“The Cosmonaut” is surely bound to change the relationship between content creators and their audiences and forever alter “the paradigm of understanding how to finance, produce & distribute the movie.”

Set in 1967, right of the boom of the Space Age, it focuses on three friends and their journey through life, space and the moon. “The Cosmonaut” is a film that takes viewers to a psychological, emotional and even romantic love story among its three protagonists.

The main story revolves around Stas as he “gets lost in space. When he comes back, he finds Earth completely empty. Yulia and Andrei wait for him in a collapsing world. How far would you go for love?” This subject of love and emotion plays a central role in the film.

As exciting as its story, the actual making of the film is also a journey worth being told. It’s the first film to be released under Riot Cinema Collective and has successfully used crowdfunding (raising more than 400 thousand Euros) to produce and create the entire film.

The Cosmonaut Trailer (In all your screens – May 18th 2013) 1080P from Riot Cinema on Vimeo.

According to their press release:

“The Cosmonaut” is much more than a movie. Is an experience that took four years in the making, pushing the boundaries of alternative distribution, copyright and financing. It’s crowdfunded (with more than half a million dollars raised), creative commons-licensed (all the raw materials will be realeased for you to reuse them and it will be online for free on our website as well as in P2P), transmedia (a feature film, 30 extra episodes, a shortfilm and two books), and with a fan-based distribution (you can organize your screening and make money!).

 A film that will take you fifty years back in time, to the beginning of the Space Race, when the Soviets ruled the cosmos. Suit up and choose “The Cosmonaut” experience. If you dare.

The film is directed by Nicolas Alcala and produced by Carola Rodriguez and Bruno Teixidor starring Katrine De Candole, Leon Ockenden and Max Wrottesley. It’ll be out on a pay-what-you-want option as well. Those who choose to donate will also receive access to additional film footage and other movie details.

For an independent film, its utter uniqueness and story is well worth the watch.

Related Links:
The Cosmonaut Official Website
The Cosmonaut on Facebook
The Cosmonaut on Twitter
The Cosmonaut on Vimeo
RiotCinema on YouTube
RiotCinema on Flickr

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With a runtime of around 25 minutes, Clever is an intense psychological film with an outstanding directorial effort. It was premiered at the Reeve Union Theatre at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.

The short tells the story of a scientist trapped in the sub-level of a science facility. Suffering from perpetual grief, he is forced to the edge and becomes the first person to breath a new life, not through�reproduction, but multiplication.

Formed through serious brainstormings between the directors, the narrative offers an intriguing plot that is never what it seems. One thing that�s present to the film is its concious effort to solidify the main character. I love how the scientist background was inserted to the film without even changing location. Through this, the audience gets a clearer picture of the character�s mental and emotional stability.

The lighting was also spot on. The gloominess and darkness of each scene add a mysterious atmosphere to the story.

Stylishly made and narratively rich, Clever is that kind of film that stands out and invites multiple viewings. It�s an intricate feat of mindplay that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Related Links:
Trent Hilborn on Vimeo
Trent Hilborn and Mark Mazur Interview on Cycle The film

Originally a 2008 ESMA (Ecole Sup�rieure des M�tiers Artistiques) graduation project, this short film was directed by students Matthieu Deltour, Melissa Lafon, Elodie Legros and Yann Moalic. The music was composed by Martin Romberg and performed by the Orchestre National de Montpellier.

Set in a dream world where life is governed by cycles, living things are born from cocoons and their primary purpose is to find a mate. An unnamed character is casted away from society due to his differences, only to prove that bravery and sacrifice is the best way to show one’s love.

Haoma (ESMA 2008 Graduation Film) from Yann Moalic on Vimeo.

Unlike other ESMA’s animated treat, Haoma is different in multiple levels. It’s an exploration of love and the hypocritical tendency of society to outcast people who are different. The most exhilarating moments are those when you can absorb the main character’s sorrow and loneliness.

The scenes are nothing short of magical. The filmmakers have created a dream world that’s visually stunning and amazingly original.

All in all, Haoma is a feast for the eyes. It can be considered as a beautiful work of art that was firmly held in both the technical and narrative aspect.

Related Links:
Haoma’s Official Website
Haoma on IMDb
Haoma on Vimeo
ESMA’s Official Website

Spanning for only five minutes, the film is based on Chameleon, a short story by the late science fiction author Colin Harvey. In a time where a hostile race of aliens have inavded Earth and the government fears that the alines are modfying their DNA to pose as humans, an abducted military officer mysteriouly resurfaces. His wife was brought to verify his identity, only to reveal a twisted turn of events.

Intently created to intensify emotions, the film delivers its best moments in the dramatic scenes were everything is hightened. The tense line of questioning creates urgency and mystery to the narrative.

