MyMetaStories, second edition of an innovative film festiva
A global and innovative initiative supported by Unifrance (the French organization in charge of promoting French cinema and audiovisual abroad) and launched in 2023 with the support of the MEDIA strand of the Creative Europe programme, MyMetaStories is a unique European short and feature film festival, offering a dual digital experience, on online platforms and in Minecraft®.
RIVRS is responsible for creating and promoting the virtual space of the event in Minecraft®, which will open its doors from October 18 to 21, 2024.
To make this event a success, RIVRS has developed the first public film projection system in Minecraft®. This system, developed as a mod (a feature not natively integrated into the game), allows players to attend screenings in virtual movie theaters modeled in 3D for the event without leaving the game.
Immersion and gamification: vectors of cultural mediation
In order to create a dialogue around cinema and encourage people to return to the cinema, Unifrance chose Minecraft® to connect with young people on their favorite video game.
RIVRS, the French leader in UGC (user-generated content) gaming in Minecraft®, wanted to use the full potential of the sandbox platform to reinforce the project's playful and educational dimensions.
For these reasons, MyMetaStories’ virtual space has been designed as a true multiplayer Minecraft® game. Players are welcomed into a world entirely designed in 3D by RIVRS for the event. They'll start out in the La Ciotat train station, where one of the first films in cinema was shot (L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat), by brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière. They'll then be able to explore locations representing key periods of innovation in cinema: the arrival of sound, color, auteur cinema and more. They'll meet characters who will take them on an educational and didactic quest through the history of European cinema.
Players will also be able to explore a cinema and join in screenings with other players, in virtual movie theaters, each decorated to reference one of the films on the program for this 2nd edition of the festival. Finally, players will be able to take part in mini-games in competition with other players in 3D environments reminiscent of the graphic universe of the films they have just seen.
TikTok and Twitch: a unique communication tool
To attract a new generation of cinema-goers and gamers from all over the world, RIVRS and Unifrance have launched a communication campaign in English, French and Spanish, specially designed for young gamers. The communication materials take into account the expectations and consumption habits of digital natives, with the ultimate aim of making cinema more accessible and attractive. RIVRS created multiple short videos, shared on TikTok to promote the event.
To reinforce this communication, RIVRS has established partnerships with content creators specialized in gaming. The British Hermitcraft player FalseSymmetry (455k subscribers on YouTube), the top French Minecraft streamer on Twitch TheGuill84 (521k subscribers on Twitch), the French streamer with the biggest Spanish-speaking community Shadoune666 (1.9M followers on Twitch), and 21 other content creators will attend and react to the event live on their Twitch channel with several thousand viewers.
A stronger European dimension this year
MyMetaStories is supported by the European Commission via the MEDIA strand of the Creative Europe program, which aims to “help Europe's film and audiovisual industries develop, distribute and promote European works, taking into account today's digital environment”.
This year's program features 20 films from 14 European countries: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden.
Unifrance has also joined forces with three other members of the European Film Promotion agency network (of which it is a member): Wallonie Bruxelles Images (for the Wallonia-Brussels Federation), See NL (for the Netherlands) and HAVC (for Croatia).
For all the latest festival news, visit www.mymetastories.eu
MyMetaStories is not an official Minecraft® event, not endorsed by or associated with Mojang or Microsoft.
