Montblanc invites you to participate to ‘The beauty od a second’ a film contest with Wim Wenders

To celebrate the 190th anniversary of the invention of the chronograph by Nicolas Rieussec – the revolutionary instrument that succeeded in measuring time to an accuracy of a fifth of a second – Montblanc introduces “The Beauty of a Second” a short film contest presented by award-winning director Wim Wenders.

The contest is open to everyone: from amateurs to professionals. Everybody can become a filmmaker. All are invited to seize the moment by submitting a second-long tribute to this small unit of time online at www.montblanc-onesecond.com. For a chance to win a Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph, capture the beauty of a second with a smart phone, a digital camera or any other kind of filming device as long as the moving images last one precious second. A kiss, a smile, a view, an emotion, a word – every second counts, so join the shortest short-film contest ever held!

In the qualification round, all the entries will be uploaded to the dedicated Montblanc website by mid-October, and the best 20 videos will be selected by an international jury led by Wim Wenders, the director behind such films as Paris, Texas or the Buena Vista Social Club, and the winner of the Palme d’Or in Cannes and the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and will be published online at www.montblanc-onesecond.com

In a second round at the beginning of November and the final round at the end of November, filmmakers have an additional chance to submit a one second video clip, which will be judged once again by the prestigious panel and the top 20 in each round will be presented on the website. In January 2012, Wim Wenders and the jury will select the best short-film out of the 60 one-second videos that have been nominated for the shortlist. The winner will receive an inimitable piece of history from the world of watchmaking – a Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph. Furthermore, the winner will be invited to a trip to Berlin during the Berlinale International Film Festival in February 2012 where he or she will meet the celebrated film director Wim Wenders at the “Beauty of a Second” award ceremony.

For those enthusiasts who don’t want to create their own one-second video, there is an opportunity to enter a separate competition by compiling a playlist made of videos already published on the website. Use your creativity to drag and drop the one-second clips of your choice to create an individual compilation of 2 to 60 seconds while selecting a soundtrack from Monblanc’s audio library to be embedded. A winner in this category will also be selected and will receive a Montblanc chronograph in Berlin. Even though the jury’s choice is final, everyone can join in the action by voting for his or her favourite clips and compilations.

“The Beauty of a Second” contest not only underlines Montblanc’s commitment to supporting talent and its continuous development, but is also a tribute to the inventor of the first chronograph. With its invention, Nicolas Rieussec created a device that would quickly become an indispensable standard of excellence to scientists and professionals in all fields. He used an ink chronograph of his own invention that marked elapsed time with a dot of ink on a rotating disc, without interrupting its movement. The Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph, as a tribute to the inventor of the first chronograph, takes the essence of his revolutionary device from 1821, the rotating disc technique, giving the timepiece its truly distinctive appeal. Everyone has a story to tell, so get filming!