Art By Chance is a global short-short film festival currently seeking 30-second submissions. Winning entries will be screened in 59 cities across 11 countries for a two-week period this May, and receive some major exposure across the Web.
Although the concept appears almost too shrewd — after all, this free content is all the length of a commercial — the challenge of brevity is harder than it might appear. These microflicks have to address the project’s theme of “journeys” and deliver some sort of dramatic turn or conflict in less time than it takes to crack open a beer and turn on the tube.
Two young filmmakers from Qatar have posted their ABC entry to Vimeo, and it’s well worth a look. A spy thriller compressed into half a minute, The Kidnap‘s subtle twists practically demand repeat viewings. That’s OK — most trailers are four times longer than this entire movie.