Microcinema: What Are the Ultra-short Films of the Digital Age?

Abstract

The distribution of content in the online environment in the 21st century required the emergence of new methods to attract an audience to online products. This trend is a response to the exponentially growing amount of content generated online and is aimed at improving the interaction between users and online products. Thus, this evolution has become a mainstream field of study as scientists seek to understand the implications of audience engagement practices for various sectors of the digital economy. Currently, users devote their attention and time to a limited number of topics and consume information that goes beyond their interests as a synopsis. In such circumstances, new media formats are emerging online. The Internet community has adopted various traditional genres from the classical arts and media, which are constantly evolving into new formats. One such genre that has emerged in recent times is microcinema. The presented study aims to analyze the specific features of a phenomenon, define it, and determine its position in modern media. The authors understand the concept of microcinema as a hybrid genre that emerged at the intersection of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. We argue that this genre inherits its roots from classical cinema while embracing new technological advancements and cultural shifts. This study analyzed the ultra-short-length films (N = 180, 2022-2023) nominated at the microcinema festivals. This analysis of the trends in the genre's development revealed the high potential of this genre to solve educational, political, economic, and cultural problems faced by specialists of different profiles, as well as in the search for answers to important philosophical questions.