INTRODUCTION

Since the Lumière brothers projected the first cinematographic film in 1895, more than 120 years ago, we have been used to think of the screen as horizontal. This archetype had never been questioned. First art, then the news, adjusted their modes of expression to the format of cinema and, eventually, television. Over the past twenty years things have rapidly changed and cinema’s big horizontal screen started to give way to the small vertical screen of smartphones.
“Modern culture is directed towards the use of smartphones and despite a handful of people using it horizontally, the vast majority use it vertically. If you take a look around you at the buildings of Rome, Italy and Europe and if you believe that Cinema is like looking out of a window, you will realize most windows around the western world are vertical, not horizontal.” Peter Greenaway at the VerticalMovie Festival 2018

Around 70% of videos posted online are recorded vertically, and the trend is growing. While the history of cinema developed horizontally, can a cinematographic story be extra short and vertical?

THE BABEL SUPPER - MAX1MIN VERTICAL FILM

Fruit of new technology, thanks to which it never ceases to evolve, for its  second edition MAX3MIN steps into a vertical future, with an Instagram call to look for video and reel contents that feature living beings at the moment in which they eat, in every shape and way, in other words: while eating.

The subjects are portrayed eating frugal or luxurious meals, with different foods and traditions from all over the world, using their hands, utensils or chopsticks, eating fast food or slow food, cooked or raw, alone or with others, seated, standing or kneeling, at home, on the bus, at the park, or on the street. Immortalized chewing noisily or following the etiquette, speaking while eating or eating in silence; some can enjoy their favorite tastes, others have to settle for what they can find. Adults and children, wild animals and pets, birds, fish, and any living species, carnivores, herbivores, cannibals...everyone eats!

All in one minute. The time gets shortened and the format flipped.

The aim is to create one vertical collective film entitled The Babel Supper, consisting of a final cut with all the entries received from the users. We are looking for directors, artists, instagrammers and enthusiasts to make a one-minute film telling how living beings eat across the globe and become part of a collective production.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

- post a vertical video or reel on IG, maximum one minute long, on the topic The Babel Supper, and submit a short abstract introducing the content of the video or reel
- there are no genre and technique constraints
- films will be accepted in any language provided they are subtitled in English
- official hashtag #THEBABELSUPPER
- tag the profile @max3minfest