by Marc Guidoni , published on 5.10.2009

A few words about another event that digs its roods deep into the same reflections that those we are developing around transmedia: I’m talking about the 4 Screens European Festival, which had its 2009 edition from November 18^th to the 29^th.

This festival celebrates European films, focusing on documentary, whether they’ve been made for cinema, television, the web or mobiles. In fact, the very substance of the event is to bring together screens that were disjointed until now and to erase the differences between tiny, average or big screens… This “non-segregation” is the first step of transmedia and deserves to be saluted…

European Audiovisual Creation has considerably changed since the dawn of the digital age and of the 2.0 web. The festival follows this digital revolution for “real life” images, a term used for documentary cinema, for which we’ve witnessed a strong growth and interest with audiences in the last few years with the theatrical release of films such as “Mondovio” and “Le cauchemar de Darwin” or “Waltz with Bachir”. The festival highlights creation from the advent of the digital revolution and delivers a panorama of the European identity through its image production. It doesn’t stop at showcasing and giving prizes to the new productions of documentary images, it also fosters an active reflection about new media thanks to its Image University events.

They include conferences featuring key actors from the world of French, European and international media. The subject: deciphering the role of new screens and new contents, better understanding the future of media in the context of the digital revolution, understanding the treatment of news and the new consumption of images. There is no doubt that transmedia will be discussed…

Finally, it’s interesting to note that the 2009 edition of the festival is putting even more of an emphasis on the transmission of knowledge. The festival is particularly addressing the “digital natives” generation, these young people who are born with the web. The goal: helping them discover and appreciate these “real images”, their creation and their understanding.  In 2008, 400 university students and 450 high school students were there for a day that was especially conceived for them.

For the 2009 edition, during two days, university and high school students were able to attend all the projections for free, register in the festival’s workshops, participate in conferences and debates with professionals, present themselves to be part of a youth jury.

All the info can be found on: www.festival-4ecrans.eu