Colin Firth and is his wife Livia Giuggioli have launched a new film website named brightwide. The aim of the site is create a better platform for social and politically driven cinema. Brightwide aims to encourage audiences to become more actively involved in films driven by serious world issues. The site will have online premier’s to either test the appeal of a film before a potential nationwide cinema release or to just keep audiences interest in certain movies alive. Before this site became available information and discussion about social and political films may have been quite difficult to get hold of. All of the films shown on Brightwide have been played and a major festival and are quite likely to have been awarded there too.
A successful impact for content driven political cinema must be quite hard to achieve so a well known platform where a films message and content can be discussed with a chance to see other films with similar purposes makes sense to me. Often if a content driven documentary or fiction feature makes it to a nationwide cinema release it’s audience may still not be that large and the people who do go and see it won’t necessarily do anything about the films subject afterward. However by also providing a digital platform for these movies not only to be viewed but to be discussed and learnt about the film may have a better chance of getting to more people who will easily be able to learn how to get involved and act on the issues they have seen.
The only down point I have picked up on for the online viewer is that the films on Brightwide are pay per view. In a way this is a shame as the films may get wider audiences if they were for free. However I really don’t think this is such a big issue, the filmmakers will benefit from the money paid and allow them to continue creating thought provoking and striking cinema. Also the pay per view method keeps the site free of commercial advertising and allows it to be self maintained, quite a contrast to any trip to the cinema.
If anything this site will be a great place to watch current alternative film driven by important messages and awe inspiring stories away from big budget main stream cinema.
