"Nordic net-arena for young filmmakers" is a co-operation between the Danish

Film Institute, the Norwegian Film Institute and the Swedish Film Institute,

with support from the Nordic Council of Ministers and partners in all Nordic

countries.

The main goal of the project is to establish an online arena for young

filmmakers in the Nordic countries. The site is called dvoted.net, and

features three main services:

• Information on film production, financing, festivals and education
• An arena for publishing and discussing youth film
• A mentor service where professional filmmakers provide feedback on films, scripts or questions

The main target group is young filmmakers, aged 15 - 20, who are interested

in a future career in film making. Though the material is suitable for both

film students and teachers, the main goal is not to produce educational

material for classroom use. The learning potential is instead embedded in

the main services of the site: giving the young filmmakers an opportunity to

present and reflect on their work, and eliciting feedback from other users

and professionals.

The secondary goal of the project is to gather and exchange knowledge on

using the internet as an arena for film pedagogy and talent development,

continuing the long-standing work of the Nordic Film Institutes in this

area. The project hosts yearly seminars where media and education

researchers are invited to participate in discussions on the project's

experiences. The next seminar will be in 2007.

Language and copyright problems are the main challenges of the project. The

website features all Nordic languages as well as English, and experiences

show that the young filmmakers prefer English as their language of

communication. The copyright issues are connected to the music used in the

films published, and there is a great need to educate young filmmakers in

this regard. Additionally, the project is seeking cooperation with the

Nordic Copyright Bureau.

The pilot is currently being evaluated and the finished site will be

launched in the autumn of 2006. The project runs from May 1st, 2005 until

the end of 2007, and the total budget is 15 million SEK.

The Swedish Film Institute is the coordinating partner for the project.

Please find more information and the project description at www.sfi.se/nmr. 

To view the pilot: visit www.dvoted.net. It is closed for public access, so

please enter username: testuser and password: shootingstars. To watch films

and participate in discussions, you have to be a registered user.

To receive more news of the service, please contact project manager Cecilie

Stranger-Thorsen: cecilie@dvoted.net / +46 732 511 336.