The 19 countries represented are: Argentina (2), Belarus, Belgium, Canada, Egypt, France, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Martinique, The Netherlands (2), Norway, Romania, Russia, Scotland, South Africa, Sweden, the UK (3), and the US (3).
This year, three documentaries and two animations are included in the mix of 25 films in competition.
South African films continue to make their mark with Brett Williams and Hayden Phipps' The Death & Life of Desmond Wolfe. The dramatic and beautifully directed tale is sure to impress audiences as well as the international jury.
Filmmakers the world over, as well as those who made this year's 25-film shortlist, will no doubt be impressed by the jury that festival co-founder and head of jury John Ketchum has assembled this year: American screenwriter and director Richard Linklater; advertising maven and Grey, New York president and COO Tor Myhren; FIPRESCI film critic and Dazed & Confused Magazine film editor, Carmen Gray; Orange prize-winning author of The Tiger's Wife, Téa Obreht; and Jeremy Azevedo, senior director of original programming at Machinima, the video entertainment network.
The "Best Filminute" prize and five commendations will be awarded by the Filminute jury. The public at large is invited to view, share, comment upon and rate all 25 films. Each film fan is also entitled to a single vote to put toward the film they feel is most deserving of Filminute's People's Choice award.
"Social media played a big role in the success of Filminute last year, and this year contributed to a dramatic rise in submissions and pre-festival chatter," said Filminute co-founder Sabaa Quao.
"Judging from the activity we've seen already from some of this year's shortlisted filmmakers, social
media has definitely become the 'go to' method for marketing indie films. For a festival that grows via social media sharing of films, we couldn't be happier with this marketing evolution."
The Filminute winners and awards will be announced on 9 October.
More information and full details are available at www.filminute.com. Follow Filminute on Twitter or on Facebook.
