Everyone can be a film producer – that's the kind of crazy idea you can only find at the International Film Festival Rotterdam according to Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist. 'They are always ahead of the game here. Rotterdam was the first to programme video art. Now lots of film festivals do that.'
Rist was asked, along with Alexis Dos Santos and Ho Yuhang, to take part in Cinema Reloaded, an exploration in the possibilities that crowd funding offers film makers. In the coming half year they each hope to raise €30,000 from the internet audience to make a short film. If everything goes well and the budget is reached, then the results will be on the big screen next year – at the IFFR of course. Dos Santos is in the lead at the moment with 218 contributors. They've given €2420 in total for his project about a German Rocky and a Mexican Lola that meet in the virtual world.
Yuhang thinks that Cinema Reloaded is like a democratic vote. 'The public make their voice heard through the money they contribute. They decide if I can make my film. I have to be like a minister that leads the way; basically I have to deliver a good film.'
Dos Santos freely says that he feels the pressure. 'I'm afraid to disappoint my financiers. I don't feel that so much if I get my financing in the traditional way. Governments and sources of funding are also aware that a film can fail.' Rist thinks that at the same time such direct interaction with the public can offer new possibilities. 'Although it's not the current intention of Cinema Reloaded, we could also bring our co-producers into the creative process. You could put a rough version on the internet, for example, and get a response before the film is totally finished.'
Whether or not they will raise the minimum amount is something the directors don't dare to consider out loud. Rist: 'If you say it out loud, usually it doesn't work out, and that would just be disappointing.' Dos Santos, however, sees future success as a boost for all independant film makers. 'An extra source of funding is never a bad thing. If it turns out that this form of public funding works, we could also use it for feature films. The film industry sees the internet primarily as an enemy, while it can actually be a good friend.' (NB)