Within the scope of the 24th International Short Film Festival Berlin, between the 4th and 9th of November 2008, interfilm and Zucker.Kommunikation will jointly hold “forward –international viral video award” the first competition for viral films at a German film festival.

Two prizes of € 5oo,- will be awarded by an expert jury and an audience jury - by your vote!

Virals have been sought!

We have been looking for films with a message. All entries should be aiming to communicate either a promotional, ideational, political or original message. They should not be older than two years and should have already been successful at spreading the net, or at least be on the way to doing just that.

Whether they are promotional strategies or propaganda, these messages of seduction and conviction have long since been utilising virtual channels to spread throughout the internet. Videos are shown and distributed on film forums, via email, in blogs and on video portals. While the brand names and/or creators behind many virals often like to remain obscure, others make a point of them. What counts is originality and humour; virals have to be good enough to traverse the magical threshold of being forwarded. Word of mouth advertising is (almost) the only thing that counts.

We intend to bring international virals together in one competition and find out which of the nominated films proves to be the most successful within the competition. In addition to this, the artistic and creative aspects of viral production will also be acknowledged by an expert jury.

The competition will take place within the scope of interfilm’s 24th International Short Film Festival Berlin and will also be featured on cinema screens. During a Keynote presentation to be held during the festival week, the contemporary viral and its potential future will be discussed.

A jury will select the best virals from all entries submitted, to participate in the online audience election. Films will then be seen and voted-for on this site. Parallel to and independent of that selection process, virals will also be under the scrutiny of an expert jury consisting of industry professionals. All films which make it to the online-voting stage will also be presented on the big screen during the interfilm Short Film Festival.

The Entry deadline is gone since the 21st of September 2008!

Partners:

We’re delighted to announce that apart from www.spreeblick.com that we have won two further partners www.hobnox.com and www.clipfish.de .
And for those of you who want to promote their viral independently of a nomination, but within the competition spotlight, place it on Hobnox.com in the Evolution2-Contest and become a member at www.hobnox.com/viral-video-award.

Also the videoportal www.clipfish.de offers the possibility to present the film within the viral video award.