You may have heard the news today. Despite President Obama’s personal lobbying, the International Olympic Committee snubbed Chicago as host for the 2016 games in favor of Rio. It was a surprise to some since South America has never hosted the games, but not to me. There were signs. Brazilian filmmaker Fernando Coimbra won the Olympic Short Film Contest last week.

This competition was an endeavor of the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, featuring international filmmakers competing, tournament-style, in the event of short film. It was your classic intriguing idea poorly executed; the website was shoddily designed and tie-in sponsors were few, limiting exposure.

Some relatively intriguing work was produced though. Out of the large opening round there were four finalists who were invited to Lausanne and given a week to create a new film. As a veteran of several deadline-driven filmmaking contests, I have a soft spot for these types of events, as they bring out the best and worst of the filmmaking process.

As for the winner? What can I say, it is worthy of the Olympics. By that I mean the IOC is largely a bunch of European snobs, so a film that pays homage to Godard, references Neitzsche and speaks philosophically of Superman fits the bill. It is a bit of mess in 5 minutes, but there is depth if you want to scratch the surface, and there certainly is some film making flair on display.

Watch Playing Tennis With Jean-Luc Godard at:  YouTube