‘Like’ it or Not

Min-Jung Kim and Soo and Jonas Smensgard are hosting the first-ever film festival on Facebook,OneCloudFest. A unique platform,Kim says that the idea stems from the fact that indie filmmakers are always scrambling for distribution platforms. “OneCloudFest was started to give greater exposure to independent films,especially short films. While many online venues to redistribute and relicense content are currently available,Facebook was chosen as the starting platform,because it has built-in access to a vast audience,” says Kim.

The year-long festival started in March this year. The entries,which have been shortlisted on the basis of technical quality,acting and storytelling,are available for streaming. The number of ‘Likes’ by the audience will decide the ‘Audience Choice Award’ winners of the quarter-finals under each category,which will be held at a six-month gap. The finals will take place between December and February when films by the finalists will be screened again for fresh votes to decide the finalists for a grand cash prize.

The festival has already attracted a number of filmmakers from the US,UK and also India. However,the only two contestants of Indian origin — Rohit Gupta with his short film Another Day,Another Life and Sanjay Rawal with his Ocean Monk — happen to be based out of the US.

What has attracted them all to this first attempt at a Facebook arts festival is the curiosity to see how the audience will respond. “Indie filmmakers need to explore all distribution methods,particularly the ones online. In fact,the most successful online festival,in terms of viewership,was the 2010 St Louis International Film Festival,which is an Oscar-qualifying event. While I am not entirely convinced that film distribution is ready to go the Facebook route,I am definitely curious to figure out audience acceptance of this medium to view films. Most of the traditional forms of media — books,movies,music — have witnessed a decline in revenue. Perhaps social networking will supply a solution,” says Rawal,whose film won the Best Short Documentary award at St Louis Festival.

Gupta,whose Another Day,Another Life has won 57 international awards and was also the official selection at the Cannes 2009 Short Film Corner,feels that much will depend on how much exposure OneCloudFest receives. “There are millions of people out there using Facebook. But how many of them will know about the festival? The coming few months will decide how successful they are going to be in this endeavour,” says Gupta,who is to direct a Hollywood production,My Big Fake Indian Wedding,and is also in talks with Reliance BIG Pictures for the distribution of his feature film,Life! Camera,Action,in India.