The 2009 Blackout Film Festival has put out a call for submissions and this year’s theme is “The Great Recession”, so dust off your cameras and get filming.  The guidelines are pretty straightforward: films must be in digital format, run between 10 seconds to 10 minutes, be received by August 15, and about or inspired by the current economic recession.  As you may have guessed, the inception of the festival was inspired by the Northeast power grid failure in 2003, and this year’s festival will premiere in lower Manhattan on September 19th, the one-year anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Poetic, eh?

If you happen to be in New York right now, head down to Sway on Spring St. for the Black Out Film Festival Launch Party, where people will be celebrating until 10 (and probably beyond, knowing my friend Alex Reeves who built their slick website).  And if you live elsewhere, or my short notice isn’t enough for you, you can follow the festival on Facebook.  And speaking of Alex, check him out on his bicycle in the promo video he helped make for the festival: