The 10th Anniversary Gotta Minute!
Gotta Minute is Western Canada’s first film fest for Commuters proudly brought to you by PATTISON OUTDOOR ADVERTISING & The Film and Video Arts Society of Alberta (FAVA). The 10th Anniversary 2023 festival ran from September 11th – 24th.
Gotta Minute is a unique public art festival featuring one-minute silent short films in every genre. A gem of a fest for one and all, big and small, Gotta Minute films delight audiences as they move about in public space and on public transit. Learn more about the festival here.
2023 Program
We’re so happy to present our program for the 10th Anniversary Gotta Minute Film Festival! As it’s the 10th Anniversary, in addition to the films from our traditional submission stream, we’re thrilled to include select award-winning films from years past, and SIX specially commissioned films created by Edmonton based filmmakers. Each of our SIX programs begins with a 10th Anniversary Commissioned Film, followed by FIVE new films, and THREE award-winning Gotta Minute alumni films.
These films are played on PATTISON OUTDOOR ADVERTISING platform screens in the Edmonton LRT and Calgary C-Train systems from Sept 11-24. We wrapped up our 10th year with a grand awards Celebration on September 24th in the Muttart Theatre at the Stanley A. Millner Edmonton Public Library. There, we were joined by representatives from our sponsors and supporters, 2023 filmmakers, alumni filmmakers, and members of the public! During the presentation of the award winners, we were gifted with beautiful live accompaniment from musicians Murray Wood and Brett Hansen. Below you can find the award-winning films, as well asl all the films featured in our 10th Anniversary edition. Thank you to all our filmmakers, volunteers, sponsors, supporters, and viewers for making Gotta Minute’s tenth year something special.
Award Winning Films
- 1st Prize + Audience Choice – Pareidolia by Carlos Reyes | Columbia
- 2nd Prize – Sit Still by Tamar Tabori | Vancouver, BC
- 3rd Prize – Tethers by Sarah Von Gertzen | Edmonton, AB
- Best Animated Film – Trai(N)ler by Zsofia Opra-Szabo | Edmonton, AB
- Best Non-Fiction Film – Julia Van Dam is Hurt by Anthony Goertz | Edmonton, AB
- Best International Film – Ǝvolution by Romina Schwedler | Brooklyn, USA
- Best Youth Film – Sanctuary by Yemaya Azania-Merchant | Edmonton, AB
- Best Film for Young Audiences – Halted by Vlad Bobe | Bucharest, Romania
- Spirit of Alberta – Alone by Harshdeep Singh & Harman Singh | Calgary, AB
Monday Program - Personhood
These films capture the essence of human life. Each film is a snippet of universality; from mundane day-to-day to gut-wrenching emotions.
- Tom in the Physical World – Lizzie Dirksen | Edmonton, AB – 10th Anniversary Commission
- Julia Van Dam is Hurt – Anthony Goertz | Edmonton, AB
- Pass – Andrew Koller | Edmonton, AB
- Making Room – Etta George House | Edmonton, AB
- A Very Prairie Christmas – Warren Cowell | Edmonton, AB
- Only Good If You’re Lost – Corey Bond | Strathmore, AB
- Grandpa – André Marques | Portugal – 2015 Award Winner
- The Men’s Room – Ryan Leedu | Edmonton, AB – 2018 Award Winner
- Epic Speech – Jack Belhumeur | Edmonton, AB – 2014 Award Winner
Tuesday Program - Femininity
All things feminine, these films speak to the female perspective or star women and or girls.
- Our Story is One – Nauzanin A Knight | Edmonton, AB – 10th Anniversary Commission
- Going Grey – Sarah C Louise | Edmonton, AB
- Trai(N)ler – Zsofia Opra-Szabo | Edmonton, AB
- High Level – Margaret Legere | Edmonton, AB
- Waiting – Jyotirmoy Gupta | Calgary, AB
- Sit Still – Tamar Zehava Tabori | Vancouver, BC
- Rain on Flowers – Catherine Dubois | Edmonton, AB – 2017 1st Place Award Winner
- No Lies – b. h. Yael | Toronto, ON – 2018 1st Place Award Winner
- Owl Story – Anna Spoeth | St. Paul, AB – 2022 Best Youth Film Award Winner
Wednesday Program - Animated
A collection of cute; these films are great for all ages. All these films are animated in a diverse variety of styles and techniques.
- Day Dream – Holly Mazur | Edmonton, AB – 10TH ANNIVERSARY COMMISSION
- The Boy, The Bush, And The Bear – Cullen Kain Doyle (Age 13) | Calgary, AB
- Dilly Digger Makes a Friend – Eva Colmers | Edmonton, AB
- The Duel – Carlo Ghioni | Maine Island, BC
- Elastics – Carlo Ghioni | Maine Island, BC
- Der Eislauf (The Ice skating) – Henning M. Lederer | Germany
- Chronicles of a Mime – Shawna Koski | Okotoks, AB – 2019 Award Winner
- Save The Bees – Nikolina Santovac | Serbia – 2022 Award Winner
- Rapsody – Carlo Ghioni | Maine Island, BC – 2022 1st Place Award Winner
Thursday Program - Abstract
Pollock and Rothco have nothing on these abstract films.
