M+E Daily

Virtual Film Festivals Lead to Greater Audience Diversity

As the Sundance Film Festival wrapped this year from the organisation’s home base in Park City, Utah, the festival closed their virtual doors on a global, diverse audience unlike any they’ve seen in the past. This year, participation in one of the world’s best-known festivals was not restricted to the privileged or famed, those who could afford the travel, the lodging, and the festival pass.

This year, the streets and slopes of Park City were not filled with faces that matched the snow. Like countless film festivals, from the large and well-known to the small and niche, all propelled into the virtual space by a global pandemic, Sundance will benefit from the shift.

A virtual film festival means that anyone with an internet connection can be a part of the audience. Any up-and-coming film critic — not just the comfy, salaried ones who can make the trip — can write the reviews.

The voices of BIPOC (black, Indigenous and people of colour), members of the LGBTQ community, and people working in film around the world are seizing the opportunity to speak out in spaces that have historically been dominated by straight or white or American (usually all three) established industry pros.

Diversity is increasing in film festival audiences, and among film industry influencers, because barriers to participation are not nearly as prevalent in the virtual world as they are “in real life.” Not only are film festivals with a more general programming theme and broader appeal seeing audience members from backgrounds, races, ethnicities, and age groups that they’ve not seen before, but smaller festivals — those with a unique, specific theme or purpose — are able to reach and welcome their target participants more readily than an in-person festival might ever allow.

If I were an architecture-loving film enthusiast who wants to watch films in my native Spanish dialect — I could find my film festival. If I were a person with autism who is interested in horses, or a transgender person of colour living in New York — I could find my film festival. I could find my festival and, specifically because of the virtual shift, I could participate in my festival, no matter where I am in the world. And the great thing that happens when people find their film festival is that they find their people. The filmmakers, the festival runners, they’re involved because it means something to them.

Telling the stories or amplifying the stories of people with that particular voice means something to them.

One popular streaming platform known for hosting niche virtual film festivals of various sizes is Film Festival Flix.

From the Reel Recovery Film Festival (films bringing awareness to and reducing the stigma of addiction and recovery), to the Whistleblower Summit Film Festival (focused on social justice and uniting those who speak out against injustice), to the Black Hills Film Festival (amplifying the voices of filmmakers from New Mexico indigenous tribes), Film Festival Flix places an emphasis on connecting audiences and filmmakers through shared backgrounds, identities, and experiences, while at the same time keeping the doors open for anyone to attend.

Education is key. The film festival directors are trained in audience growth and sponsor development, the marketing teams are coached through the steps for social media campaign success. The filmmakers and distributors are walked through content security and the benefits of global reach.

And in the end, each virtual film festival sees participation and engagement from people in states, nations, and demographics they’ve never had opportunity to see before.

Accessibility and availability can’t be undervalued either. More and more filmmakers and production companies are recognising the need to include quality closed captions for the hearing-impaired, and accurate, detailed audio descriptions for blind and low-vision viewers.

In the past, these modifications have too often been an after-thought, missing the mark in terms of story mood, setting, and emotion.

The virtual shift is accelerating their improvement.

Some apps and devices are better equipped to handle accessibility features. By using a virtual platform that will ensure their programming content is available to stream by means of any device, film festivals can empower more patrons to participate meaningfully.

Independent filmmakers and film festival programmers wield significant power in shaping the direction of the film industry, which, in turn, can influence important conversations and cultural shifts in our society.

The diversity of voices being amplified in this process through virtual accessibility will educate, enrich, and, in the long run, empower us all.

* By Amber Davis Johnson, Director of Communications, Film Festival Flix

Amber K. Davis Johnson is a writer, artist, and brand designer specialising in accessible, brand-voice-specific marketing content and graphic design. A published poet, violinist, outdoors enthusiast and mother of three, Amber lives with her family in Burbank, Calif. See more of her work and contact her at amberjunestudios.com .