Page 126 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report 2016

126The organisers tell us that once the user selects the lm they want to see, they can only access it in the next 72 hours, as many times as they wish, as if they had rented it. Its online nature makes it one of the lm festivals with the greatest capacity for distribution and scope in the country.In the 2015 edition only two o -screen actions were scheduled to coincide with the Day section of the Sónar festival in Barcelona, where the Filmin platform is based.The organisers are familiar with online exhibition mechanisms and attach great importance to having a responsive website adaptable to all kinds of screens (even for smart TVs) that is easy for users to browse and nd information on. Clarity, speed and a good structure are one of the festival’s maxims.On the website spectators can nd synopses, directors’ biographies and technical speci cations of lms, as well as summaries of the critiques published in the written media. And, as we see in other festival sections, it allows spectators to vote for the winner of the subsequently awarded audience prize, as well as to post critiques and comments that they can subsequently share on their Facebook or Twitter pro les.According to the festival, these two types of participation are very popular and improve spectators’ experience. This is important to the organisers, as, unlike at traditional festivals, attendees do not have a physical space in which to interact – that is, it is important to create dynamics aimed at fostering user synergies and participation.Another aspect in which they believe that the experience of viewing lms has improved is adaptation to a broader spectrum of devices in the latest edition. The organisers commented that ‘it’s not the same to view a lm on the computer as it is on a TV’, meaning that thescreen format actually alters people’s perception of the content.At the present time, when it is increasingly common for people to consume audiovisual content on the Internet, even pay-as-you-view,31 it seems essential to embrace these new ways of viewing, perceiving and enjoying lms or even of readapting them to di erent screens.The Huesca International Film Festival hasalso experimented with broadcasting lms and making them available temporarily to paying viewers for a small price. The Festhome32 platform is an online lm distributor that works with the new methods of distributing cultural content broadcast directly over the Internet. This means that for a small monthly subscription, or in exchange for viewing advertisements, users can watch lms on the platform’s own streaming channel, Indiehome TV.Festhome o ers festivals intermediary services but can also host them online, with web analysis and channel design services included. According to this platform, nearly 1,300 festivals from 89 countries all over the world work with them.As stated, Huesca festival enlisted its services for the rst time in 2015, with satisfactory results, under the FestivalHuesca en Casa programme.33 The shorts in the competition section – a total of 12 were selected – were available on the Festhome channel throughout the duration of the festival and for a further ten days.The proceeds from pay-per-view, which are very small according to the website, were divided equally between the owners of the lm rights, the festival and the service provider (Festhome).According to the festival, this service has succeeded in helping creators reach new audiences. During this edition, in which they experimented with the online section, 162 users paid for more than 500 viewings (it is interesting to note that, roughly speaking, many of the users2. NT BEFORE AND DURING THE FESTIVALFocus: Use of New Digital Technologies at Cultural Festivals