Cinencuentro.com New site to store and promote Latin documentaries We have received information regarding the launch of Docfera, a web platform that is designed to give the public access to a digital archive of Latin American documentaries. It is presented as a "pioneering" alternative despite the fact that it uses a technology which has been widely discredited, i.e. the DRM. Andrea Hirsch, who directs the team, explained that the platform aims to preserve, disseminate and distribute via internet the "enormous wealth of Latin American documentaries" in the most diverse digital formats, with subtitles and with the highest possible quality,. It will also help filmmakers to promote their work and collect "on-line" their royalties, which will be protected by the most advanced systems of encryption designed by a team of specialists, she said. Hirsch, the daughter of Paul Hirsch, the creator of various foundations, including Antorchas in Argentina, Vitae in Brazil and Andes in Chile, said that the its "principal audience" for Docfera will be universities and schools from around the world, and it has already received the support of various prestigious institutions of higher education. Docfera also includes a module to allow for the organisation of "virtual" film festivals in which the members of the jury may be in different places but they can still watch, discuss, comment and vote on the various competing films. Andrea Hirsch explained that the idea behind the "On-Line Festival" module is to organise competitions "with ever more prestigious figures who due to problems of timing, costs and other commitments often find it impossible to travel to the different venues where these events are held." She claimed that filmmakers now have "a new channel through which to disseminate their work" and "will be able to sell their documentaries securely with copyright protection" under the DRM (Digital Rights Management) protocol, which sets the levels of reproduction and copying permitted for each work, in accordance with the purchase decisions made by users. The team led by Hirsch began to promote Docfera last year in various different countries and the initiative has received the support of organisations such as the Goethe Institute, the University of Southern California, the Universidad del Cine de Buenos Aires, the Vídeo Brasil Cultural Association and the Museo Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires. http://www.cinencuentro.com