January 11, 2008
Isuma’s latest: free internet video
Utopian webdream built on “viral anarchy of the internet”

JIM BELL

http://www.nunatsiaq.com/news/nunavut/80111_837.html


Igloolik's Isuma film production family launched a bold new project late
last month: a free web site that offers hundreds of hours of internet
video made by indigenous filmmakers.

"It's a gift to the audience," said Norman Cohn of Isuma Distribution
International Inc.

Called "Isuma TV," the site, which started Dec. 17, now holds more than
100 videos from Canada, Greenland, Sweden, and Mexico.

It's based on a utopian vision: to create the greatest audience possible
for the work of indigenous filmmakers, no matter where in the world they
live.

The site offers all of Isuma's output over the past 20 years, including
all two hours and 41 minutes of their celebrated feature film, Atanarjuat:
The Fast Runner, as well as The Journals of Knud Rasmussen, the popular
"Nunavut" historical series and numerous documentaries.

Isuma TV also invites indigenous producers everywhere to upload their work
for free. Anyone with a fast internet connection may view them for free
for private use only.

They've already collected film and video work from Greenlandic, Sami, Dene
and other First Nations filmmakers.

That includes selections from the well-known "Our Dene Elders" series done
by the Native Communications Society of the Northwest Territories, Laila
Hansen's children's show on TV Greenland and a selection of films shown at
the Imagine Native arts festival.

Isuma pays no royalties to filmmakers who upload their work, but they do
post information to help viewers who want to buy a film from a filmmaker
or distributor.

Cohn said Isuma began with the idea of using the internet to put their
work directly in front of viewers, bypassing established gatekeepers like
APTN and CBC, who rarely, if ever, broadcast Isuma's work.

"We've never sold a show to CBC," Cohn said.

Then they decided to expand Isuma TV into a site that's capable of
building a global community of like-minded filmmakers and audiences.

"Our job is to prove that the absence of Inuit and aboriginal filmmakers
from the airwaves is not the fault of the filmmakers," Cohn said.

To pay the cost of building it, Isuma invested the last of its remaining
capital. To pay the cost of running it, they're soliciting donations.

"We believe isuma.tv has value. Visit the site, see the range of voices
and cultures shared, and this value should be self-evident and undeniable.
Those who value something should pay for it," Isuma says.

To that end, the site features a "donate" button that allows viewers to
contribute through Pay Pal.

But they will not finance their site with paid advertising.

"We hope to maintain at least one media space on the internet for
indigenous content completely free of commercial influence," Isuma says.

It remains to be seen if this utopian scheme will work. But their site
also says "progressive governments, international foundations, UNESCO and
other human rights agencies" all share Isuma's goal, suggesting that if
it's a success, funding ­agencies may agree to make donations.

"No one could have predicted the audience for You Tube before it happened,
and no one can predict what films collect the largest audience on the
viral anarchy of the internet," Isuma says.

Cohn points out that global sites like eBay and Facebook started small but
grew because they created communities based on loyalty and shared
interests.

On the other hand, Cohn says Isuma knows that Nunavut residents, who are
likely among those most interested in using Isuma TV, still face barriers
in gaining access to the site.

That's because internet service in most Nunavut communities, though better
than in the past, is still too slow for viewing even low-speed versions of
videos posted on Isuma TV.

That includes the struggling Qiniq network, which suffers from a severe
lack of bandwidth.

"In Nunavut it costs $400 to get the equivalent of a $27 DSL connection in
Montreal," Cohn says.

But at the same time he said he hopes the site will help demonstrate why
aboriginal investors should put money into internet and new media.

To view Isuma TV, go to: http://www.isuma.tv.

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