The brilliant acting of the leads made gave much backcbone to the short. Lucy Rayner‘s acting as the wife perfectly encapsulates a distraught woman who, in just one mistake, can condemn the man he love to death. James Burns (husband), on the other hand, delivers this mysterious character that you’ll try to peel layer by layer.

All in all, Chameleon is a solid masterpiece that gives justice to Harvey’s well-loved story. It is entertaining and at the same time moving. So press play, sit back, and devour on this visual gem.

Related Links:
Sam Lemberg on Vimeo
Chameleon on The New Sci-fi

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

The Gift got an excellent direction from Carl E. Rinsch as he first set the mood of the story in a quite silent and menacing way – with a man holding the gift, extravagantly wrapped in red and gold, and travelling towards a house where the peak of the action finally begins.

The climactic action–especially the “chase sequence”–was rightly justified by the shots taken for the film. Pacing was also perfect; each scene was given the right amount of screen time, allowing the viewers to connect to every moment of the short.

Aside from all these, what makes this short even greater is the story itself – its focus on what the gift signifies and its effects to the characters in the story as well as human greed. Another interesting thing the filmmakers did was to give the robot its free will and ability to feel emotions. Consequently, its decisions and actions deem crucial to the plot of the short.

All in all,The Gift gets an A+ for both quality of design and content.

Related Links:
Carl Rinsch on IMDb
The Gift on Philips Cinema TV
The Gift on Screen Rant

Based on the short story The Secret Number by Igor Teper, this psychological sci-fi drama has already made a splash on the festival circuit and garnered numerous awards such as the Best Student Film (Savannah Film Festival), Langan Student Cinematography Award, City of Savannah Award, Jury Award for Best Short Film (Charleston International Film Festival), and an Official Selection for the Newport Beach Film Festival.

Meet Dr. Simon Tomlin, a psychiatrist whose world is thrown into question after a troubling conversation with one of his patients-a briiliant number theorist Ersheim, who intends on proving the existence of a secret integer between the numbers three and four named “bleem”. As Tomlin digs deeper into the nature of Ersheim’s delusions, he only uncovers more questions about fate, connection, and reality.

Keeping the tension and a pitch of delusional ideas, the screenplay by Teper and Levey makes a strong foundation for this 15-minute short film. I love how the scenes are interconnected in such a way that you are continually guessing and picking up clues with each brilliantly scene.

Another impressive feature of this film is its on point production. The shots were crisp, the lighting were artfully done, and the music to perfectly underscores the increasing mystery and confusion.

It is always a constant pleasure to discover a film that can equally weigh the narrative with its technical effects. The Secret Number is a visual masterpiece that pours professional production, as well as healthy does of chair-gripping madness.

Related Links:
The Secret Number’s Official Website
The Secret Number on Facebook
The Secret Number on IMDb
The Secret Number on Short of the Week
Colin Levy on Vimeo

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.

Directed/animated by March Rühl and written by Georg Klein, the 9-minuter short tells the story of tungu, a tribe observed by scientists which lives peacefully outside the external world in the rainforest. These tribesmen are devoid of symbols and writing, they only communicate through simple dances.

After some months, the scientists visits the tribe just to discover that their whole behaviour and culture has completely changed. They now pray to a skull god and use weird signs painted on their bodies. Astonished by the cutural change, the scientists are determined to find out what happened.

The story used is in this film was based one of Georg Klein’s novel Die Logik der Süße (The logic of sweetness). It reminded of the 1980 film The Gods Must Be Crazy, but only more dramatic, serious, and devoid of the slapstick comedy. Even through the short runtime, the creators have managed to squeeze in the whole narrative without neglecting every important detail. Klein’s narration contributed a lot to set the mood, give the background, and establish the character of the tribe.

Technicality wise, Rühl’s six-month labor of love was really worth it. The painting and animation of each scenes were nothing short of magical. The tungu’s world were precisely done in an originally stylish flair. I love how the actors were mixed with the animated background adding much texture throughout the short.

The music by Kay Brader also contributed a lot to the overall rhytm of the film. The subtlety of the sound blends flawlessly to the narrative, building the tension as the scenes progress.

It is refreshing to see a film that’s envelopes both originality and visual spectacle. The creators of tungu. have done a lot of justice to the film. It’s that kind of film that will definitely garner a lot of attention and positive reviews.

Related Links:
tungu.’s Official Website
tungu. on Facebook
tungu. on Short Films
Marc Rühl on Vimeo

The short is directed by John Merizalde and cinematography by David Torcivia. It’s produced by Takashi Doscher with a budget of only $700.

Set during the space race of the 1960s, the film follows the journey of Arthur Whitman, an eccentric rich man who sets out to a self-financed voyage with a goal of breaking the longest single-manned space to orbit for one week.

