South Asian cinema and video online distribution (VOD) research network

Lead Research Organisation: University of East London
Department Name: Arts and Digital Industries

Abstract

Sharing a colonial past under British rule and separated by regional tensions since 1948, South Asian nations have all been equally exposed to Hindi cinema for decades. Within the region, Hindi cinema made in India has been simultaneously a shared medium and a modern form of cultural colonisation. Video online distribution (VOD) is now beginning to destabilise this film industrial configuration, enabling the global circulation of films from South Asian countries that, until recently, were confined to the domestic market.

Tension between South Asian countries mark both relations within the South Asian diaspora in Britain and public attitudes towards South Asian diasporans. Today, however, VOD makes it possible for Indian audiences to watch, for instance, Pakistani or Bangladeshi films, even if movement of people and goods between the two countries, and inter-diasporan relations, are at best difficult. But this new form of cultural exchange is entirely mediated by video online distribution companies (VODs) and their commercial interests. The purpose of this network is to enable filmmakers and scholars from South Asia to begin to explore the possibilities of regional dialogue offered by this is new cinematic ground.

Two features characterise the growth of VODs like Netflix, Amazon, Hotstar, Iflix or Viu: the expansion of their geographic reach and their diversification into local content production. VODs have adopted the commissioning and production of films or series in local languages with local crews as a market penetration strategy. VODs' claim is that this enables filmmakers marginalised within the domestic industry to gain international exposure. The general assumption is that this, in turn, helps challenge received ideas about local cultures and identities. In reality research is at too early a stage to substantiate either.

Most research on VOD is sponsored by the companies or their investors. More objective studies have been undertaken by public advisory agencies in the Global North, which are, however, of little practical use when applied to national cinemas in South Asia. Existing academic research examines VOD as an industrial complex through a political economy of the media approach within which films, their aesthetics and cultural specificity are marginal concerns. This type of research documents the extent to which VODs define the limits within which independent filmmakers work. What is missing is research on how filmmakers move within those limits and how this, in turn, shapes the films they make. These conditions demarcate independent cinema - its content and aesthetics - and, with it, also our imaginings of local identities.

By bringing together filmmakers from different South Asian countries and scholars, and combining theoretical approaches with the experience of creative industry professionals, this network will enable research that explores how VODs' operation (distribution, commissioning and production) is shaping ideas of South Asian identity and regional relations. It will be the first network to research VODs' operation from this methodological and geographic perspective. Networking will also stimulate transnational dialogue among nationals who share common historical and cultural influences but have entertained conflictual political relations. Third, networking will enable us to address questions of content, aesthetics and representation from different professional windows, implementing an interdisciplinary, comparative methodology that, based on localised angles, will be of relevance to the study of VOD's impact on independent cinema also in other regions.

Publications

10 25 50
publication icon
Valentina Vitali (2023) South Asian cinema at festivals and on VOD: focus on women filmmakers in NO NIIN: At the Cusp of Art and Criticality (Finland)

Related Projects

Project Reference Relationship Related To Start End Award Value
AH/W006464/1 31/03/2022 30/07/2023 £35,843
AH/W006464/2 Transfer AH/W006464/1 31/08/2023 29/06/2024 £17,636
 
Description The network's research enabled us to conclude that
- the emerging new streaming economy of South Asia is very different from the dazzling picture publicised by corporate operators. So-called 'global platforms' do not yet have actual global reach, and not as much as they claim in South Asia. In fact, across South Asia we are witnessing, rather, the proliferation of small, hyper-local platforms offering content in local languages;
- there is no evidence that corporate streaming companies' operation as producers or distributors has so far opened up significant opportunities for emerging talent (as these companies tend to claim), but the landscape is changing. In India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, which have the highest film production rate, the operation of both corporate and hyper-local VOD platforms has begun to intervene into long-established film-industrial patterns;
- the proliferation of small, independent platforms in every South Asian nation, from Bhutan to Sri Lanka, and their provision of content in local languages are beginning to make a dent also in the regional dominance of Hindi films;
- in India, where distributors have historically controlled finance and, with it, film production, this seems to have opened up opportunities for small producers and emerging independent filmmakers, though crucially not with corporate, global operators;
- early signs are that hyper-local platforms offering independent content in local languages struggle to survive on subscriptions only. Financiers and advertisers remain, for these platforms, very hard to come by;
- the ground is extremely fluid and, for the sample of local platforms we have identified, precarious;
- public events organised by our network showed that audiences in the UK welcome with open arms the possibility of accessing films from parts of South Asia other than India;
- however, public events organised by the network also showed that the general public and academics alike are unaware of the existence of local (national or hyper-local) South Asian platforms, many of which are accessible globally and offer South Asian content with English subtitles.

