VIDEO | 1.34 mins

Yahoo! Malaysia is calling for entries for its inaugural ‘Cili Padi Awards' short film competition, where filmmakers are challenged to tell "great stories" in just three minutes.

NONEThe three-minute limit for the films makes it among the shortest of short film competitions, Yahoo! Malaysia country editor Marc Lourdes (right) said today.

In comparison, the maximum limit for entries for the BMW Shorties is 15 minutes.

"(It is) three minutes because it ties in with our findings that the consumption pattern for an online audience is quite short. They do not really consume long-form videos a lot.

"So we want tie-in and keep it to the online audience. It is an obvious option because we are an online platform," Lourdes told Malaysiakini this morning after the official launch of the competition.

With 8 million visitors a month, he said, Yahoo! Malaysia hopes to leverage on its online presence to get more people to view the participating entries as against other film competitions.

It's been done before, by Yasmin Ahmad

It is possible to tell good stories in just three minutes, as the late filmmaker Yasmin Ahmad had done, again and again, Lourdes said.

The competition is open to all Malaysian residents, including those with foreign citizenship, above the age of 18.

"What we are doing is to reach out to young people. We are trying to democratise the filmmaking process to make sure that everybody has an opportunity to get a platform and for their voices to be heard," he said.

NONELourdes will be among the four-member panel of judges for the competition, along with Malaysia Airlines head of advertising and promotions Khairul Syahar Khalid and actresses Lisa Surihani and Sharifah Amani (left).

In addition to cash prizes, winners will also have their films screened at TGV Cinemas nationwide for three weeks and given an internship with production house KRU Studios.

Submissions can be made to www.cilipadiawards.com from now until Nov 11, with the awards presentation ceremony fixed for Nov 23.

Films of all types welcome, as long as not offensive

Lourdes said says films of all types, even politics, are welcome as long as they are not offensive.

"If the story has value and is not offensive, then by all means do send whatever you think has value.

"We may want to run away from the fact, but the fact of the matter is politics is part and parcel of every Malaysian's life, especially in this day and age.

"So I am very sure that there are plenty of very strong opinions on politics, on politicians and on the political scene, so that is a great source of stories and we have no issue with that," Lourdes added.