The 2020 edition of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam provided an inspiring example throughout the cultural sector in many operation areas. It implemented creative solutions to deal with pandemic restrictions, such as the creation of a digital space to engage the audience within the films. It also presented a possibility for social gathering in social distance times, using digital technology to seek new forms to present artworks and promote human connection. The festival has led to innovation in times of disruption, adding more than 80,000 visits to online screenings. This blogpost looks at what we can learn from this event, considering a review from the theories of digital materiality; the convergence between the online and the offline mediums in the film industry; and the relevance of digital collections in our current digitally-mediated world.
The importance of digital platforms in our daily lives has grown exponentially in the last years and have become essential during coronavirus’s public-health crisis. The lockdown has culminated in people using more internet-based services to communicate, study, and manage their job responsibilities from home. For this reason, “internet services have seen rises in usage from 40% to 100%, compared to pre-lockdown levels” (Pandey & Pal, 2020, p. 1). Therefore, organisations that before the pandemic already understood the importance of having a digital presence, now are working even more on “their technology infrastructure to account for the surge” (Pandey & Pal, 2020, p. 2). This includes cultural heritage institutions and events such as film festivals. To this extent, the creation of digital platforms and collections with the goal of promoting proper usage and engagement for these organisations need comprehension about digital materiality. Digitalisation needs to be connected with the understanding that the materiality of an object or project creates the experience we have with it. Thus, creating digital products that remediate physical objects or spaces — or developing born-digital ones — can be a challenging activity that asks for creativity and adaptability to maintain the project’s potential of meaning-making.
Digital materiality
When people go to a physical museum or film festival, they are surrounded by elements that help to form their emotions and reactions to the collections or films they are seeing, such as the light of the room, the aesthetics in which the objects are presented (e.g. their disposition), the sounds, the smell, and so forth. In these situations, the subjectivity of these elements “is not erased but displaced, unsettled, and works within the intensive capacity to affect and to be affected” (Deleuze and Guattari, 2004, as cited in Waterton & Watson, 2015, p. 186). In fact, these are affordances that “can add layers of intellectual meaning and understanding which may enhance or even contradict its content” (Lester, 2018, p. 77). All these elements help to form the materiality of the objects and creates the experience we have with them. Thus, when dealing with digital projects and collections, it is important to keep in mind that the remediation of a project to an online space, or even the creation of born-digital projects, needs to make proper use of digital affordances — consequently creating materiality and meaning for the project. Therefore, how can we recognise the materiality of the digital to create successful projects?
Firstly, it is important to be aware that digital products also have material components: “hardware, software, and their processes provide a point of departure for the investigation of larger systemic relations in which multiple materialities are at play” (Drucker, 2013, para. 7). Online projects’ technical structures will delineate its interface design, which creates layers of materiality. These material components make it possible for people to interact within the project, by “expanding the connections between physical objects and spaces, by creating networks of meaning, and by emphasising new sensory experiences” (Tebeau, 2016, p. 476). The choice of software, platform and so forth will delimitate the accessibility and the different ways in which people can engage with the project presented.
Nevertheless, Drucker adds that “even the fullest account of physical features supplies only a partial framework for understanding how digital materiality works” (2013, para. 7). Therefore, other characteristics can add materiality in digital projects. For instance, to add metadata and descriptions about the items in projects can be an effective way to provide more information about them, creating materiality and potential to generate meaning within the audience. Another possible resource is to use multimodality. Videos, sounds, photographs, 3D models, digital art, and so forth can help build more context and information in projects. The proper use of the platform’s affordances in which the project is hosted, by embedding different modalities of communication, can involve the audience and create meaning from the objects.
Thus, it is necessary to explore the internet structures, understanding that projects are limited by the platform they are in. Forlini and Hinrichs defend the importance of seeking “ways to capture and systematically translate the physical features (…) into a digital space driven by visual, auditory and screen-based interaction” (2017, p. 2), paying attention to the on-screen representation of material features. The “goal is to translate, re-interpret, and transform (critically and creatively) embodied experiences (…) into digital environments, understanding the strengths and limitations of each medium without subordinating one to another” (Forlini & Hinrichs, 2017, p. 1). Therefore, it is crucial to recognise that works of art and objects can be separated from their original mediums, keeping in mind that each medium and remediation has its own potentials and pitfalls.
