Dallas VideoFest goes online as attendees stay home

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One reason folks get into the entertainment industry is creativity.

Bart Weiss, founder, president and artistic director of Dallas VideoFest took his creativity to another level, thus salvaging the event he’s been running for more than three decades.

This year, folks can stay home and watch the Dallas VideoFest’s Alternative Fiction event online Thursday-Sunday. The event is in partnership with Falcon Events, Dallas-based event producers who specialize in producing live online and virtual events.

The result, a virtual film festival experience in your living room.

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“We are recreating the festival experience, showing films, and connecting filmmakers with their audiences, with technology that is just right for the moment,” Weiss said.

It’s easy to enjoy and participate:

*Sign up at OnlineFest.us.

*Browse content.

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*Register for screenings you want to watch.

*Log back in before the event start time to begin viewing (an email reminder

goes out 30 minutes prior to the start time).

In addition, viewers can expect a seamless switch into a filmmaker Q&A using a text-based tool that allows attendees to submit questions online.

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Movie lovers can go online and watch films at specific times. Like traditional film festivals, there will be questions and answers and intros to the films from hosts and from the filmmakers, but these will be done on video (and unlike the films themselves

will be viewable later online). Audiences can ask questions of the filmmakers and have them answered in real-time.

So, what is alternative fiction or AltFiction Fest? It highlights ways of telling stories on film, TV and web, mixing media and mediums.

“The line between fact and fiction in cinema and in life continues to blur,” Weiss said.

The narratives that make up AltFiction Fest explore this moment in time at the intersection between media and how cinema artists can create original work in this new world.

“As many great cultural events and institutions are doing the responsible thing by closing their doors, now more than ever there is a need for music, theater, art and culture to inspire and challenge us,” Weiss said. “AltFiction Fest features new works from local filmmakers and reflections on classic filmmakers each telling unique stories, working the edges and sometimes the centers of this world.”

Dallas VideoFest has been innovating with technology since 1987, such as showcasing HDTV and VR in 1988, exhibiting interactive media, and pioneering using files instead of videotapes. Weiss noted they are constantly looking for new ways to connect with audiences, and that this is the technology perfect for this moment in time.

“In this time when we are literally homebound, we are looking to be inspired. AltFiction’s narrative films will prove entertainment, inspiration and will be the cure for cabin fever,” he said.

Though the festival is free, donations are appreciated.