Streaming Cinema 2.0 It isn't film anymore

Cinema is an art form rooted in technology.

From the earliest nickelodeons on through the introduction of sound and
color and continuing today with the emergence of digital video,
cinematic form has always been shaped by the technology of the medium.
This is equally true for Internet films. Their form is shaped by the
fact that the Internet is a digital, interactive, upstream/downstream
medium. And that makes Internet films completely different from
cinematic films.

Several years ago, web cinema as a form was defined by the dial-up, 28.8
k Internet network. Today the Internet has morphed into a variety of
delivery media, from 14.4 wireless to broadcast quality satellite
systems, and a full range of narrowband and broadband in between. Each
new medium shapes and changes the way stories are told on the web and as
a result, web cinema is constantly evolving.

In these web films, you can see the unfolding of a new language of
visual storytelling, a new style of motion pictures: there are films
that leverage the computer based technology of the web to produce movies
that create multiple versions of themselves. There are films that take
advantage of the fluidity and international reach of the Net to allow
filmmakers from many countries to create different episodes of a story
and then pass them along for the next person to add on. There are films
that play with linear narrative by bringing the age old concept of
"framing stories" into the 21st century.

These films are laying the foundation for what visual storytelling will
look like 10, 20, 100 years from now. Their impact is already being
felt: "Time Code", "Run Lola Run" and even "The Pillow Book" all
incorporate elements of web filmmaking.

The Golden Age of net films? We think so, which is why we created
Streaming Cinema. Streaming Cinema is a traveling festival of net films
that celebrates the nerve, vision and artistic audacity of these
pioneering filmmakers. By moving the online films off-line, Streaming
Cinema demands that these works be judged on their own merit, and not as
a bastard step-child or lady-in-waiting to television or theatrical
cinema.

Streaming Cinema is also a forum for discussion about emerging forms of
the web and emerging forms of web cinema. It's a workshop about how to
harness the capabilities of the web and DV to produce your own stories.
And it's a celebration of the possibilities of storytelling on the web.

Streaming Cinema 2.0 kicks off in Philadelphia, USA in early June and
then moves on to several venues in Europe and across the States. The
deadline for submissions is April 15th. For more information contact

info@streamingcine.com