A new short film competition, Vivid Digital, offers entrants the chance to get their work noticed – not least when it is screened on a 15m video wall in the heart of the City

Do you miss Screen Test and its young film-makers' competition? Discovering a talented director without the guiding hands of Messrs Rodd, Trueman and latterly Curry is like panning for gold in YouTube's river of piano-playing cats. What's more, funding films – never mind getting potential film investors to look at your work – can be a trial for aspiring directors and writers.

Enter, then, Vivid Digital. Aside from putting prize money and a commission up for grabs, this new short film competition has the wider aim of showcasing work by up-and-coming film-makers in a location where they could conceivably attract investment for future projects – namely, the heart of the City.

Curated by consultancy Art Acumen, the year-long art programme has three categories – film, animation and stop motion – and is open to anyone, with any amount of experience, anywhere in the world. Work entered need not even be new. As Art Acumen's managing director, Catherine Thomas, puts it: "It's not just young film graduates who need help finding funding. You can be in film-making for 10 years and still need backing.

"The shorts are in effect audition pieces to potential investors. The film-makers either crowdfund or self-fund these films, and many of those on the longlist are now seeking investment in order to make their shorts into a feature-length film."

Vivid Digital is sponsored by Bevis Marks Development, who are providing the cash prize – £1,200 in each category – and a venue for the screenings, 6 Bevis Marks. The new 16-storey building, located next to the Gherkin and a stone's throw from the Tate and Barbican, will play host to a long-running exhibition of all the films longlisted in each category. Designed by Fletcher Priest Architects (whom you may know from their mail rail mushroom farm proposal), the tower features a 15-metre video wall, which one of the lucky category winners will be commissioned to fill.

The winner of the film category will be announced on 20 March.

GLENN OWEN DODDS

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In this Australian comedy, the everyman hero apparently meets the creator of the universe. Glenn Owen Dodds – or God, to use his acronym – apparently sees and knows all but he appears to be a shambolic 1970s small businessman and frankly a bit of a chancer. He also seems like such a good bloke, though, that you'll want to believe in him anyway.

ALONE TIME

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A beautiful illustration of the contradictions of city living gives way to a portrait of nature as the young woman in this film abandons New York for a camping trip by a solitary lake. However, the misery of urban loneliness has been so artfully conveyed, it's hard to relax and not feel like you're being set up for a scare. Watch this one till the final frame.

LOST AND FOUND

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Step into the world of Blair Somerville. This artist and inventor has been creating ingenious – often impractical – sculptures, tools and toys for more than a decade in a remote, rainy corner of New Zealand's South Island. Lovingly depicted with a range of techniques but most impressively stop-motion, this piece brings Blair's ever-expanding gallery to life. Move over, Wallace and Gromit.

SUE PARASKEVA

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This elegant portrait of the artist Sue Paraskeva might initially feel like a new-age update of the potters' wheel but it won't be long before you're hypnotised. It's not the action of producing the pottery but the detail and care in its filming that makes it utterly engrossing. Relax and slip into this mind-bath in a quiet moment.

Vivid Digital is also supported or partnered by the British Council Film, Arts Council, City of London Corporation, Animate Projects and the Barbican. The competition remains open for submission in the animation and stop motion categories until 1 March and 1 May respectively.

• This article was amended on 18 February 2014. The British Council Film, Arts Council, City of London Corporation, Animate Projects and the Barbican are partners or supporters of Vivid Digital.