GSMA & Mofilm to Premiere Unique Short Film Collection at the Mobile World Congress

GSMA & Mofilm to Premiere Unique Short Film Collection at the Mobile World Congress

Cannes, Bollywood, Sundance Channel, Shanghai and Locarno Showcase Short Movies at the Mobile World Congress 2008

BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- The GSM Association (GSMA) today announced that it is partnering with Mofilm to present a short film showcase for mobile phones, including cutting-edge new films from world-leading film festivals and content providers, at the forthcoming Mobile World Congress (Barcelona 11-14th February 2008).

The partnership follows the success of last year's experimental Sundance Film Festival: Global Short Film Project, a collaborative pilot between Sundance Institute and the GSMA that stimulated significant excitement in the opportunities for independent, cinematic short films on the 4th screen, mobile medium.

Mofilm has uniquely brought together the Festival De Cannes Short Film Corner, Sundance Channel(i), the Shanghai International Film Festival, and the Festival del Film Locarno, as well as leading Bollywood content provider Hungama Mobile, to showcase an international collection of short films on mobile devices.

Mofilm aims to connect mobile operators with cinematic content from around the world and will feature short films by Isabella Rossellini and Jody Shapiro (courtesy of the Sundance Channel), Erik Rosenlund (Festival de Cannes), Ken Wardrop (Festival del Film Locarno), Long Yuancheng (Shanghai International Film Festival) and Sondarya Rajnikanth (Bollywood/Hungama Mobile).

"Following the widely acclaimed experiment with Sundance Institute last year, we were keen to expand the program to feature a series of culturally diverse films from around the world," said Bill Gajda, Chief Commercial Officer of the GSMA. "We have been delighted by the response from some of the world's A-list festivals and leading content providers, demonstrating a wealth of filmmaking talent and high quality short films that are perfect for the mobile experience."

The films will also be discussed in a special Film Festival Panel at the GSMA's Mobile Backstage event (Wednesday 13th February) at Barcelona's National Palace. Among the highlights, actor, director and Sundance Institute Founder & President, Robert Redford will keynote, and internationally known actress, Isabella Rossellini will showcase and discuss her role in the making of her brand new series of mobile short films titled GREEN PORNO, submitted to the MOFILM programme. The series is conceived, written by and features Rossellini and is produced in association with Sundance Channel. The three short films had their world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival last month and have been selected to screen at the Berlin Film Festival this month.

Last year's project delivered over 16,000 copies of five specially- commissioned short films to Congress visitors' mobile phones and devices during the four day exhibition. This year visitors will be able to download the films using Bluetooth, memory card kiosks, over-the-air SMS service and a state-of-the-art interactive touch film wall.

"The GSMA's partnership with Mofilm will allow visitors to the congress to download films through a variety of routes, directly to their mobile phones and we are thrilled to have such prestigious partners and creative filmmakers join us in Barcelona this year," added Bill Gajda.

Notes to Editors

(i) The non-profit Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival operate independently of the Sundance Channel, but share the overall Sundance mission of encouraging artistic freedom of expression and of broadening the global audience for short films. See http://www.sundancechannel.com/ and http://www.sundance.org/ for more information.

About MOFILM

Mofilm was created from the Global Short Film project in 2007. A company focused on the distribution of short form video and film content for Mobile and online, MOFILM is a pioneer of creative quality content for mobile, IPTV and web based service providers. See http://www.mofilm.com/ for more details or visit us in Hall 7 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

About the GSM Association:

The GSM Association (GSMA) is the global trade association representing 700 GSM mobile phone operators across 215 countries of the world. In addition, more than 180 manufacturers and suppliers support the Association's initiatives as key partners. The primary goals of the GSMA are to ensure mobile phones and wireless services work globally and are easily accessible, enhancing their value to individual customers and national economies, while creating new business opportunities for operators and their suppliers. The Association's members serve more than two billion customers - 82% of the world's mobile phone users. See: http://www.gsmworld.com/

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: The GSM Association (GSMA)

CONTACT: Ralph Cochrane, MOFILM, +44-7940-123455,
ralph.cochrane@mofilm.com; Mark Smith, GSM Association, +44-7850-229-724,
press@gsm.org

Web site:

http://www.gsmworld.com/
http://www.mofilm.com/
http://www.sundancechannel.com/
http://www.sundance.org/

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