The coronavirus pandemic has put a stop to large gatherings for the foreseeable future, but the organizers at Montreal's Fantasia International Film Festival have fortunately found a way to make things work. They're switching to an entirely online model for their 2020 edition.
The festival has teamed up with Festival Scope and Shift72 to work with them on their online festival platform. The platform offers studio-grade DRM and will be MPAA compliant, operating according to Motion Picture Association of America security standards.
Plenty of Fantasia screenings are expected to be presented with real-time access, meaning they will have a similar sense of shared excitement as the real-life festival-going experience.
"While we're saddened not to be able to put on the larger-than-life physical event that we'd been planning for this year, we're extremely excited to be working with Festival Scope and Shift72 on an unconventional virtual edition," the festival's Mitch Davis said in a press release. "They've enthusiastically embraced every challenge we've thrown their way, particularly when it comes to making so many of our screenings be real-time, live events instead of the usual streaming approach. It's going to make things so much more exciting and will go a long way towards keeping the intensity and engagement of the in-person experience vibrant in an online realm."
Film screenings will be geoblocked to only allow for Canadian audiences to view them. That's bad news for Americans, but good news for the rest of Canada who can see what Fantasia has to offer.
The virtual Fantasia will take place from August 20 to September 2. The first wave of films playing the fest will be announced in late May.
The festival has teamed up with Festival Scope and Shift72 to work with them on their online festival platform. The platform offers studio-grade DRM and will be MPAA compliant, operating according to Motion Picture Association of America security standards.
Plenty of Fantasia screenings are expected to be presented with real-time access, meaning they will have a similar sense of shared excitement as the real-life festival-going experience.
"While we're saddened not to be able to put on the larger-than-life physical event that we'd been planning for this year, we're extremely excited to be working with Festival Scope and Shift72 on an unconventional virtual edition," the festival's Mitch Davis said in a press release. "They've enthusiastically embraced every challenge we've thrown their way, particularly when it comes to making so many of our screenings be real-time, live events instead of the usual streaming approach. It's going to make things so much more exciting and will go a long way towards keeping the intensity and engagement of the in-person experience vibrant in an online realm."
Film screenings will be geoblocked to only allow for Canadian audiences to view them. That's bad news for Americans, but good news for the rest of Canada who can see what Fantasia has to offer.
The virtual Fantasia will take place from August 20 to September 2. The first wave of films playing the fest will be announced in late May.