Throughout his travel, the film gives us a peek at the enduring experiences of the lonesome astronaut and how he is forced to cope up with even the smallest distraction just to beat a record and reach his goal.

One feature that makes this film so wonderful is how it paints irony into a wider image. Here we see a very privileged man on outer space worrying about the simplest of things like a dysfunctional beep.

Mark Asworth as the astronaut has done a really splendid job. The weight of the movie is in his shoulders but he has clearly portrayed the pain and stress that the astronaut is feeling during that time. One of my well-loved scene is how in the process of coping up with the distressing beep, he accompanied it to a soothing melody.

Overall, Waltz for One moves like a heavenly body slowly building into an intense and emotional film. Superb acting acting and stunning visuals, this film has both in spades.

Related Links:
John Merizalde’s Official Website
Takashi Doscher’s Official Website
David Torcivia’s Official Website

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

The show follows the unfolding drama of the crew aboard the spaceship Argo as they awake from hypersleep into a nightmare. Having spent the last twenty years searching for a new home to salvage humanity from a dying earth they return to find something has gone terribly wrong.

They have been mysteriously impelled 200 years into the future and find not a trace of any human life. The Argo’s Commander, Dr. Richard Adams, is determined to find some answers and, aided by the ship’s surgeon, Rod Lewis, and onboard Artificial Intelligence, Clarke, decides to explore the one clue to the massive floating O’Neill colony named L5. After an exploratory skiff goes missing inside the colony, Adams and Lewis venture inside themselves to find the answers they seek, but nothing can prepare them for what they are about to find…

L5 is directed by Stanley Von Medvey, written by Tom Ptasinski and realised in full digital splendour at Studio Hemogoblin in Chicago. The team’s goal was to create a compelling, high-production-value science fiction on a small budget. After endless hours in post production were volunteered by a talented team of visual effects artists all over the world, and with the spit and vinegar of home grown construction methods for building props, sets and costumes, as well as the unrelenting support of their families and the local art and business community in the Chicago area, the result was accomplished inside a budget of $15,000.

L5 now needs more help from the crowd! Check out what the production team can do with so little. They want to multiply that, and do even more. They want to build a unique production environment that will enable them to continue creating more episodes of L5, as well as other original science fiction content. There are lots of great goodies to snap up with our L5 support incentives including private streams you can gift to friends, limited-edition production items and even Producer and Executive Producer credits on future releases and iMDb page if you’re inclined towards the heavyweight investment!

Enjoy and share!

VODO

Related Links:
L5 Production Blog
L5 on Vodo
L5 on Facebook

Show creators Josh Bernard and Bracey Smith are following their success with The Lionshare to bring a high quality product to audiences without traditional television — a “TV series without the TV.”

The series has been met with quite the enthusiasm and praise – it’s been downloaded over 3 million times now and won Best Drama Pilot at the 2010 New York Television Festival. Its also fully independently produced and crowd funded. The team collected $32k in donations, a little over a half of it’s overall budget!

Pioneer One – S01E01
Pioneer One – S01E02
Pioneer One – S01E03
Pioneer One – S01E04
Pioneer One – S01E05

This is also the first VODO release with a commercial sponsor supporting the show: viewers can try their hand as filmmakers, win prizes AND help make sure future episodes of Pioneer One will be made.

In the The Series
A mysterious spaceship has entered Earth’s atmosphere. A US Department of Homeland Security investigation has uncovered a live human being in a Soviet space suit in an unstable condition. A note in Russian, found at the crash site, claims the man is the child of cosmonauts living at a base on Mars.

In the Sixth Episode
Taylor prepares to go to the public with Yuri’s story, and everyone discovers the consequences of their actions in the conclusion to Pioneer One’s first season.

What is VODO?

‘VODO could be a valuable tool for indie filmmakers who recognize that obscurity is a much bigger threat to their efforts than piracy.’ – Mike Masnick, Techdirt.

Founded by Jamie King, one of the figures behind the well-known filesharing documentary STEAL THIS FILM (www.stealthisfilm.com), VODO brings filmmakers together with the distribution power of the filesharing community. It offers fresh, quality films on a free-to-share basis, promoted and distributed through a ‘coalition’ of filesharing partners that includes big names like uTorrent, The Pirate Bay, Mininova, Miro, TorrentFreak, Isohunt, OneDDL, VeeHD, Plube and Frostwire, amongst many others.

Contact: Jamie King; jamie@vodo.net / Nils Hellberg: nils@vodo.net
Visit: vodo.net for more info
Call: + 49 30 657 99496

Related Links:
Pioneer One’s Website
Pioneer One on VODO
Pioneer One on Facebook
Pioneer One on Twitter
Pioneer One on Wikipedia
Pioneer One on IMDB