Overall our findings show that what obstructs exchange and the circulation of independent South Asian films within South Asia, and between South Asia and the UK, is neither the technology nor the reach of government control (which is very real even when it can be bypassed with VPNs). The difficulties lie, rather, in the fact that non-local audiences, including UK audiences, are unaware of the existence of independent, local or hyper-local South Asian platforms. Only a small minority of viewers ventures out to seek content from, say, Sri Lanka, Bhutan or Myanmar. When this minority of curious viewers does look for such content, they search for it on corporate providers like Netflix or Amazon Prime, which hardly offer anything of the sort. Audiences are largely oblivious of local platforms like CinemaCeylon, Samuh or YFS, both of which provide eminently affordable Sri Lankan, Bhutanese and Burmese independent films via pay-per-view options. Local platforms like these do not have the capacity to bypass the marketing reach and algorithmic clamp of corporate players.
These findings highlighted the importance of raising public awareness of the accessibility, diversity and quality of films from across South Asia through public screenings. As this project advanced, and in the light of very positive feedback from the public, we decided to intensify this type of activity - i.e. public free screenings followed by Q&A and discussion. We also reached out to other academics via conference papers and the Vilnius symposium and used that network as a means to influence directly HE curricula.
Exploitation Route Our findings, our network's website and the public screenings we organised have helped made the general UK public, educators, academics, programmers and funders aware of the accessibility, diversity and quality of films from every South Asian country.
-Programmers of cinemas, festivals and streaming platforms in the UK have taken stock and are now acting on their increased awareness, to the benefit of the UK public, South Asian filmmakers and debates of South Asian identities in the UK.
-Academics in the UK, the US and Europe are using our project's website as a tool to teach about the diverse cultures and cinemas of South Asia.
-Individuals from different South Asian countries have found commonalities between the circumstances under which independent and emerging filmmakers in their respective countries work. They have developed the awareness of a shared ground that will help their work as filmmakers and their films to circulate more easily across South Asia, as well as into the UK.
-A small share of the UK film public is now aware that films from every country in South Asia can be accessed through independent local platforms. We are hoping that this public will increase and demand that public broadcasting and film programming (in cinemas, festivals and streaming platforms) reflect the diversity and quality of the material this public now knows to be accessible.
Sectors Creative Economy

Education

Leisure Activities

including Sports

Recreation and Tourism

Culture

Heritage

Museums and Collections

URL https://southasiavod.com/
 
Description The network's public activities have had a societal impact. Public screenings of South Asian films, followed by Q&As with network members and guest filmmakers, helped stimulate and shape debate among the British public about participation, inclusion and diversity in cultural production and consumption. Feedback from the screenings of South Asian films we organised over a period of two years indicate that these have influenced audiences' ideas about South Asia and South Asian diasporic identities in the UK. The screenings have contributed to audiences arriving at a more informed and nuanced understanding of parts of South Asia - parts that are not often featured in UK media or, when featured in mainstream media, are subject to stereotypical representation. The screenings and the network's website also encouraged audiences to further engage with the culture and history of South Asian countries, notions of intersectionality, and representation of South Asian diasporic identities through independent films available online from less well known streaming platforms (rather than mostly mainstream Indian on Netflix or Amazon Prime). Conference papers, the symposium in Vilnius, published outputs and the network's website have influenced higher education curricula in Britain, the US and Europe, in film and area studies HE courses, as well as in filmmaking and media practice courses. The network's website is now used in HE film and area studies courses in the UK, US and Europe. The network's research has, in this sense, influenced HE education curricula internationally. The network's screenings of South Asian films and its website have impacted on UK festival and UK streaming platform programmers' view of what is and is not cinema in South Asia, expanding their approach to programming. Some of the filmmakers involved in the network have been offered online screening hosted by UK programmers, and online programmers have contacted network members asking for further information on South Asian and diasporic filmmakers. Having worked for two years together as part of the network, network members are extending their collaboration independently. The network has, in this sense, succeeded in fostering transnational relations and sustainable collaborations between filmmakers, scholars and programmes based across South Asia, as well as those based in South Asia and in the UK, including diasporic scholars, programmers and filmmakers. Within academia the network's regular meetings, the international symposium in Vilnius and publications have made possible collaborative, interdisciplinary research on the impact of video online distribution globally. These activities have influenced and shaped current research on this burgeoning field globally. Challenges overcome to achieve impact include difficulty in obtaining travel visa for network members from specific countries (e.g. Afghanistan). This has impacted on the network's public activities, not on the network's regular meetings.
First Year Of Impact 2023
Sector Creative Economy,Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections
Impact Types Cultural

