From 1967 to 2007, during 40 editions, the Societat Cultural Joventut Terrassenca – known in Terrassa as “Coro vell” – organized, among others, the “Rotllo” film competition. Designed as a very special contest – and quite demanding if you wanted things get done right – because an 8mm film reel had to be finally delivered, or Super 8 mm. (3 minutes long), not developed, but with a script entirely shot, in real action order, without the chance for repetitions, or assembling or any further manipulation. This, when screened, with audiences in the film theatre, brought many great surprises to the filmmakers, some satisfying, others not so much … For forty years the “Rotllo” was an annual event – and a challenge – for many local and foreign filmmakers.
Times are changing and by 2004 small-format filming had almost disappeared removed by digital video and it was becoming increasingly difficult to make “rotllos” – Kodak only developed in Germany and only one time every three months and film reels often did not arrive on time to be shown … – and therefore, from the “Coro Vell, another type of competition was sought that would replace the “Rotllo” and that would also have its own complexity, taking into account, obviously, that video tapes don’t have to be developed.
And so was born the “Concurs del Pla Seqüència” which, as is well known, is about telling a story (whatever length) but in just a single shot, that is: no cutting, without editing and if possible, with a touching camera, moving following or looking for the characters of the action explained. 2004 was, therefore, the birth of the “Concurs del Pla Seqüència” of which 9 editions were made, until 2012 year when, regrettably, it stopped.
Since 2017, Terrassa has been “Creative City of UNESCO in Film” and this leads to develop, as is already being done in other cases, different new activities in the field of cinema and audio-visual and also recovering a past that it is what has brought us this present, and that must not be forget or despised, neither the people nor the entities that contributed to forging it.
And this is the reason because the Societat Coro Vell, from Terrassa, with the support of the Terrassa Audio-visual Board and within the activities of the Terrassa City of Film- UNESCO, as well as with the participation of those companies and people who collaborate on this event, wants to recover this current year the tenth edition of the “Concurs del Pla Seqüència” from now called “One Shot – Terrassa City of Film”.
