The Cinema Cocktail Virtual Film Festival is designed to utilize the streaming services we all use everyday and introduce us to a few services that we may have overlooked before now – many of which have generous free trials. I’ve tried to structure the festive in such a way that it’s entirely possible to view the majority of the films without having to spend any money at all. However, with many incredible releases being moved to Video-On-Demand platforms early due to the current health crisis, I couldn’t help but program a selection of current titles that I’ve been eager to see as well.
I’ve also found several Filmmaker Conversations and embedded the links or videos for those on films throughout the festival. These are typically conversations with directors and casts from previous festivals to help give this as authentic a festival experience as possible. Those will typically be on YouTube, but they will occasionally be found on another streaming service. If so, the link will be included on the film page.
If you’d like to know more about the streaming services we’ll be using throughout the festival (along with some deals of free trials), read on. Otherwise – happy viewing!
Video-On-Demand Titles
Since there are some many services providing the same Video-On-Demand titles, rather than direct you to a single provider, all of our Video-On-Demand films will direct you to the film’s JustWatch page, which will allow you to choose the provider of your choice – iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, etc. Most of the Video-On-Demand titles we have chose are rental titles and will be between $4 and $6 a rental. However, there are a few theatrical-at-home titles that run between $12 and $20 a titles. And our Opening Night Film, Emma., was originally supposed to be a theatrical-at-home titles, but is now only available to purchase for $14.99. It’s less expensive than the theatrical-at-home price and still feels like the perfect film to open the festival, so we decided to keep things as they were.
Amazon Prime
If you use Amazon Prime for shopping, you can also use it for viewing a fairly decent selection of films. They do have quite a few films that we will be viewing on this service.
The Criterion Channel
The Criterion Channel is one of the crown jewels of the streaming world. The streaming home of the Criterion Collection, each month they present curated bundles featuring classic from the golden age of Hollywood, filmmaker retrospectives, the masterpieces of world cinema, and highlights from the new masters of the art form. You can sign up below for a free 14 day trial.
Hoopla
Hoopla is a free digital streaming service that you can get access to through your library system. While many of the titles available are not very interesting, there is the occasional gem or obscure and surprising title for which they have the exclusive streaming rights.
Hulu
While it’s primarily known as a platform for television, Hulu has a great collection of international and independent cinema, thanks to exclusive deals with a handful of great distribution companies. Our Closing Night Film, Portrait of a Lady on Fire is currently streaming exclusively on Hulu. Get your free one month trial by following the link below.
Kanopy
Kanopy is the other free streaming service from libraries. It has a much more interesting and extensive selection than Hoopla, but it’s also in fewer libraries across the country. Still, you can’t beat the incredible titles here. There are limits to the number of films you can watch, so I kept the number of films from Kanopy down to five.
MUBI
MUBI has a rather unique model – every day they premiere a new film on their service, and every day another film leaves the service. Their lineup is pretty stellar and this month in particular sees films that would have premiered at the First Look Film Festival. You can sign up for a 90 day free trial and also support the Seattle International Film Festival by following the link below!
Netflix
Netflix is the original streaming giant and, while most of us have Netflix, most of us don’t really explore some of its hidden corners. So hopefully the films you’ll see during our festival will help you catch a few films you wouldn’t think to catch otherwise. If you don’t already have Netflix, you can signup for a free month by following the link below.
OVID
OVID is another really incredible little indie streaming service. They specialize in foreign, art-house, and documentary cinema and they have some of the most incredible films out there. You can sign up for a free 14 day tries by following the link below.
Shudder
Shudder is the premiere platform for streaming horror films and is how we’ll be watching most of our Midnight Movies during the festival. They have a number of classic horror titles, as well as a number of exclusive modern titles from around the world. If you sign up on their website below and use the promo code SHUTIN, you can get a month free.