Pittsburgh Filmmakers Announces 6th annual
Film Kitchen Contest

Film Kitchen, the monthly showcase of regional independent film and video art, announces the theme for its annual contest: photo-romans. While previous contests have included appliance films, coffee films, and music videos, this year organizers put a call out for local visual and sound artists to submit original three-minute-long photo roman videos. A photo-roman (pronounced: ro-MAHN) uses a series of still images accompanied by a technically sophisticated soundtrack. Selected entries will be screened on June 10 at the June Film Kitchen. Reception begins at 7:00; screening begins at 8:00. Winners are announced that night, and cash prizes are awarded.

Though its roots are literary, the term photo-roman is most closely associated with experimental filmmaking. One of the most famous examples of the photo-roman style is Chris Marker's La Jetée, from 1962. An astonishingly powerful experiment with word and image, his film is made from a fast-paced series of stills and a voice-over narration that tells a futuristic story of post-World War III.  To see other examples of photo-romans visit http://mediastorm.org.

For more details on submitting work, contact Ross Nugent at 412-681-5449 x231 or nuge@pghfilmmakers.org. The deadline for entries is Friday, May 24.