Digital film festivals emerged in the mid- to late-1990s, to showcase artists and filmmakers utilizing the nascent tools of desktop
digital filmmaking.
Digital film
:
Digital cinematography is the process of capturing (recording) a motion picture using digital image sensors rather than through film stock. As digital technology has improved in recent years, this practice has become dominant. Since the mid- ...
s and
animation
Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...
are now commonly found in mainstream
film festival
A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon ...
s, but these events laid the groundwork for pioneering works in the area as useful nexus points for digital artists and debates on digital distribution and creation.
The earliest digital film festivals included the MiniDV Festival (now called The Digital Video Festival) in Los Angeles, Low Res (later to split into the DFilm and
RESFest
RESFEST (1996–2006) is a defunct American film festival. It was by the 2000s the most prominent digital film festival in North America.
History
RESFest was a leading global showcase of new digital filmmakers alongside England's Onedotzero ...
events),
onedotzero
onedotzero is a contemporary digital arts organisation based in London that aims to promote new work in moving image and motion arts. The organisation conducts public events, artist and content development, publishing projects, education, produc ...
, and Exploding Cinema (the International Film Festival Rotterdam digital cinema sidebar). Other digital film festivals include .Mov (Japan), Darklight (Ireland), Bifilm (Germany), MP4Fest at
Silver Lake Film Festival {{unreferenced, date=July 2009
Silver Lake Film Festival ran from 2000 to 2007. It was a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization established to provide a showcase for cutting-edge independent film, music, digital, and other arts in Los Angeles, Califo ...
(Los Angeles, CA), 0110 (India), Clone (Norway), as well as
onedotzero
onedotzero is a contemporary digital arts organisation based in London that aims to promote new work in moving image and motion arts. The organisation conducts public events, artist and content development, publishing projects, education, produc ...
's international network of events across 60 cities worldwide, among others.
These festivals stretch the traditional boundaries of "film festivals" by including hybrid works from
internet art,
web animation
Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes (still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...
,
computer and video gaming,
streaming video
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...
,
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
, etc.
In 2008, the Paso Digital Film Festival set new standards and for six years has moved between #1 and #3 on all of the major search engines when "digital film festivals" is searched. The event was held in November 2008, and was attended by
Clint Eastwood
Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...
and 20 people from his film company
Malpaso including his Academy Award-winning editor
Joel Cox
Joel Cox (born April 2, 1942) is an American film editor. He is best known for collaborating with Clint Eastwood in over 30 films.
Life and career
Cox has been working in film since appearing as a baby in ''Random Harvest'' (1942). He started i ...
. Also attending were Sir
Nigel Sinclair
Nigel Sinclair, CBE (born 31 March 1948) is a Scottish producer of Hollywood films.
Early life
Sinclair was born in Corbridge, Northumberland, England, Northumberland, United Kingdom, England. His family moved to Galloway, Scotland, Galloway ...
, Cass Warner the granddaughter of
Jack Warner, musicians
Johnny Rivers
Johnny Rivers (born John Henry Ramistella; November 7, 1942) is an American musician. His repertoire includes pop, folk, blues, and old-time rock 'n' roll. Rivers charted during the 1960s and 1970s but remains best known for a string of hit sing ...
,
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
Ramblin' Jack Elliott (born Elliot Charles Adnopoz; August 1, 1931) is an American folk singer and songwriter.
Life and career
Elliott was born in 1931 in Brooklyn, New York, United States, the son of Florence (Rieger) and Abraham Adnopoz, a ...
,
Kyle Eastwood
Kyle Eastwood (born May 19, 1968) is an American jazz bassist and film composer. He studied film at the University of Southern California for two years before embarking on a music career. After becoming a session player in the early 1990s and lea ...
(Clint's son), TV actors
Gary Conway
Gary Conway (born February 4, 1936) is an American actor and screenwriter. His notable credits include a co-starring role with Gene Barry in the detective series '' Burke's Law'' from 1963 to 1965. In addition, he starred in the Irwin Allen sci ...
and Max Gail,
Kevin Bacon
Kevin Norwood Bacon (born July 8, 1958) is an American actor. His films include the musical-drama film '' Footloose'' (1984), the controversial historical conspiracy legal thriller '' JFK'' (1991), the legal drama '' A Few Good Men'' (1992), t ...
and his band
The Bacon Brothers
The Bacon Brothers is an American music duo consisting of brothers Michael Bacon (musician), Michael Bacon and Kevin Bacon. Although they have played music together since they were boys, the brothers have only been a working band since 1994. Ha ...
. The festival included a day of 3-D with some of the early pioneers in 3-D from Los Angeles attending and showing independent 3D movies. Elements of the festival were streamed live online from the website.
In 2013, the Digital Media Festival in
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...
set another standard with a full shift from the world of "film" to the new age of "digital media" and staged in Silicon Valley, California. It was attended by filmmakers from San Francisco and Los Angeles, including Cass Warner, from the
Warner Brothers
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...
family, Len Dell'Amico, the long time music video producer known as "the
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...
's Video Guy", the author and photographer
Chris Felver, the author and Stanford University professor
Fred Turner and the actor
Max Gail
Maxwell Trowbridge Gail Jr. (born April 5, 1943) is an American actor who has starred on stage, and in television and film roles. He is best known for his role as Detective Stan "Wojo" Wojciehowicz on the sitcom ''Barney Miller'' (1975–1982), ...
.
List of digital film festivals
* Digital MediaFestival.com 2012 - 2014
*
FFTG Awards
* MP4Fest at
Silver Lake Film Festival {{unreferenced, date=July 2009
Silver Lake Film Festival ran from 2000 to 2007. It was a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization established to provide a showcase for cutting-edge independent film, music, digital, and other arts in Los Angeles, Califo ...
- digital festival-within-a-festival
*
Nodance Film Festival
Based in Park City, Utah, the Nodance Film Festival was founded as an alternative to the Sundance Film Festival and celebrates the alternative digital film culture, with an emphasis on first-time filmmakers and digital filmmaking. Held annually i ...
*
onedotzero
onedotzero is a contemporary digital arts organisation based in London that aims to promote new work in moving image and motion arts. The organisation conducts public events, artist and content development, publishing projects, education, produc ...
* Paso Digital Film Festival from 2008- to 2014
*
RESFest
RESFEST (1996–2006) is a defunct American film festival. It was by the 2000s the most prominent digital film festival in North America.
History
RESFest was a leading global showcase of new digital filmmakers alongside England's Onedotzero ...
* Streaming Festival
See also
*
List of new media art festivals
The following is a list of festivals dedicated to new media art.
International and online festivals
* The ISEA International Symposium on Electronic Art is an annual event consisting of a symposium on issues related to electronic art and an exh ...
References
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