Societal

 
Description Influenced film programming
Geographic Reach National 
Policy Influence Type Contribution to new or improved professional practice
Impact Promoting the network's activities and findings through screenings aimed at the general public and film professionals has lead to greater exposure of the UK public to films from South Asian countries other than India. This has not only enhanced the visibility of South Asian filmmakers. Above all, it has to enabled us to facilitate discussions about South Asian identities, generally and in the UK. These screenings helped us increase the visibility of, and facilitate access to, a wide range of films from the region. As reactions from the audiences indicated, in the medium-term this will sustain informed public debates about the nuances and complexities of South Asian diasporic identities in the UK.
 
Description Network platform used in HE
Geographic Reach Multiple continents/international 
Policy Influence Type Influenced training of practitioners or researchers
Impact The network has influenced HE curriculum in the sense that universities which were already teaching the history of cinema in South Asia are now no longer focusing exclusively on India. Through the network's website, HE students (and the public) can now familiarise themselves with and use independent platforms that give access to films from every South Asian country. Presenting the network at the conference and through public screenings enabled us to reach professionals and academics and, through them, influence curriculum. Some of these academics in the UK, US and EU now use the project's website as a teaching tool in their film history and area studies courses, because it helps students access independent films from parts of South Asia other than India.
 
Description UAL - UCBerkeley - IUB - APU - AU - Inter-Asia Cultural Studies Association 
Organisation Ahmedabad University
Country India 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution In addition to collaborating as part of my AHRC Networking award on South Asian Cinema and Video Online Distribution (VOD), Ashwani Sharma (LCC, UAL) and I set up a 'cluster' to present the network's work and preliminary findings at the Inter-Asia Cultural Studies biennial conference in July 2023 in Ahmedabad, hosted by the Centre for Inter-Asian Research, Ahmedabad University. The conference theme this year was Post-pandemic Futures: Remapping Inter-Asian Routes. This is one of the most prominent academic conferences in the humanities in Asia. Our cluster organised two workshops and a public talk. The workshops were aimed at extending the debate on VOD to scholars based across Asia.
Collaborator Contribution Ashwani Sharma (LCC, UAL) initiated the collaboration with the Inter-Asian Cultural Studies' conference organisers. As part of our conference cluster we invited prominent scholars of South Asia, including Meeta Rani Jha (UC Berkeley) and Raju Zakhir Hossain (Independent University Bangladesh). S.V. Srinivas (Azim Premji University Bangalore), who is already part of the AHRC Network on South Asian Cinema and Video Online Distribution, is also part of our conference cluster. Attending the conference as a 'cluster' raised the visibility of our network's activities and its impact across Asia. This will consolidate the ground on the basis of which we may be able to apply for further funding in future to expand this South Asian Cinema and VOD network's research. As a result of our conference workshops universities in the US and Asia are now using our network's website in the classroom, in area and film studies courses.
Impact Conference paper, two workshops and one public talk at Inter-Asia Cultural Studies conference. Title of our cluster, which presents and organises these activities: 'Regional Streaming Networks: video online distribution and transnational exchange in South Asia and beyond'. Aimed at presenting the current network's preliminary finding and extending the debate on VOD to scholars based across Asia, our cluster's activities have two additional objectives: 1) to identify possible partners for a future AHRC funding application; 2) to facilitate a comparative approach by gathering information of the spread and impact of VOD in East and South East Asia.
Start Year 2023
 
