Babelgum, the next generation global Internet TV network, today announced a partnership with the Encounters Short Film Festival, which is currently celebrating its thirteenth year. Encounters participants will now be able to broadcast their short films on Babelgum - available to a potential 300+ million audience worldwide with a PC and access to the Internet. This includes talent scouts from major production houses worldwide, who will be able to screen films regardless of where they are or of whether they could attend the Encounters Short Film Festival. Film directors and rights owners can upload content on Babelgum from today until November 20th, 2007.

The Encounters Short Film Festival takes place annually in Bristol every November and is acknowledged internationally as one of the world’s most respected celebrations of the short film genre.

Encounters entrants will also be given the opportunity to enter the Babelgum Online Film Festival. The festival, chaired by renowned director Spike Lee, will award winning film makers a €20,000 cash prize for each of the seven categories, two of which are dedicated to shorts and animation. More detail can be found at www.babelgum.com/online-film-festival/.

This year’s Encounters festival has seen more than 1,750 entries from a record 66 countries, laying the foundation for a truly global representation. Last year’s festival attracted approximately 7,000 attendees and almost 300 short films were shown, making it impossible for attendees to view all. This year the festival is expected to be bigger and better than previous years and the Babelgum partnership is designed to boost interest and ensure that entrants are exposed to the widest possible audience.

Sue Lion, Encounters Managing Director sees the deal as important for the festival saying, “Encounters is growing in prominence and reputation but we remain limited by the amount of material we are physically able to screen during the festival. Babelgum provides a unique and innovative solution to this problem and opens up our doors to a huge audience to the benefit of all involved. Babelgum removes the constraints of traditional broadcasting to provide a global platform for niche content.”

Commenting on the agreement Valerio Zingarelli, Babelgum chief executive officer said, “The Encounters Festival is the UK’s most important short film festival and showcases some of the best from new and established talent from around the world. Babelgum gives consumers the opportunity to view that work in their own time wherever they may be. We hope to see many of the entrants taking the opportunity to further promote their work through the Babelgum Online Film Festival, which gives them the chance to win lucrative and prestigious awards and gain additional exposure.”

Filmmakers can be assured their work will be protected while available on Babelgum. The site supports a host of Digital Rights Management facilities such as geographic restrictions and time-limited licenses. Additionally, content is delivered in a highly encrypted format to provide protection from piracy.

In order to make their work available to a global audience, filmmakers can simply upload their festival submissions to www.encounters-festival.org.uk and they will be subsequently made available on Babelgum.

Using Babelgum couldn’t be easier. Consumers can sign up at www.babelgum.com to quickly and easily download the application onto their PC and are then able to enjoy masses of content ranging from comedy to sport to news and of course, short film.