About

The One Minutes is a global network devoted to moving image.
Since 1998, The One Minutes has produced and distributed more than 17,000 video works by artists from more than 120 countries.

The One Minutes is a powerful format. Within the span of a single minute, anything is possible, whether it’s a formal investigation, a statement, an experiment, a short narrative or a documentary.
For the spectator The One Minutes offers a provocative experience, a challenging way of viewing moving image. The strength of the format comes from the films’ diversity on every imaginable level. Making watching them in sequence an overwhelming experience. It opens you up to the diversity of the work and makes you long for even more variation, more surprises, more amazement. That is what makes The One Minutes so compelling.

The One Minutes Foundation’s core activity is it’s monthly series, that enables the creation of new films. Other important activities include the workshops we initiate locally and abroad. We aim to be an organisation that creators and curators recognise and embrace as a place where they can experiment, produce and show film to a broad audience in an authentic way.

In terms of content The One Minutes exists at the intersection of art and film. For artists this can mean an opportunity to experiment and to present their work outside the bounderies of their oevre. A democratic platform where art functions also outside the context of the art world. Established artists are encouraged to forge alliances with up and coming artists, amateurs, art and film students and even youth, opening up new territories for makers and audience.

The One Minutes Foundation is a small, flexible organisation based at the Sandberg Instituut in Amsterdam (NL). The One Minutes acts as a producer and as an intermediary between the artist, the screen and the viewer. We offer filmmakers a platform that connects The One Minutes’ global network to Amsterdam’s artistic context through screenings, exhibitions and workshops.

The Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision preserves The One Minutes Collection. Please see two of our series online: ​MAKE BEING RADICAL AGAIN and Ways of Something Episode 1 and see some of our films on vimeo.

The One Minutes aims to:

facilitate the production of new work;
provide artists with a national and international platform;

investigate new possibilities for the exhibition of moving image; 

expose new audiences to the moving image art form.

Identity and Position

The One Minutes is exploring ways in which it can continue developing into a relevant, dynamic, contemporary international platform that sets itself apart and consistently appeals to new target groups. It aims to be an organisation that creators recognise and embrace as a place where they can present work to a broad audience in an authentic way; as a place where artists and curators can experiment, produce, and show their work.

The One Minutes distinguishes itself by addressing and involving both established and emerging artists. Not only is there an exchange in the form of coaching and inspiration, but artists and filmmakers also receive active guidance in the production of work. In addition, they get the opportunity to show their films via unusual venues and media channels. The One Minutes Foundation promotes a peer-to-peer model of talent development.

We are distinguished by our large global network of artists, our close and dynamic links to the art world, our worldwide youth education programme, and our knowhow and facilities (editing studios and equipment), which we use to give workshops all over the world.


Activities

The One Minutes series.
Every month, The One Minutes puts out a new series of one-minute films that investigate how we perceive and engage with moving image. Each month, a different artist is asked to put together a new series as a guest curator. Guest curators have access to The One Minutes collection and also send out an open call for submissions. The monthly series enables the creation of new works

Workshops
We have more than a decade of experience in leading video workshops of various sizes for a wide range of target groups. We give one- to five-day workshops to groups made up of, e.g., children, art students or employees. Sandberg Instituut students and alumni lead these workshops and receive training and guidance from us.

Training for Trainers
To ensure that we continue to educate trainers and that our trainers stay up to date, we have developed a process in which experienced trainers educate new ones in every workshop.

The One Minutes Jr.
In 2002, The One Minutes Foundation, the European Cultural Foundation and Unicef established The One Minutes Jr. network as a new tool for youth empowerment and social change. In week-long workshops youngsters from all over the world get a chance to express themselves by making one-minute films. Last year, we went to Albania, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, The Philippines, South Sudan and Ukraine.

The One Minutes Foundation is generously supported by City of Amsterdam, Mondriaan Fund, Amsterdam Fund for the Arts, Sandberg Instituut and BMW.