Gay & Lesbian Film Festival on digital
The annual Out in Africa South African Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (OIA), now in its 12th year, will be coming to Ster Kinekor's Cinema Nouveau theatres, screened by Jameson, in Johannesburg and Cape Town during March and April.
Spectrum Visual Networks (SVN) will once again utilise its state-of-the-art technology to digitally display the festival. SVN were initially commissioned to develop a digital platform to display the festival to eliminate the problems associated with screening tapes and reduce scheduling problems as well as increasing flexibility and reducing costs.
Due to the relatively small commercial value of producing niche gay culture films, budgets are limited and film producers tend to utilise digital, sometimes low-budget, production methods. Additionally, prints or copies are produced in limited quantities, which then move around the world between film festivals, resulting in damage and affecting the quality of the material.
The utilisation of digital technology has allowed for a myriad of benefits including allowing for the simultaneous broadcast of films across cinemas countrywide. Moreover, the flexibility of digital allows for advertising material to be seamlessly integrated into each show.
Manny Teixeira, MD, SVN, says: "Our digital technology allows us to improve on the quality of the material provided, and the additional benefits of digital have supplied the tools for providing a more enjoyable cinema experience."
"Converting to digital has improved the overall running of the past film festivals and with over 30 films in this year's line-up we look forward to any even better Festival in March," says Nodi Murphy of Out in Africa.
