May 12, 2016 | POV’s daily list of essential reading for the documentary and independent filmmaking community.
Virtual reality documentary Nomads arrives on Gear VR
In an effort to attract filmmakers to create documentaries exclusively for VR, Oculus VR released its first high-profile project, Nomads, yesterday for public viewing. Created by the Montreal-duo Félix Lajeunesse and Paul Raphaël, the documentary immerses you in three distinct parts of the planet. With over 1 million users in the past month alone, Oculus hopes the rise of VR tech and ergonomics will compel users to embrace longer content.
Read more | The Verge »
Cannes 2016: Here’s 11 Movies By Female Filmmakers That Should Have Been at the Festival
The 2016 Cannes Film Festival is only just beginning, but the controversies surrounding directors and movies are already exploding on the Internet. While this is less controversial, check out this list from IndieWire‘s Girl Talk with 11 films that should have been in the Cannes lineup. Watch some of these films and support female filmmakers!
Read more | IndieWire »
Facebook’s Trending Topics and the growing power of the funnel filter
With 63 percent of users relying on Facebook and Twitter as their source for news, it’s not surprising Internet behemoths and publishers are all fighting for the digital news readers on their respective platforms. The widening of news on digital platforms has inevitably narrowed down the filter funnel, putting the responsibility on a few people and bots. After all, someone has to decide what stories have news value and where to display them.
Read more | Nieman Lab »
YouTube’s New Messenger Means You’ll Never Have to Leave YouTube
YouTube is already respected as a video-sharing platform, reaching more 18— to 49—years olds than any cable network in the U.S.. Now, YouTube is making it easier for you to share those funny or educational videos right in the moment with a new messenger feature. The hope is that the more time users spend on YouTube, the less time users will spend time on competitor sites, such as Facebook and Snapchat.
Read more | Wired »
How readers engage with long-form content on mobile devices
A report from the Pew Research Center shows that long-form journalism does have a place in today’s mobile-centric society. In fact, long-form stories get nearly the same amount of visitors as short—form stories, and the engagement level tends to be higher for the former. You can read the full report here.
Read more and apply here | MediaShift »
Upcoming festivals and deadlines
This Week
DOK.fest-International Documentary Film Festival Munich 5/5-5/15
Taiwan International Documentary Festival 5/6-5/15
Festival de Cannes 5/11-5/22
Next Week
Deadline: Miller/Packan Documentary Film Fund Grant 5/15
Deadline: Miller/Packan Documentary Film Fund Grant applications 5/15
Deadline: United Nations Association Film Festival Submission 5/16
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