Gotta Minute Film Festival 2021

8th Annual silent short film festival

The 2021 Gotta Minute Film Festival ran from Sept 13th to 26th. It showed online and on PATTISON Onestop screens in Edmonton and Calgary. Additional screenings of a curated program will occur at select Edmonton Public Library locations and Metro Cinema.

Thank you to all who attended the Outdoor Award Celebration on Friday, September 17th at the new ROOT 107 park space. The weather was perfect, and we thank food trucks Calle Mexico Taco CartDoppers and Little Bear Gelato for attending, as well as our musicians Rooster Davis and Billie Zizi for sharing with us your talent!

Award Winners

  • First Prize: leavings – Lindsay McIntyre
  • Second Prize + Best Short for Young Audiences: match – Amanda Torres
  • Third Prize: Creek Children – Alexis Marie Chite
  • Best Animation: Fuses with Fibers – Demmi Dupri
  • Best Non-fiction: #NoFilter? – Jannatul Mawa Mitu
  • Best Youth Film: On the Move – Makena
  • Best International Film: Still I Rise? – Abhiraj Ranjan
  • Spirit of Alberta: Blink – Omatta Udalor
  • Audience Choice Award: D L S – Mohammadreza Setarehshenas

Program I | Fluidity

  • Creek Children – Alexis Marie Chute (Edmonton, AB)
  • Floe – Jamie McRae (Edmonton, AB)
  • On the Move – Makena (Calgary, AB)
  • Falling – Spencer Check (Edmonton, AB)
  • Waterway – Aran Wilkinson-Blanc (Calgary, AB)
  • Mondays, Right? – Amelie Lang-Muller (Edmonton, AB)

Program II | Urban Movement

  • An LRT’s Day – Tim Schweizer (Edmonton, AB)
  • Glen and Longwood – Robert Hamilton (Canada)
  • Futures Within – Adolfo Ruiz (Edmonton, AB)
  • In Plane English – Brian Plonka (Post Falls, Idaho)
  • the game just got real – bellopropello (Zurich, Switzerland)
  • Buildering – Frederick Kroetsch (Edmonton, AB)

Program III | Exchanges

  • Blink – Omatta Udalor (Calgary, AB)
  • Wall of kindness – Hamidreza Hdj (Tehran, Iran)
  • Ink, I Think – Paula Kirman (Edmonton, AB)
  • The Grand Exchange – Nolan Hehir (Edmonton, AB)
  • One and a Half Makes 2 – Renee Barnachea (Calgary, AB)
  • Love is Love – Elenfant Distribution (Italy)

Program IV | Identity

  • Lucia – Nicolas Jofre (Argentina)
  • Handwritten – Paula Kirman (Edmonton, AB)
  • Leavings – Lindsay McIntyre (Vancouver, BC)
  • Still I Rise? – Abhiraj Ranjan (Patna, Bihar, India)
  • The Spine Folds Far Away – eryn tempest (Edmonton, AB)
  • #Nofilter? – Jannatul Mawa Mitu (Mirpur, Bangladesh)

Program V | Spectacle

  • Accident Fetishism – Ian Rowley (Edmonton, AB)
  • Passages No.3 – Myriam Boutin (Calgary, AB)
  • D L S – Mohammadreza Setarehshenas (Iran)
  • Fuses with Fibers – Demmi Dupri (Edmonton, AB)
  • Sick – Matthew Gooding (Edmonton, AB)
  • Pareidolia – Evan Pearce (Edmonton, AB)

Program VI | Flora and Fauna

  • Playtime_Worktime – Cliff Kelly (Cochrane, BC)
  • Tea Party – Carolina Guevara (Calgary, AB)
  • Celebration of Spring – Madeline Setzer (Kaslo, BC)
  • match – Amanda Torres (Calgary, AB)
  • Threnodies – Tammy Salzl (Edmonton, AB)
  • Uganda: A Wildlife Odyssey – Ryan Wilkes (Canada)

Where to Watch

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Gotta Minute Online

You’ve got “A Festival in your Pocket”!  If you miss our shows in transit, you can always pick them up Online (link coming soon). The complete program is available on the website to enjoy during the Fest (Sept 13-26) and throughout the year at your leisure.  Share the online program with your friends and VOTE for your favourite short.

Gotta Minute on the LRT

The selected short films will be shown over a two-week-long program on PATTISON Onestop platform screens. These shorts will run every 10 minutes throughout Edmonton Transit’s LRT system and Calgary’s C-train system – Public Art on Public Transit in Public Space.

Gotta Minute EPL

See these one-minute gems on the screens at select EPL branches, including the Makers Space downtown. This year, you can also catch a specially selected program just for our littles that will be showcased in children’s space.

Gotta Minute Metro Cinema

Movie lovers – it keeps getting better! Enjoy the complete GMFF program during the preshow at all Metro Cinema screenings during the festival. Don’t forget to VOTE for your favourite short after the show.

Awards Celebration

Join us on September 17th to Celebrate the 2021 Gotta Minute Film Festival Award Winners! This year’s awards celebration will take place at Root 107 from 6:00-9 pm. Root 107 is in the heart of downtown (Jasper Ave & 107th Street); food trucks and live music will be present, so come down and enjoy some great food, music, and silent films! Official programming will start at 8 pm due to daylight hours.

We are excited to host this event in person and outdoors; however, as COVID-19 is still a concern, safety is our top priority. Therefore, masks are recommended (but not required), and please be mindful of social distancing while at the celebration.

GMFF is proudly supported by