Cool Hunting

YouTube, best known for showcasing skateboarding dogs and dancers of all species, has proven itself capable of more sophisticated fare this summer with the launch of The YouTube Screening Room. Showcasing four new high-quality short films every two weeks, The Screening Room line-up includes the work of award-winning filmmakers hailing from such diverse locales as Norway, Sweden, Austria, Kenya and the U.S. to name a few.

One of the must-sees is from New York Based director, Wing-Yee Wu. Her haunting short, "4960" conveys more chilling emotion and evocative story-teling in 14 minutes than many directors manage in two hours. Shot during her graduate film studies at NYU, the film is set during the siege in Sarajevo and follows a young couple as they attempt to communicate from two different sides of the world. Raised in Sweden by Chinese parents, Wu did her undergraduate studies at Central Saint Martins College in London. With such a unique, international background, her work conveys the universality of emotion that transcends barriers of both language and geography.

Although "4960" won a Jury Honorable Mention at this year's Slamdance Film Festival,Wu has welcomed the opportunity that The Screening Room has provided to showcase her work. "It's quite mind blowing to not only access such a wide audience, but to be in direct contact with the people who watch your film. I also love that viewers are from all over the world. Every filmmaker spends incredible amounts of time and effort in making what they do, but short films are still to date mostly considered show-reel material and practice for a longer format — an opportunity to screen outside of the film festival circuit is very refreshing and rewarding."

Besides "4960", check out The Screening Room's latest four offerings debuting today, 15 August 2008, with another four coming in two weeks.