Sundance Film Festival Global Short Film Project Presents World Premiere of 5 Short Films for Mobile

Sundance Film Festival Global Short Film Project Presents World Premiere of 5 Short Films for Mobile

February 12, 2007

- Sundance Institute & GSMA Unveil 'Made for Mobile'
Short Films at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona


    BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 12 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Today,
at a press conference at the 3GSM World Congress in
Barcelona, Sundance Institute and the GSM Association
(GSMA) unveiled the five original 'made for mobile' short
films commissioned as part of the Sundance Film Festival
Global Short Film Project. In one of the first
collaborations of its kind, six new and established
independent filmmakers created short films designed to be
viewed in a mobile environment.

    Announced in November 2006 by Robert Redford, Founder
and President of Sundance Institute, the Sundance Film
Festival Global Short Film Project was created to showcase
and extend the reach of the independent short film genre to
mobile users worldwide.

    The five films are being shown exclusively at the
GSMA's Congress this week with wide distribution to mobile
audiences beginning February 15. Visit
www.sundance.org/globalshortfilms for info on how to access
these five original shorts for your mobile phone, and share
them with your friends.

    "We hope that the Global Short Film project
inspires filmmakers and artists to think outside of the
realm of traditional venues for cinema, and experiment with
mobile as an intimate new avenue - with global potential -
for their work," said John Cooper, Director of
Programming for the Sundance Film Festival and Creative
Director for Sundance Institute.

    "I believe mobile viewers will be surprised and
delighted by the diversity of these films," said Bill
Gajda, Chief Marketing Officer at the GSMA. "Ranging
from the comic to exquisite, the radically different
creative styles of storytelling play extraordinarily well
to the unique, viral nature of the mobile medium."

    The Sundance Film Festival Global Short Film Project
films are:    
  
    A SLIP IN TIME (Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie
Faris)-A motion study of slapstick comedy.

    LEARNING TO SKATEBOARD (Directed by Jody Hill)-A
corporate worker calls in sick. In his quest to liberate
himself from the daily grind he embarks on a quest for
freedom by learning how to skateboard.

    iLA REVOLUCION DE IGUODALA! (Directed by Justin
Lin)-iLa Revolucion de Iguodala! tracks one man's
passionate message as it travels through various forms and
agendas.

    LOS VIAJES DE KING TINY (Directed by Maria
Maggenti)-LOS VIAJES DE KING TINY is about a small dog who
takes off by himself while his owner is at work. Set in Los
Angeles, King Tiny travels the city but is confronted by his
own personal demons in the process.

    RENO (Directed by Cory McAbee) -A singing cowboy brags
about his travels through Nevada on a Honda 50 to a store
security camera.

    All the directors behind these shorts have previously
screened films at the annual Sundance Film Festival in Park
City, Utah. Among the films premiered today is A SLIP IN
TIME, the first film from Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris
since LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, which is nominated for Best
Picture at this year's Oscars.

    "When we heard that this was for a true
international audience we really looked back to a time when
film was more international, said Jonathan Dayton and
Valerie Faris. "In the silent era, you were a film
star not in America or in Europe, but worldwide. It was
truly language-free. We thought it would be interesting to
go back to that time when film was more purely
visual."

    While mobile phones have previously been used for
distribution of franchised cinematic, 'mobisodes' or user
generated content, the Sundance Film Festival Global Short
Film Project is the first time that the highest calibre of
independent filmmaking talent has directed specifically for
the mobile phone.

    The Sundance Film Festival Global Short Film Project is
sponsored by Roamware and NXP Semiconductors, the newly
independent semiconductor company founded by Philips.

    Notes for Editors:

    How to see the films at the 3GSM World Congress:

    Visitors to the 3GSM World Congress: visit The Sundance
Institute stand (C42 Hall 7) in the Mobile Entertainment
Hall, the Roamware stand (D47 Hall 7) and NXP
Semiconductors (B110 Hall 8).

    All six filmmakers will be available for interviews at
the Sundance stand at set times throughout the Congress. To
request interviews, please contact
[e-mail]  
   
    At the close of the 3GSM World Congress: The five films
are being shown exclusively at the GSMA's Congress this week
with wide distribution to mobile audiences beginning
February 15. Visit www.sundance.org/globalshortfilms for
info on how to access these five original shorts for your
mobile phone, and share them with your friends.


    For more information, please contact:

     Mark Smith
     GSM Association
     Tel:   [phone]

     Richard Fogg
     GSM Association
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

     Patrick Hubley (at the 3GSM World Congress)
     Sundance Institute
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

     Cynthia Wornham (for US enquiries)
     Sundance Institute
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]


SOURCE  GSMA Development Fund