MachinimUWA VII: Transcending Borders

The University of Western Australia, which continues to maintain a dominant position as a higher education leader in virtual worlds, will soon announce the winners of the MachinimUWA VII: Transcending Borders competition. Between the machinima competition and the simultaneous 3D Art Challenge (about which I'll write soon), more than L$1,000,000 will be awarded to winners in December. Even if you weren't one of the creators, you can be eligible to win prize money by simply guessing which videos will finish in the top ten, in order — L$57,500 has been set aside to encourage audience participation. So take a look through the thirty-eight videos below, and send your list to UWA's Jayjay Zifanwe — more details are here. I've highlighted three videos here, by Boris Twist, Ultraviolet Alter and Haveit Neox, but I'm one of the adjudicators, and I'm not saying these are necessarily my top picks.

The complete list, in UWA's "reverse Klingon alphabetical order":
Natascha Randt (Gelsenkirchen, Germany) & Karima Hoisan (San Isidro del General, Costa Rica) - The Connection
Vilvi Rae (Jyvaskylla, Finland) - No Man's Land
Chic Aeon (Corvallis, Oregon, USA) - The Ghost in the Machine
Braclo Eber (South African in Canada - Thanks to SL) - Beyond
Erythro Asimov (Tours, France) - The 6th Extinction
Iono Allen (Paris, France) - Butchery
GnomeZen (Ashland, Oregon, USA) - Transcending the Borders of Consciousness
Joe Zazulak [Spiral Silverstar] (New Orleans, LA, USA) - 'Transcending (surreal) Borders'
Tutsy Navarathna (Frenchman in Pondicherry, India) - MetaPhore - "Transcending Borders"
Lilia Artis (Berne Switzerland), Haveit Neox (Los Angeles, USA) & Mouehane Sandalwood (Berne, Switzerland) - Striding - Unknown Roads
Eric Takkar (New York, USA) & Arcane Marenwolf (Perth, Australia) - Unseen Transcended Borders
Friday Siamendes (Denver, Colorado, USA) - Shuteye
Arrow Inglewood (Toronto, Canada) - Pas De Digital
Sparrow Michigan (Newport, Kentucky, USA) - September Years
Pepa Cometa (Andalusia, Spain) - Little Marie
Yepar Saenz (The Island of Martinique, French Carribean) - Delphine et Hippolyte
Nyle Bakerly (Vista, CA, USA) & Tyrus Core (St Louis, MO, USA) - Trapped in the Mansion
Boris Twist (Portland, Oregon, USA) - SORTIE...a film of the beautiful dark
Sophia Yates (Boston, Massachusetts, USA) - Transcending Borders
Babypea Von Phoenix & Masterperry (both from a little town near Horsham, Victoria) - Silence Remains
AvaJean Westland (New York City, USA) - Changes
Valentina Tremont (Milan, Italy) - Imagination
Peter King (Chester, England, United Kingdom) - Crime Knows No Borders
GnomeZen (Ashland, Oregon, USA) - Transcendence
Haveit Neox (Los Angeles, USA) - Reading Primchords
Alfonso Garavito Olivar (Florida, USA) - La profesora de lengua castella
Erythro Asimov (Tours, France) - Night of the Johnstown Flood
Elizabeth Spieler (Seattle, USA) - Transcending Borders
aquaglo (Texas, USA) - Aqua ponders? What if...
Ultraviolet Alter (Toulouse, South France) - The Embryo
Mexi Lane aka Marina Bellini (Rome, Italy) - Mediterranean
Ormand Lionheart (Surrey, British Colombia, Canada) & Rachelle Raviprakash (France) - Reflection
Misio2 (Melbourne, Australia) - Virtual Toy Island Plankton
jjccc Coronet (Talygarn, South Wales) - What a Wonderful World
Valentina Tremont (Milan, Italy) - Dreaming
Valentina Tremont (Milan, Italy) - Sea and Mountain
Sophia Hines (Paris, France) - Transcending Borders
Elle Thorkveld (Connecticut, USA) - Frontiers

One final note: This competition has not been without controversy. Video artist NicoleX Moonwall's entry, Jesus Christ , Cyborg , The Coming of ......., was removed from the competition, prompting Lennart Nilsson (a.k.a. Apmel Goosson) to resign from the jury, and creating a flurry of discussion on censorship and the arts. I would encourage readers to view NicoleX's work and to leave comments on her Vimeo post.