The 2-Minute Film Festival returns to the Carnegie Museum of Art this summer with a child-like image.
This year’s theme, “At Play,” encourages applicants to test boundaries, take risks and bring out their childhood creativity.
The 2-Minute Film Festival showcases more than 30 of the best two-minute movies submitted by people from around the country. Judges are looking for the briefest films that best capture the idea of play. Each movie shown at the festival is eligible for the People’s Choice and Juror’s Choice awards.
Submissions are being accepted now through June 21.
Jonathan Gaugler, media relations manager for the Carnegie Museum of Art, said the theme “At Play” has its roots in curiosity.
“Play is a place where we get to be creative,” Gaugler said. “When we’re not exactly sure how to approach an artwork or we’re not exactly sure how to approach an idea, we play, we speculate, we come up with fun ways of thinking about things. What better way to approach something we don’t understand than have a little fun with it.”
The theme was chosen for the 2013 Carnegie International and is the inspiration behind the Lozziwurm play-sculpture recently built in front of the museum’s Forbes Avenue entrance.
The museum is adding another layer of public participation to the annual film festival by incorporating online material and social media. All entries chosen for the film festival will be viewable online prior to the event where visitors can vote for their favorite videos.
If even a two-minute movie seems like too much to tackle, the museum is asking anyone with a smartphone to use the app Vine to create their own six-second videos. Vine-makers are to use the hashtag #2mff to submit videos to the museum via Twitter.
Animation stations will be set up in the museum’s Sculpture Court to teach people how to make Vine videos.
Gaugler said using websites like Twitter, Vine and Facebook gets the public more involved.
“When people come to us on social streams, we love it and we want to respond in kind,” Gaugler said. “We want to be there for however people want to come to the museum, be it here in person, be it social media, or hopefully both.”
The festival begins at 7:30 p.m. on July 18 with the screenings at 9 p.m. Admission is $10.