- Blue Bonds – Lydia Leblanc, Noel Baldwin, Jesse Jackson @ iHuman Youth Society | Edmonton, AB – 10th Anniversary Commission
- Mercurial Orthography – Aran Wilkinson-Blanc | Calgary, AB
- Nat: A Post Singularity and Post Apocalypse Combat Girl – Kang Le | Taiwan
- Glimpses – Raul Garcia | USA
- Ǝvolution – Romina Schwedler | Argentina
- Black + White TV – Scott Turri | Pittsburg, USA
- Set Traps – Michael Doyle & Cameron Ford | Edmonton, AB – 2014 1st Place Award Winner
- Prologue – Jody Wood | Brooklyn, NY – 2020 1st Place Award Winner
- Still I Rise – Abhiraj Ranjan | India – 2021 Award Winner
Friday Program - Memory
Unforgettable films about memory. This collection consists of dreamy imagery that makes you think back to your own past.
- Jayde Arcand Works – Seth Arcand | Edmonton, AB – 10th Anniversary Commission
- Tethers – Sarah Von Gertzen | Edmonton AB
- Sanctuary – Yemaya Azania-Merchant (Age 16) | Edmonton, AB
- Kites in Spring – Daniel Gómez | Paraguay
- Memory – Alex Kriuchkova (Age 16) | Calgary, AB
- Pareidolia – Carlos Andres Reyes | Columbia
- A Brief Portrait of a Northern Summer – Dylan Rhys Howard | Edmonton, AB – 2015 1st Place Award Winner
- Leavings – Lindsay McIntyre | Vancouver, BC – 2021 1st Place Award Winner
- Flour & Water – Vicki Van Chau | Calgary, AB – 2019 Award Winner
Saturday Program - Outside the Box
These films can’t be boxed in. Unique and standing strong on their own.
- We Saw it Coming and Just Watched – aAron Munson | Edmonton, AB – 10th Anniversary Commission
- Window to the 3rd Space – Gerry Morita & Darrin Hagen | Edmonton, AB
- Alone – Harshdeep Singh | Calgary, AB
- Halted – Vlad Cristian Bobe | Bucharest, Romania
- I Don’t Eat at Restaurants by Myself – Rachel Madelyn Day Knechtel | Montreal, QC
- Gender Vol 1 – Mia Buono | Toronto, ON
- Fish – Saman Hosseinpuor | Sanandaj, Iran – 2016 1st Place Award Winner
- Scroll – Daniel Sánchez | Columbia – 2017 Award Winner
- Go Bot – Christina Ienna | Toronto, ON – 2014 Award Winner
Where to Watch
On the Train
Selected short films will be shown over a two-week-long program on PATTISON Onestop platform screens. These shorts will run every 5 minutes throughout Edmonton Transit’s LRT system and Calgary’s C-train system – Public Art on Public Transit in Public Space. These screens get MILLIONS of eyes on them – that’s quite the audience!
Metro Cinema
Movie lovers – it keeps getting better! Enjoy the GMFF program in the Metro Cinema lobby during the festival.
Awards Celebration
Our full program will be shared at the Awards Celebration on Sept 24th, the last day of the festival. Join us for refreshments, live music, and to celebrate the 2023 Gotta Minute Film Festival Award Winners!
Online
You’ve got “A Festival in your Pocket”! If you miss our shows in transit, you can always pick them up Online. The complete program will be available on the website to enjoy during the Fest and throughout the year at your leisure. Share the online program with your friends and VOTE for your favourite short.
At the Library
See one-minute gems on digital screens throughout the Edmonton Public Library system and at participating Calgary Public Library branches: Central, Bowness, Crowfoot, Memorial Park, Seton, Shawnessy, and Village Square.
Awards Celebration
The Gotta Minute Film Festival wraps by recognizing the creativity and uniqueness of the participating filmmakers with an Award Celebration. At the celebration, we will be presenting the 10th Anniversary award-winning films with live musical accompaniment. Join the community as we celebrate our filmmakers and give away some amazing awards and cash prizes!
All of the newly selected 2023 films will be eligible for cash prizes* and awards such as:
First Price: $1000 CASH + Prizes
Second Prize: $500 CASH + Prizes
Third Prize: $250 CASH + Prizes
Best Animation Film: $250 CASH + Prizes
Best Non-Fiction Film: $250 CASH + Prizes
Best International Film: $250 CASH + Prizes
Best Film for Young Audiences: $250 CASH + Prizes
Best Youth Film: $250 CASH + Prizes
Spirit of Alberta: $250 CASH + Prizes
Audience Choice: $250 + Prizes
*Please note, due to international barriers, not all prizes are eligible to those outside of Canada, and prize money is subject to transfer fees. We apologize for the inconvenience. If an award winner is not present in-person to accept an award, arrangements will be made in the week following the festival to assure prize delivery.
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