We're thrilled to announce this year's shortlist for DepicT!, Watershed's annual short filmmaking competition as part of Encounters Short Film & Animation Festival (Tue 16 - Sun 21 Sept).

The 20 shortlisted films have been hand picked from over 600 entries from 49 countries and you can decide which mini-movie of 90-seconds-or-less deserves to win one of the competition's most prized awards, the DepicT! Shooting People Audience Award. Simply head to depict.org to watch the shortlisted films, then vote and comment on your favourite! Don't miss your chance to have your say on this year's fantastically original work made by creatives and filmmakers from all over the world, including some of our own homegrown talent.

The shortlisted DepicT! '14 films will get their big screen premiere at Encounters Short Film & Animation Festival, one of the world's leading showcases and meeting points for emerging talent at the DepicT! Showcase (Sat 20 Sept at 13:00). This is your chance to meet the talent and hear from professionals about the possibilities of the ultra-short film format. Ticket holders are also invited to the DepicT! '14 Get Together in the Café/Bar, where you can mingle with DepicT! alumni and industry experts.

Our panel of stellar judges - featuring some of the biggest names in film and television - will also be at the showcase. They'll be looking for the most distinctive, imaginative and engaging shorts in the competition and will decide which mini-movies will receive the rest of the fantastic DepicT! Awards up for grabs.

This year's panel of judges includes Chris Auty (National Film and Television School), David Sproxton (Aardman Animations), Cinematographer Robbie Ryan BSC (The Royal Photographic Society), Yousif Al-Khalifa (BAFTA), Lara Akeju (Channel 4), and Sarah Chorley (Shooting People).

Members of the judging panel will announce which DepicT! '14 films have won big later that evening at the Encounters Festival's Award Ceremony, plus they will present the DepicT! Shooting People Audience Award to that one lucky filmmaker who wowed the audience and collected the most votes online.

So do have a look at this year's shortlisted films on depict.org, cast your vote, leave your comments, and watch this space - any one of our DepicT! '14 filmmakers could win - and now, it's over to you to decide!

Want to learn more about our DepicT! '14 Jury? Our judges are some of the hottest names in television and film, and here, are their details.

CHRIS AUTY (HEAD OF PRODUCING, NFTS)

Chris Auty started his career as a film critic at Time Out. In 1985 he set up independent production company Oasis and later relaunched London's Gate and Edinburgh's Cameo cinemas, before joining Jeremy Thomas' RPC (1991-99) as MD where he produced Stealing Beauty and Crash. In 1999, he became CEO of The Film Consortium, executive producing films such as My Summer of Love and In This World. Chris is also Head of Producing at NFTS and has launched a new course (EPCRI), backed by the NFTS, Ingenious Media, and Sir Richard Branson.

DAVID SPROXTON (CO-FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, AARDMAN ANIMATIONS)

David is the co-founder and Executive Chairman of Aardman. Together with co-founder Peter Lord, he has overseen the development of the company from a two-man partnership to one of the pre-eminent animation houses in the industry. David has served as a producer, director or cinematographer on a number of animated projects at Aardman.

ROBBIE RYAN BSC (CINEMATOGRAPHER, ON BEHALF OF RPS)

At the age of 15, Robbie picked up a Super 8 camera and began to make short films. He hasn't been able to put the camera down since, with Oscar® and BAFTA award-winning shorts to his name including Shadowscan directed by Tinge Krishna and Pitch Black Heist directed by John MacLean. It is his relationship with award winning director Andrea Arnold that has seen his most acclaimed work in Cannes Grand Jury prize winning features Red Road and Fish Tank, and most recently Wuthering Heights which picked up an Ossella Award for best technical achievement at the 2011 Venice Film Festival. With extensive experience shooting short and feature length films, commercials and music videos, Ryan has also worked with venerated UK directors Stephen Frears, on his critical and commercially successful Philomena, and Ken Loach, on his acclaimed recent films The Angel's Share and Jimmy's Hall.

YOUSIF AL-KHALIFA (DIRECTOR, ON BEHALF OF BAFTA)

After a BA in Animation at the University of Westminster, Yousif Al-Khalifa enrolled on the Directing Animation course at NFTS. Yousif's graduation project, Sleeping With The Fishes, premiered at Edinburgh International Film Festival, won the student Grand Prix at the Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival, the Audience award at the London International Animation Festival, the International Yuhan University President's Prize at the Puchon International Student Animation Festival, Korea, and has been selected for further festivals including Cinanima, Angiers, Leeds, Mostra and Foyle. He recently won a BAFTA for the film.

LARA AKEJU (DEVELOPMENT MANAGER, CHANNEL 4)

Lara has 17 years of experience in television production. Her current role as Development Manager at Channel 4 is to drive the commissioning of content from diverse, grassroots talent throughout the UK. Prior to joining Channel 4, Lara was a factual Producer and Director, with credits including Panorama (BBC1), World's Strictest Parents (BBC3), Peckham Finishing School for Girls (BBC3) and Ramadan Diaries (Channel 4).

SARAH CHORLEY (OPERATIONS & DEVELOPMENT, SHOOTING PEOPLE)

Sarah studied Film, Journalism and Documentary Research in between working for independent production companies like Slate Films, Signal Films and Living Cinema. She later worked for London Disability Film Festival and Cambridge Film Festival, amongst others, before joining Shooting People in 2011.

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