The online pitching competition really got people thinking about how to make a visually interesting taster for a film. One that leaves the audience with an understanding of the style and subject matter of the proposed film, and a thirst to watch more. However, it couldn’t merely be a trailer for a longer film. After a four-hour round table watching panel, we finally came up with a winner – A Patagonia Tale, about Egidio, a 70 year old patagonian gaucho.
Lucas Gordon and Santiago Burin des Roziers (joint directors) will be receiving £5,000 to buy a camera of their choice.
The beauty of this pitch is that after taking you into Egidio’s world, you really want to stay there and see more. By mounting the camera on the dog in the hunting scene you see the filmmakers have an idea of how to use motion to create excitement, to contrast with the stillness of everyday life. There is no visual trickery, this is just a very well-shot character study, which is simple and stunning.
Born and bred in the beautiful Andes mountains, Egidio works the land every day with no more than his bare hands. Isolated for periods of up to three months due to the harsh weather conditions, he is perfectly adapted to survive. High mountains, deep rivers and lack of roads isolate him, making human contact a rare occasion. Egidio lives out of his cattle, chicken and sometimes even has to hunt wild boar, pumas or deer for a meal. A heartwarming man of few words, Egidio was born to live this way. He is one of a kind.
The five other shortlisted pitches varied in style, involving animation, still photos and poetic scenes. They were:
- Daniel Edelstyn’s How to Re-Establish a Vodka Empire
- Colin Dewar’s Sphere of Influence
- Clarrie Pope’s Absolute Woman
- David O’Hara’s Steel Town
- Richard DeDomenici’s Cross Rail
You can watch these in the Passat Pitching section of watch films.
Do you think we choose the best pitch? Which one would you choose to develop into a longer film?