Convergence and the film industry
The scholar De Valck (2008) researches film festivals and defends its cultural value. She argues that they provide a rich discursive context, including experimental films, expert selections, discussions and film reviews. According to her, film festivals have the power to take society out of a cinematic filter bubble, making people watch alternative movies instead of only those presented in mainstream theatres and streaming services, for instance (De Valck, 2008). Her research also includes the collision of film festivals between “old” and “new” media, meaning offline and online affordances. She observes that the convergence of the film industry between online and offline has addressed “a tremendous expansion of the possibilities for user interactivity as well as an increase in choices available to consumers” (De Valck, 2008, p. 16). Therefore, the online environment could increase the film industry’ possibilities for distribution and exhibition, and “might prove to be the perfect companion to actual festival events, creating opportunities for further expansion and consolidation of the circulation of niche films among worldwide audiences” (De Valck, 2008, p. 22). In this way, a hybrid format between offline and online could be an effective alternative to film festivals.
Although she recognises the relevant value of digital affordances, De Valck also understands that physical festivals have an advantage over online ones, once they create “a festive atmosphere, which not only alerts and attracts visitors to the screenings, but also puts them in the mood for ‘discoveries’. Festival visitors are thus more open and willing to try and make sense of unfamiliar content” (Nichols, 1994, as cited in De Valck, 2008, p. 21). To this extent, face-to-face interactions would be extremely relevant in the context of film festivals, because people would not only be able to watch films, but also to meet directors and other professionals that can add “a spectacular dimension to the festival event that makes it more competitive in the contemporary experience economy than Internet forums and communities for film viewing” (De Valck, 2008, p. 21). Thus, the festival space and the social gathering happening on it are extremely pertinent, as they support “the visibility and prestige of festival films in ways that digital distribution cannot” (De Valck, 2008, p. 22). This perspective brings a challenge to online festivals presented in times of social isolation such as the corona pandemic. Thus, this discussion goes back to the concept of digital materiality, the key element to explore, interpret and use digital affordances creatively in order to promote innovation and audience engagement with the films.
Case Study: The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam
The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is the world’s largest international documentary film festival and happens every year physically in Amsterdam. It gathers professionals and enthusiasts of the film industry to watch films and immersive exhibitions such as VR documentaries and dome screenings. The festival’s organisation describes it as “an independent and inspiring meeting place for audiences and professionals to see a diverse and high-quality program” (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, 2021, para. 1). To this extent, “one of its primary ambitions is to provide an outstanding platform for the amplification of diverse voices and to change the film industry from within. As such, the festival ensures that at least fifty per cent of the films and new media projects are by female creators; the programming features a large number of films from under-represented regions and the competition juries are made up of at least fifty percent women, with jurors drawn from all over the world” (Raimanova, 2020, p. 303). It is possible to see that the festival is committed to being inclusive, fighting the existing gender gap by providing women collections and artworks, and ‘decolonising’ its films by giving opportunities to creators from developing areas to participate.
Due to corona restrictions, the festival suffered changes in the 2020 edition. It could not present certain works in physical exhibitions, and it had to move it online. According to The DocLab head of New Media, Caspar Sonnen, “initially it felt like a struggle, because the whole point of doing the exhibition is not about presenting individual works but about experiencing them together, meeting artists, and having fun” (IDFA, 2020, para. 11). Therefore, his discourse corroborates with Den Valck’s theory that film festivals need to “provide a sociocultural environment where viewers are stimulated to watch and contemplate these films” (De Valck, 2008, p. 20), in which the social gathering and the physical place are extremely relevant.
