12/02/2021 - The portal is set to “feature international, award-winning arthouse content that inspires social change”

New streaming platform FILMPIXS is set to launch globally on 17 February with a primary focus on short films and feature-length documentaries that “will spotlight engaging social impact stories and new voices in filmmaking”. Content on the site is set to be curated from a number of festivals – amongst them Cannes, Venice, Toronto and Sundance – and the platform is due to be made available globally (though a small selection of titles may be geoblocked), and come with both monthly and annual subscriptions. The streaming service will be available via its own website, filmpixs.com, as well as via the FILMPIXS app, available on iOS, Android and other formats.

Highlights for the 17 February launch include the animated short Daughter (Dcera) by Czech director Daria Kascheeva, a moving exploration of the relationship between a father and daughter that won a plethora of plaudits, including a Student Academy Award, the Cristal for Best Student Film at Annecy and an Oscar nomination in the Best Animated Short Category. There’ll be another popular short in the guise of Tomek Popakul’s Acid Rain, a weird and arresting Polish animation that was an award winner at the likes of Sundance, Krakow and Fantoche, whilst the French-Czech co-production Figurant – a surreal tale starring renowned actor Denis Lavant – from director Jan Vejnar will also feature.

The streaming platform is currently in its soft-launch phase, and February’s official launch will be marked by more than 100 further films being made available to subscribers, with the plan to add new content to the service on a weekly basis.

FILMPIXS is the brainchild of Henrik Friis and Benn Wiebe, of Copenhagen-based company HF Productions, who said: “Having worked with film festivals and partners in more than 20 countries to date, HF Productions’ mission is clear: to support filmmakers and to get their stories seen and heard. FILMPIXS is the continuation of this idea – to provide a platform for short films in particular, which so often get lost after their initial run on the film-festival circuit. FILMPIXS will ensure that there is life after the festivals for these true gems. And of course, in the current climate, we’re also keenly aware of the potential to bring these important narratives to a much wider global audience, within their own homes.”

FILMPIXS also plans to be a platform for festivals showcasing virtual public screenings, partly as a response to the current conditions imposed by the pandemic.