the world. The stream included Ed Sayers and Alex Glynn from straight 8, in two different sheds in different parts of the UK delivering an experience similar to their popular Cannes event. The unscripted format included live attempts to surprise-Skype the winners and featured silly trophy clips starring Monty, the dog of one of the team at partner company: The Machine Shop.
Director, Tomoyuki Kujirai of Nion commented, “During isolation, there must have been a lot of people who thought about their roots. That’s when I found my fingerboard. I built different sections using old items that are precious to me, and simply played in them. Under the influence of COVID-19, the economy and the range of activities are shrinking, so ‘you can still have fun at your home by changing the way you think’ was the concept of this film. I did not think I was going to win this contest, so I was simply astonished!”
straight 8 founder, Ed Sayers, added, “We’re over the moon. It feels like we’ve been on a mad journey together with all the companies that entered and partnered this shootout. The road was more than rough at times and we all got through it and managed to deliver a real show despite the conditions. That’s when great bonds are always made and they really have been. And that’s what it’s all about. The straight 8 ‘family’ continues to grow and everyone is invited. I can’t wait to launch another shootout, after we get our breath back.”
straight 8 began in 1999 when director, Ed Sayers, asked friends to have a go at making a short film on one cartridge of super 8 each – with no waste, at a 1:1 shooting ratio. The films were screened in London’s West End to a packed audience, projecting off Super 8 with audio playing from cassettes.
Since launching straight 8 shootout in 2016 with APA London and Cinelab London, its success has been proven at four Cannes premieres, at Ciclope, and Adfest. straight 8 shootout online #1 took place December 2018 with companies from USA, Canada, Argentina, London, Cape Town, Johannesburg and Tokyo tuning in to see their work online at 2pm GMT, which was 6am PST and 11pm in Tokyo. Many top creative companies from around the world have now risen to straight 8’s shootout challenge. See all of the companies who’ve ever entered and the charities who’ve benefited to date, at straight8.net/shootout.
straight 8 now receives 100-200 entries to its annual open competition, from all over the world and has enjoyed 14 years of premieres at The Cannes Film Festival, plus stints on Channel 4 broadcast TV and has appeared at many festivals. Past entrants include Edgar Wright (Baby Driver, Shaun of The Dead) and Alice Lowe (Sightseers, Prevenge).
You might also like
