It’s the Small File Media Festival’s fifth anniversary! Since 2020, we’ve been raising awareness about the environmental impact of streaming media. Streaming comprises a significant chunk of the world’s digital carbon footprint, but consumers continue to stream all kinds of media in high definition—video on demand, video chat, video conferencing, high-resolution online games, TikToks, Instagram Reels, and energy-sucking AI “utopias.”

Our festival challenges media makers to intervene in the 4K dystopia of bandwidth imperialism by creating original small-file movies of any length, proving once again that small files are *the* sustainable cinematic avant-garde. Watching small-file media together on a big screen brings the democratic potential of cinema into the digital age by showcasing artworks made with eco-friendly practices, affordable equipment, and minimal processing time. How small is a small-file movie? No more than 1.44 megabytes per minute, the storage size of a floppy disk. Small-file creators use ingenious techniques to make these tiny movies beautiful and effective.

Join us Thursday, October 17 at 7:00 pm for our anniversary party and opening celebration at The Lido (518 E. Broadway). Our festival continues October 18 and 19 at The Cinematheque with 60 films by local and international filmmakers, with artists in attendance for post-screening discussions. At Saturday’s award ceremony we’ll announce the winner of the coveted Small File Golden Mini Bear and other bespoke awards! As always, the festival will stream online here after the live events.‍

The 2024 Small File Media Festival continues our partnership with our future-forward friends at VIVO Media Arts, the Cairo Video Festival, The Hmm Amsterdam, Beta Festival, and ReIssue. We’re most grateful to the Canada Council for the Arts, BC Arts Council, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and SFU School for the Contemporary Arts.