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Orson Welles and Terry Gilliam Accepted the Challenge. Now It’s Your Turn.

Create a Short Film Interpreting Don Quixote and Win Prizes

  • WHAT: The Cinematic Cervantes video contest
  • PRIZES: First prize, $1,000; second prize, $500; third prize, $250
  • WHO: All USC undergraduate and graduate students are eligible
  • WHEN: The deadline for entries is April 1, 2009; winners will be announced on April 24 at the Cinematic Cervantes event in the Norris Cinema Theatre.
  • HOW: Submit a CD, DVD, or flash drive with a 3-5 minute video at the reception desk on the third floor of Doheny Library. Mark it "Attention: Tyson Gaskill."
  • QUESTIONS: Contact Tyson Gaskill at 213-740-2070 or gaskill@usc.edu

Join Orson Welles, Grigory Kozintsev, Arthur Hiller, Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón, Terry Gilliam, and thirty other film directors who have adapted Don Quixote. Make a 3-5 minute video interpreting a scene or major theme from Miguel de Cervantes’ epic novel. Then share it with a panel of film experts and the entire USC community at Cinematic Cervantes: Adapting Don Quixote to the Screen. The winning entries will appear on USC’s YouTube channel and become part of the USC Libraries' special collections.

About the Contest

The video contest is presented in conjunction with the April 24 Visions and Voices event, Cinematic Cervantes: Adapting Don Quixote for the Screen, organized by USC College, the USC Libraries, and the USC School of Cinematic Arts. The event features a screening of Keith Fulton’s and Louis Pepe’s Lost in La Mancha, which documents Terry Gilliam’s attempt to make a film called The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. A panel discussion will follow the screening, and the video contest winners will be announced.

Published in two volumes (in 1605 and 1615 respectively), Don Quixote is currently celebrating its 400th anniversary. Many critics have noticed the cinematic qualities of Cervantes’ novel, and its meditations on the use and abuse of fictions—specifically the medieval romances that inspire Quixote to battle windmills and search for his Dulcinea—still resonate. The novel is a cornerstone of Spanish literary culture, and it has been a powerful influence on the imaginations of visual artists like Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí, as well as composers, choreographers, writers, cartoonists, philosophers, and filmmakers throughout the world.

Translating Don Quixote into a feature-length film—not to mention a 3-5 minute short—poses major challenges. The Cinematic Cervantes contest gives you the chance to explore the classic novel for yourself using a variety of resources at USC and bring your own vision of La Mancha to life. We will update this page throughout the semester to provide additional information and assistance while you create your entries.

Resources

  • The USC Libraries’ spring exhibition features rare Cervantes editions and visual artwork inspired by Don Quixote. An online gallery will be available with digital images that you can use in your films.
  • Librarian Barbara Robinson has created a Don Quixote LibGuide, a multimedia research guide to help you learn more about Cervantes' masterpiece.
  • A selection of Don Quixote films is available for viewing at USC’s Special Collections on the second floor of Doheny Library.
  • USC College is hosting a half-day workshop with Fax Bahr, the Emmy Award-winning writer, director, and producer. Bahr’s work includes Chocolate News, Mad TV, Jamie Kennedy Experiment, Living Color, and Hearts of Darkness. He is a master of sketch and short-film genres with experience adapting Don Quixote for film.
  • The Institute for Multimedia Literacy at the USC School of Cinematic Arts is offering a two-credit course in video production and editing during the spring semester. For more information, contact Holly Willis at hwillis@cinema.usc.edu or (213) 743-2937.

Rules

  • All USC students—including undergraduates and graduate students—enrolled during the 2008-9 academic year are eligible.
  • Entries can be the work of individuals or groups, but at least one director must be named in the credits. He or she must be a currently enrolled USC student, serve as the contact person for the project, and receive prize money on behalf of the group. Non-students may assist in production of the entry.
  • Entries must be 3-5 minute videos. Submit them on CD, DVD, or flash drive by April 1, 2009, to the third-floor reception desk in Doheny Memorial Library. Entries should be marked “Attention: Tyson Gaskill.”
  • Videos can portray any scene or major theme from Don Quixote. They can be set in any time period or location and use animation, live-action sequences, computer-generated graphics, sampled or mashed-up images, or any combination of visual techniques.
  • We encourage you to include an artist's statement (less than 1,000 words) explaining how your video project relates to Don Quixote. Submit it in a Word or PDF format on the CD, DVD, or flash drive with the video entry.
  • Entries will be judged for their scholarly creativity and critical use of research. The winning entries will be selected by a panel of filmmakers and USC film scholars and announced at the April 24 event.
  • First prize is $1,000; second prize is $500; third prize is $250. The winning entries will be featured on the USC YouTube channel and become a part of the USC Libraries special collections.

Contest Organizers

  • Philip J. Ethington, Professor of History and Political Science, Department of History, philipje@usc.edu
  • Tyson Gaskill, Director of Programming, USC Libraries, gaskill@usc.edu
  • Sherry Velasco, Professor of Spanish and Portuguese and Gender Studies, svelasco@usc.edu