This week opened the International Documentary Challenge 2009, a timed filmmaking competition that solicits the work of brilliant (and crazy, depending on how you look at it) storytellers and editors racing against the clock to put together thematic work. After choosing from one of two assigned documentary genres like sports or music, the teams have five days to put together their best entries for the chance to premiere at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival.
Inspired by the understanding that “filmmaking tools are now so affordable that anyone willing to invest the time and energy to tell a story can do so,” Challenge founder Doug Whyte of KDHX Community Media has been pleased to draw professional and amateur filmmakers alike, 80 percent of whom are said to turn in a completed film by the hard deadline. The 12 films selected this year will join nominees from previous competitions including docs about shopping carts, small town prostitution, and mixed music trading. Submissions are required to be mailed by 5 PM on Monday (the first hour when most of the participants will have seen sleep for days).