North East young filmmaker in running for national short film competition!

Joe Kroese: Schrödinger's Cat

Selected in The Very Short Film Competition

Presented by Guardian Students & Oxford University Press

Vote now at http://tinyurl.com/60secondfilm Voting closes Tuesday 26 February 2013 A young filmmaker from Newcastle-upon-Tyne has beaten hundreds of entries to make the longlist in a national film competition. 19 year-old Joe Kroese, a graduate from Tyneside Cinema’s award-winning Northern Stars Young Filmmakers’ Academy, is one of twelve filmmakers in The Very Short Film Competition battling it out for a prize of £9,000 with his short film called Schrödinger's Cat. Oxford University Press and Guardian Students launched The Very Short Film Competition and invited students from across the UK to showcase a subject that they love in an informative and inspirational 60-second film. Audiences can vote for their favourite film from the longlist online now and the four students with the most votes will be invited to the live final on 20 March 2013, with the overall winner receiving £9,000 towards their university tuition fees. Joe grew up in Wylam and currently lives in Newcastle-upon Tyne. His shortlisted film Schrödinger's Cat explains the famous scenario from quantum physics devised in 1935 by Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger, in a witty and memorably original way. Joe said, “The film competition asked for a 60 second introduction to any topic of interest. Being a bit of a Physics fan, I thought I'd have a go at explaining a thought experiment called Schrödinger's Cat which highlights the weirdness of some ideas in quantum mechanics. To keep the viewers’ attention, I decided to transpose the situation from Schrödinger's focus on radioactive substances to a 1920s-style gangster and a gun. We were lucky enough to be able to use lights from Tyneside Cinema to help create a surreal middle section in which the film enters the mind of the gangster, who surprisingly seems to have an intimate understanding of this area of science.” In 2010 Joe took part in Tyneside Cinema’s Northern Stars Young Filmmakers’ Academy, which gives young people the chance to work with leading industry professionals and gain hands-on experience of all aspects of film production. Since completing the Academy, he has been employed full-time as a Trainee Filmmaker at Tyneside Cinema’s Northern Stars production service which creates professional films made by young people aged 16-21 years for businesses and organisations. This autumn, Joe will take up a place to study Physics with Philosophy at the University of Manchester. Ian Fenton, Creative Director for Northern Stars at Tyneside Cinema said, “We are thrilled that Joe’s fantastic film has made it to the last twelve in The Very Short Film Competition. Everyone at Tyneside Cinema is tremendously proud of his achievement, and we urge the North East to get behind him and vote for Schrödinger's Cat to win before voting closes at the end of the month!” To vote for Joe’s film in The Very Short Film Competition please visit http://tinyurl.com/60secondfilm. Voting closes on Tuesday 26 February and the winner will be announced at the live competition final on Wednesday 20 March. To find out more about Northern Stars and Tyneside Cinema’s full programme of events and opportunities for young people please visit www.tynesidecinema.co.uk.