The solution found by the organisation committee was to use the experimental platform OhYay. They used it to create the project do {not} touch, a “program that explores how artists across disciplines disrupt physical boundaries and challenge digital technology to seek out new forms of documentary art and human connection” (IDFA, 2020, para. 1). OhYay makes it possible “to create any virtual space that you can imagine — from music festivals and interactive museums to family reunions and themed escape rooms. Whether you want to make instant friends by leveling up your virtual holiday party, or dream up a fantasy world that’s far from reality — it’s all possible with ohyay studio” (OhYay, 2021, para. 1). The website invites users to create their rooms and enables people to chat with each other. They also use the slogan ‘break out of the grid’, alluding to other platforms such as Zoom, where participants have a standard space to fit in. To use OhYay, you just need to use Google Chrome and a desktop computer or laptop, being relatively simple as it is not necessary to download or buy anything.
Before you enter the festival through the platform, it gives you some instructions: you can follow someone around by clicking on a specific icon; you can type a name in the search bar to find someone (and then it shows where the person is in the festival), and you can ‘whisper’ to someone to talk privately. These resources help to build materiality for the project, as they provide a way for people to engage within the space and with each other. Moreover, it helps to construct a more sensory experience as it plays with different formats such as video and audio (from the films and from your and other people’s cameras and microphones), texts, and images. It is possible not only to watch the screenings but also to meet with friends or new people. Thus, the physical experience of going to a festival has been transformed and even gained some positive points: you can rewatch the films anytime you wish, and connect with people from any part of the world; which would not be possible in the physical festival.
Using OhYay, makers can design virtual spaces that are interactive and “infinitely configurable” (OhYay, 2021, para. 7). The IDFA used the platform to create a digital space where the audience can virtually walk around and go to different sections of the festival such as digital experiences, digital performances, virtual reality, and industry area. In this way, people can enter in the “mood for discoveries” mentioned by De Valck, being able to engage with different projects, watch documentaries at any time of the day, and talk with different people.
When you select a specific project, you can read a description of it, and access links for external websites or social media, such as Instagram. In this way, the audience receives more information about the project and can engage with it inside and outside the festival. Moreover, it is a way to present digital materiality as these descriptions provide context and meaning. Other affordances, such as the social gathering and the walking around the festival, also provides the previously mentioned goals of film festivals: to promote an exchange of information between people and to stimulate them to consume different content by discovering it in the online space. For instance, someone could watch a specific film because he/she met someone at the festival that recommended it. After watching it, it would be possible to search directly for the director in the search bar to chat with him/her. It is a straightforward way to meet people and communicate, and it shows the digital revolution that we are experiencing during the pandemic.
Using this strategy, the IDFA could still promote cultural diversity and experimentation. Overall, the festival promoted its online project successfully, adding more than 80,000 visits to the online screenings. Although some experiences were still only available physically, the organisation has played with the digital materiality of the OhYay platform and was able to construct an inventive format for the festival.
The festival website also counts with a digital collection of the documentaries, where they invite the audience to “explore all films and interactive documentaries that have been shown at IDFA over the years” (IDFA, 2021, para. 1). There are more than a thousand documentaries and it is possible to search by the name of the film or the director, or with filters such as subject, section, length, edition, watch online, country, IDFA awards, and premiere.
When one documentary is selected, it is possible to read a description about the film, as well as the technical file (metadata) such as the name of director, country of production, producers, length, cinematography, editing, and sound design. All these pieces of information provide more context to the films and it is a way to create materiality in the digital platform.
Other features of the film festival, such as interviews with filmmakers (in video format); as well as a series of long-read articles with the stories behind the IDFA 2020 program are also available on the website. Thus, they try to make their online presence the most similar as possible as the physical one. Moreover, every person around the globe — not affected by the digital divide — can access their content, which helps to democratise knowledge and works of art. This is an advantage when compared with the physical festival, more restricted due to its location.
This case study of the IDFA 2020 has shown how it is possible to utilise digital affordances to create materiality and offer the public high-quality content and social engagement tools. It has shown that even times of disruption such as the corona pandemic can be transformed into digital innovation. The pandemic seems to have given the conditions to develop appealing and different opportunities for film festivals and the cultural sector in general. The IDFA 2020 has served as an example of how exploring the materialities of digital platforms, with affordances such as metadata and multimodality, can help to create more interactive projects, engaging the community around it with valuable content.
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