Spike Lee - Reuters VENICE, Italy (AP):
Director Spike Lee will head the jury of the inaugural online film festival announced Saturday by Babelgum, a website that streams video to computers free of charge.
Lee said the Babelgum Online Film Festival's use of the Internet provides young, independent filmmakers anywhere in the world a platform to have their work seen that didn't exist in his day.
"I was from the prehistoric age," Lee told a news conference on the sidelines of the Venice Film Festival. "You have no excuse now. If you have a film and you're talented and someone is not seeing it, it's your fault."
Filmmakers who have had their work accepted at other film festivals from January 2007 through next February can begin making their submissions September 15 by uploading their films onto Babelgum's site, organisers said. Winners will receive US$20,000.
Offensive material
Babelgum users will make the first selection, whittling each category down to 10 beginning next February. The jury will reduce that to three, with Lee making the final selection. Winners will be announced in April.
Babelgum said it would not accept offensive material and Lee acknowledged that it would be tricky defining what that meant. The question was still in discussion, but Lee said he expected nudity would be ruled out.
"What might be offensive to you might not be offensive to me, and vice versa," Lee said. "Language, I think, is clearer than the visual stuff."
Peer-to-peer technology
Otherwise, films must be in English or have English-language subtitles and not exceed 45 minutes.
The festival will have six sections, including one recognising new talent, short films under 20 minutes, documentary, animation, advertising and films that focus on social and environmental issues. Organisers expect about 2,000 submissions.
Babelgum, which was started by the founder of Italy's second-largest telecommunications company Fastweb, launched its site for the general public last March. It uses peer-to-peer technology and focuses on content from independent producers. Competitors include Joost and VeohTV.
