Since the COVID-19 hits the world, filmmakers from all over the world have quickly adjusted to shooting environments under the pandemic and innovated creative ways to tell stories. Many film festivals have pivoted to online to make great works more accessible than ever for audiences who now can enjoy the whole theatrical experience in their living room. Probably even much better. As there are new opportunities for film festivals to entertain and engage with audiences through digital cultural extravaganza.

We’ve put together a list of the 10 most unique virtual festivals in the past two years. This is a list of promising formats of how future film ceremony would be like, whether or not they are widely known, having excellent programming and hospitality, or acquiring strong funding, however. It better informs you how filmmakers explore new and improved ways to connect to us during the quarantine period. So, shall we start?

1. The First (And Hopefully Last) Corman’s Quarantine Film Festival

First, let’s start with a film challenge appealed by Roger Corman, a legendary director/producer of B-movies. Corman is the trailblazer of independent films and he won the first Producer's Award ever given by the Cannes Film Festival back in 1998. He announced a challenge on his social media accounts, which he calls Corman’s Quarantine Film Festival. The rules of participating in this event are laid out on his Instagram as follows:

I'm challenging you to make a short film for the first (and hopefully last) Corman Quarantine Film Festival. Here are the rules:

1. You have to stay home and stay safe and film the video inside your house or in the backyard.

2. The short must be filmed on a cell phone.

3. It must be under 2 minutes.

Tag me and the #CormanChallenge and I'll check out your film. You have two weeks. To get things rolling, I nominate @realeliroth,@andy_muschietti, @peter_bogdanovich, @rodman_f, @lloydkaufman, and @aholdenj.

The rules are simple, and this challenge has brought people into the world of content creation. Yes, opportunities are there, then it’s all about whether or not you pick up your phone and spend a few hours to produce a 2-minute short movie at your home. Image via Instagram.

2. SCREAM it off SCREEN

Let’s move on to the next one called “SCREAM it off SCREEN.

It is a short film competition where audience members real-time vote to "LET it PLAY" or "GONG it" on each film. It airs LIVE on YouTube on the first Friday of every month. It's free to submit and watch. Contestants are randomly selected by MR BALL the DECISIONATOR the Tuesday before each show lives on YouTube. If you'd like to submit, go to screamitoffscreen.com/submit*

15 short films compete at each month's show. Audience members are signaled to vote when the tiny red square enters the corner of the screen. A link to vote is provided in the chat.

Films LESS than 4 minutes get the red light at the halfway point.
Films MORE than 4 minutes get the red light at the 3-minute mark.

This project is based on a monthly basis, and if your film is gonged by the audience, you still have a chance to rework and resubmit it in the future competition. We believe it is a special format of the film festival which empowers talents to continue their filmmaking quest. Image via Youtube.

3. StudioFest 2021

StudioFest’s 2021 Film Festival was held inside the fantasy of virtual reality! Sounds exciting? StudioFest sent out VR headsets to filmmakers, industry partners, and each of the guests, so they can fully enjoy watching movies and interacting with other attendees via their avatars in the VR world. You could check out what it looks like through the link below. Last but not least, StudioFest is a film festival but also a production company that exceptionally would invest the future works of the winner of the festival! Image Via Filmfreeway.

Check out the VR screening room here: https://vimeo.com/611853318

4. We Are One: A Global Film Festival 2020 (Youtube)

What’s more? Youtube, as a streaming service, stepped into this virtual screening game and successfully nailed it. We Are One: A Global Film Festival was co-curated by over 20 film festivals over the globe comprising Sundance, Cannes, Venice, Berlin, and Tribeca, just to name a few. During the 10-days global program, all funds raised were donated to relieve the COVID situation, while Youtube covered all the transaction fees. It was an awesome initiative for Youtube to unit people to cope with the current world health crisis. Image via Youtube.

Check out the Youtube event page: https://www.youtube.com/WeAreOne

5. Date Night Shorts

While the previous four festivals stood out with their innovative formats, Date Night Shorts’ spark was an intriguing love theme surrounding romantic and parental love for pets, even items. This concept was interesting because we commonly associate love with people, although we are emotionally attached to many other things. Image via Filmfreeway.

6. One Minute Story Film Festival

One Minute Story Film Festival celebrates the art of the 1-minute film.

What story can you tell in 60 seconds?

They accept films from all kinds of genre and with less than 1-minute, so if you think you already got one in your phone, go ahead to submit yours now http://oneminutestoryfilmfestival.com/! Image via FilmFreeway.

Online Suffering Short Videos Festivals 2021

Have you well managed your mental state during the quarantine?

This difficult time made us meet and talk to people only online and brought us some life changes decisions to make. Here comes a film festival that embraces all kinds of frustrating moments we’ve experienced. Online Suffering Short Videos Festival is an online event dedicated to people’s personal internal sufferings and misunderstanding, to the betrayal or loneliness, to any form of discrimination or illness. Image via Filmfreeway.

8. Trapped Film Festival 2021

Trapped Film Festival, born from the climate of pandemic, is an online platform for filmmakers to showcase talent and participate in a socially distance safe festival. The festival’s main theme is to support independent filmmakers and uplift the filmmaking world. And a good news is that as it is independent filmmakers centered festival, so early birds are at no costs for submissions. Image via Facebook.

8. Filmocracy Fest

Filmocracy Fest, held by Filmocracy, is an innovative film and media festival, bringing together the best of traditional festival events while integrating unique digital programs to create a memorable and productive experience. Cofounded by Jon Fitzgerald former director of multiple prestigious festivals such as Slamdance, AFI, and Santa Barbara.

As you’ve noticed many film festivals have adapted to online versions, but there is no one like Filmocracy Fest through visual communications. The Fest not only provides audiences a “one-shop” screening experience comprising coffee time, happy hours, panel discussions, and Filmmakers Q&A but has recreated the interaction between you and the films. If you want to be creatively entertained in daily watching, please go check the website!

Filmocracy Fest 2022 (July 14th-17th) is now open for submissions! https://festival.filmocracy.com/filmfest/

10. Diorama International Film Festival

Diorama International Film Festival is best characterized by three words: Vast, Varied, Vivacious. The festival tries its best to offer a diverse and intense film program, focus on art, commerce and science of Cinema. 130 Film Screenings from over 50 countries, the festival begins where most film festivals give up. The word "diorama" has a long history. It originated in 1823 with the meaning “through that which is seen". From 1902, it got the meaning "small-scale replica of a scene, etc”. Nowadays, the term Diorama in cinema refers to watching a range of cinema from a perspective.

The online versions of film festivals are highly likely to remain post-pandemic since people enjoy experiencing theatrical screening in the comfort of their homes.

If you’d like to explore more virtual films in the past 2 years, definitely go check our previous posts out!

The 10 Most Unique Virtual Film Festivals