Reel World

Salute Your Shorts

Founded in 1998 as a platform for up-and-coming and established filmmakers alike, Santa Fe’s Three Minute Film Festival has a long track record for honoring the best in ultra-short cinema.

The fest’s No. 1 rule? Entries cannot, under any circumstances, exceed the three-minute mark—and that includes end credits, music or any other filmic bells and whistles. If you’re up for the challenge, well, the clock is ticking.

The submission deadline for 3MFF is Monday, April 11. Prizes will be handed out in Best Film, Best Comedy, Best Documentary, Best Experimental, Best Animation and a special jury selection. The awards are scheduled for a gala ceremony on May 20 at Santa Fe’s Lensic Performing Arts Center.

You can enter as many original shorts as you’d like, as long as you pay a $15 fee per film. Be sure to read the complete list of rules at 3mff.com, then submit online at withoutabox.com or snail mail to: Mission Control, Inc., 1660 Cerro Gordo, Santa Fe, N.M. 87501

In the meantime, filmmakers just learning the craft can glean some good, quickie advice from the Three Minute Film Fest Facebook page, such as using a clip-on mic for on-screen interviews (“i.e. don't have them hold a mic on camera”) and to “avoid using special effects unless you know what you're doing.” Amen, shorty.

Doc Holiday

A new series of short documentaries spotlights New Mexico’s turbulent history in nice, digestible chunks. Each “Moments in Time” video is shot on location, narrated by some of New Mexico's top historians and performers, and visually illustrated with a generous helping of archival material. Not surprisingly, the series is the result of a collaboration between Santa Fe’s New Mexico History Museum and PBS affiliate KNME-TV.

On Sunday, March 20, KNME will premier eight of the documentary shorts in the museum’s auditorium (113 Lincoln Avenue, Santa Fe) from 2 to 4 p.m. In addition to watching the exploits of buffalo soldiers, travelers on El Camino Real, santeros and Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders, attendees will be eligible for a wagonload of prizes. And, of course, viewers are free to wander the museum and get up-close-and-personal with the artifacts featured in the films. The event is free, but seating is limited.

If you can’t make it up to Santa Fe, the “Moments in Time” special airs on KNME-TV on Wednesday, March 23, at 7 p.m., or you can watch a few of the videos online at knme.org/momentsintime.