Virgin Media Shorts, a competition to champion undiscovered film talent, has unveiled its top 12 films which will be available to watch on 212 Cinema screens across the country (not just once) for a whole year as of September, plus on TV, mobile and computer.

Virgin Media received more than 1,500 entries from filmmakers for a chance of receiving up to £30,000 and working with Virgin Media and the UK Film Council to make their next short film.

All films were reviewed by Lifesize Pictures who manage the UK Film Councils’ short film schemes. The 12 short-listed finalists are:

· Alienated, Mohammed Aqeel Ahmed & Krissy Josephides from London

· Big Push, Ian Fenton from Darlington

· Black Hole, Olly Williams from London

· Butterface, David McLaughlin from Manchester

· 5 Bricks High, Steve Brunton from Newcastle

· The Calling, Jason Edwards from London

· Desires, Kate Jessop from Manchester

· Elevator Music, Serdar Ferit from Buckinghamshire

· The Hobbyist, Justin Waite from Cardiff

· Little Dinosaurs, Dana Dorian from Glasgow

· Mind Games, Peter Bunzl from London

· What Cassandra Saw, Karen Penman from Essex

Show your Support – Vote for your favourite short film

Film fans can show their support for their preferred short film in the People’s Choice category. One film will be hailed as the public’s favourite and people can cast their vote by logging onto www.virginmediashorts.co.uk for their chance to win one of 5 yearly cinema passes.

The 12 short-listed film makers will now have their films evaluated by a prestigious judging panel including Oscar-winning stage and film actor Kevin Spacey; founder and chairman of the Virgin Group Richard Branson; British film director Gurinder Chadha; star of Confetti and Green Wing, Stephen Mangan; film critic James King; Oscar-nominated short film director Daniel Barber; Lenny Crooks from the UK Film Council and Malcolm Wall, CEO of content at Virgin Media and chairman of the panel.

One Grand Prize and the People’s Choice awards will be presented at a ceremony in London on 29 September 2008.