French promotional film organization Unifrance will screen the first ever Minecraft film at this year's MyMetaStories Film Festival.
Taking place from October 11 to November 3 on over 30 video-on-demand platforms and from October 18 to 21 on Minecraft, the second digital festival will reach young people online on their own terms, showcasing seven feature films and thirteen short films from across Europe – half of the projects coming from female directors.
“This carefully curated and eclectic selection invites viewers to explore contemporary European cinema in all its diversity, both in form and content,” says Daniela Elstner, CEO of Unifrance. “With a mix of drama, comedy and genre films, MyMetaStories’ programming reflects the fresh, sharp outlook of a generation of European filmmakers who play with the codes of world cinema and try to make their own films. [who engage with contemporary society.”]
By creating new ways to access gaming platforms – including a virtual screening room built like a Minecraft city – the festival is looking to carve out a unique distribution path. MyMetaStories will also be a driving force on Twitch and Discord, while organisers have partnered with 25 international influencers to help spread the word about continental cinema.
“By combining cinema and video games, our goal is twofold,” says Elstner. “First, we aim to expose a wide range of European films to an audience that might otherwise not be exposed to them. Second, we want to test the potential of these two different worlds and stimulate the growth of their overlap. In doing so, MyMetaStories connects generations, cultures, creative expressions, platforms and cultural industries.”
“Row there”
Through the Minecraft platform, participants can watch films in screening rooms specifically designed for each title, play mini-games and interact with like-minded users from around the world, all while connecting the worlds of gaming and the European film industry. Highlighting 13 animated and live-action short films available for free and in three languages, the first-ever Minecraft film festival will mark the occasion by screening David Verbeek’s “RU There,” which was selected at Cannes as the first feature film to be presented in this world.
The seven selected films collectively have won festival awards in Toronto, Cannes, Berlin, Karlovy Vary and Locarno, and will be subtitled in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish, while the short films have been programmed to emphasise accessibility, with many of them dialogue-free.
Below is this year's selection. Additional information can be found on the program's website.
Features
“After the Fire”, by Mehdi Fikri (France, 2022)
“Greater Paris”, Martin Jovat (France, 2022)
“The Invisible Battle,” Rainer Sarnet (Estonia, Latvia, Greece, Finland, 2023)
“Kido” by Zara Doenger (Netherlands, 2023)
“RU There” by David Verbeek (Netherlands, France, Taiwan, 2010)
“The Lost Children”, Michel Jacob (Belgium, 2023)
Sun, Kurdwin Ayoub (Austria 2022)
Animated short films
“Boom” Gabriel Augeray, Romain Auger, Laurie Pereira de Figueiredo, Charles De Cecco, Yannick Jacquin (France, 2022)
“Criss Cross”, Nina Reparova, Tomas Repar (Slovakia, Czech Republic, 2023)
“Goodbye Jerome” Chloe Farr, Gabrielle Selnet, Adam Saillard (France, 2021)
“The Herve Affair” by Luna Filippini (Belgium, 2023)
– “The Little Fan” – Sveta Yuverova (Germany, 2023)
“Loop”, Pablo Polledri (Spain, Argentina, 2023)
“Miisufy”, Lisi Grunberg (Estonia, 2023)
“Mondo Domino” by Suki (France, 2021)
Live short films
“The Song” by Christopher Nilsson (Sweden, France, 2023)
“Marlon Brando”, Vincent Telanos (Netherlands, 2020)
Piece by Piece, Reza Rasouli (Austria, 2023)
Two Girls and a Boat, Alexi Delikora (Finland, 2021)
“The Real Truth About Fighting”, Andrija Slavić (Croatia, Spain, 2023)
“The Invisible Battle”
