Watch, vote and comment now

We are delighted to announce that this year's Depict shortlist is live - and we need your votes to decide the winner of the coveted Shooting People Audience Award.

Depict is Watershed’s ultra-short film competition. It's been going for over twenty years and features as part of Encounters Short Film & Animation Festival (25 – 30 Sept) held here in Bristol. The premise? Create shorts that are 90 seconds or less in length, which challenge how and what we think of super short filmmaking.

Receiving over 500 submissions from 59 different countries means we’ve had an especially exciting and diverse pool of mini movies to whittle down. The twenty shortlisted films are now live on depict.org and awaiting your votes and comments.

There are multiple awards and prizes to be won but we specifically need your help to decide the outcome of the Shooting People Audience Award. With a lifetime membership to Shooting People up for grabs (a global network of filmmakers and industry professionals), the winner of this prize is chosen entirely by the public through voting on depict.org. There’s a massively varied selection to choose from and we’d love to hear your thoughts, feelings and critical analysis in the comments section of each film.

Join us on Sat 29 Sept at 15:30 during the Festival for the Depict Showcase - the big screen premiere of the Depict shortlist, a chance to meet some of the talent behind the films followed by a discussion on the ultra short film format hosted by Watershed’s Cinema Curator Mark Cosgrove. At the showcase we will also screen the winner of a super-short film competition #UKGermany2018 which was part of British Council Germany’s year-long cultural Season ‘UK/Germany 2018’. After the screening all ticket holders are welcome to join the Depict drinks, thanks to St Austell Brewery’s generous sponsorship.

Our panel of judges will also meet during the Festival to select the winners of the other Depict prizes which will all be announced at the Award Ceremony. The 2018 jury is headed up by twice Oscar® and BAFTA nominated Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey ASC BSC (The Greatest Showman and Nocturnal Animals) on behalf of The Royal Photographic Society.

Seamus is joined by leading industry practitioners; Catherine Bray, Channel 4 Random Acts Editor; Alexzandra Jackson, BFI Talent Executive; Colm McAuliffe, Shooting People Event Producer; David Sproxton, Co-Founder of Aardman Animations; Sorcha Bacon, producer and founder of Try Harder films; and Chris Auty, former film critic and producer, currently Head of Producing at NFTS.

The jury have the tough job of deciding who will be awarded this year’s much coveted Depict prizes – the main Depict Award of £1,500, the Royal Photographic Society Cinematography Award of £1,000, the British Special Mention Award, a talent development package supported by BAFTA and NFTS, and the Random Acts Special Mention Award, that gives priceless exposure via Channel 4’s short form content platform and a mentoring session with Random Acts commissioning editor Catherine Bray.

Remember though, the winner of the Shooting People Audience Award is down to you, so don’t miss your chance to have your say. Voting is now open on depict.org until 17:00 on Sat 29 Sept. Simply rate the film by selecting 1 – 5 stars or leave a comment if you want to say more and be part of the discussion. Happy watching!

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