Description UAL - UCBerkeley - IUB - APU - AU - Inter-Asia Cultural Studies Association 
Organisation Azim Premji University
Country India 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution In addition to collaborating as part of my AHRC Networking award on South Asian Cinema and Video Online Distribution (VOD), Ashwani Sharma (LCC, UAL) and I set up a 'cluster' to present the network's work and preliminary findings at the Inter-Asia Cultural Studies biennial conference in July 2023 in Ahmedabad, hosted by the Centre for Inter-Asian Research, Ahmedabad University. The conference theme this year was Post-pandemic Futures: Remapping Inter-Asian Routes. This is one of the most prominent academic conferences in the humanities in Asia. Our cluster organised two workshops and a public talk. The workshops were aimed at extending the debate on VOD to scholars based across Asia.
Collaborator Contribution Ashwani Sharma (LCC, UAL) initiated the collaboration with the Inter-Asian Cultural Studies' conference organisers. As part of our conference cluster we invited prominent scholars of South Asia, including Meeta Rani Jha (UC Berkeley) and Raju Zakhir Hossain (Independent University Bangladesh). S.V. Srinivas (Azim Premji University Bangalore), who is already part of the AHRC Network on South Asian Cinema and Video Online Distribution, is also part of our conference cluster. Attending the conference as a 'cluster' raised the visibility of our network's activities and its impact across Asia. This will consolidate the ground on the basis of which we may be able to apply for further funding in future to expand this South Asian Cinema and VOD network's research. As a result of our conference workshops universities in the US and Asia are now using our network's website in the classroom, in area and film studies courses.
Impact Conference paper, two workshops and one public talk at Inter-Asia Cultural Studies conference. Title of our cluster, which presents and organises these activities: 'Regional Streaming Networks: video online distribution and transnational exchange in South Asia and beyond'. Aimed at presenting the current network's preliminary finding and extending the debate on VOD to scholars based across Asia, our cluster's activities have two additional objectives: 1) to identify possible partners for a future AHRC funding application; 2) to facilitate a comparative approach by gathering information of the spread and impact of VOD in East and South East Asia.
Start Year 2023
 
Description UAL - UCBerkeley - IUB - APU - AU - Inter-Asia Cultural Studies Association 
Organisation Independent University
Country Bangladesh 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution In addition to collaborating as part of my AHRC Networking award on South Asian Cinema and Video Online Distribution (VOD), Ashwani Sharma (LCC, UAL) and I set up a 'cluster' to present the network's work and preliminary findings at the Inter-Asia Cultural Studies biennial conference in July 2023 in Ahmedabad, hosted by the Centre for Inter-Asian Research, Ahmedabad University. The conference theme this year was Post-pandemic Futures: Remapping Inter-Asian Routes. This is one of the most prominent academic conferences in the humanities in Asia. Our cluster organised two workshops and a public talk. The workshops were aimed at extending the debate on VOD to scholars based across Asia.
Collaborator Contribution Ashwani Sharma (LCC, UAL) initiated the collaboration with the Inter-Asian Cultural Studies' conference organisers. As part of our conference cluster we invited prominent scholars of South Asia, including Meeta Rani Jha (UC Berkeley) and Raju Zakhir Hossain (Independent University Bangladesh). S.V. Srinivas (Azim Premji University Bangalore), who is already part of the AHRC Network on South Asian Cinema and Video Online Distribution, is also part of our conference cluster. Attending the conference as a 'cluster' raised the visibility of our network's activities and its impact across Asia. This will consolidate the ground on the basis of which we may be able to apply for further funding in future to expand this South Asian Cinema and VOD network's research. As a result of our conference workshops universities in the US and Asia are now using our network's website in the classroom, in area and film studies courses.
Impact Conference paper, two workshops and one public talk at Inter-Asia Cultural Studies conference. Title of our cluster, which presents and organises these activities: 'Regional Streaming Networks: video online distribution and transnational exchange in South Asia and beyond'. Aimed at presenting the current network's preliminary finding and extending the debate on VOD to scholars based across Asia, our cluster's activities have two additional objectives: 1) to identify possible partners for a future AHRC funding application; 2) to facilitate a comparative approach by gathering information of the spread and impact of VOD in East and South East Asia.
Start Year 2023
 
Description UAL - UCBerkeley - IUB - APU - AU - Inter-Asia Cultural Studies Association 
Organisation University of California, Berkeley
Country United States 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution In addition to collaborating as part of my AHRC Networking award on South Asian Cinema and Video Online Distribution (VOD), Ashwani Sharma (LCC, UAL) and I set up a 'cluster' to present the network's work and preliminary findings at the Inter-Asia Cultural Studies biennial conference in July 2023 in Ahmedabad, hosted by the Centre for Inter-Asian Research, Ahmedabad University. The conference theme this year was Post-pandemic Futures: Remapping Inter-Asian Routes. This is one of the most prominent academic conferences in the humanities in Asia. Our cluster organised two workshops and a public talk. The workshops were aimed at extending the debate on VOD to scholars based across Asia.
Collaborator Contribution Ashwani Sharma (LCC, UAL) initiated the collaboration with the Inter-Asian Cultural Studies' conference organisers. As part of our conference cluster we invited prominent scholars of South Asia, including Meeta Rani Jha (UC Berkeley) and Raju Zakhir Hossain (Independent University Bangladesh). S.V. Srinivas (Azim Premji University Bangalore), who is already part of the AHRC Network on South Asian Cinema and Video Online Distribution, is also part of our conference cluster. Attending the conference as a 'cluster' raised the visibility of our network's activities and its impact across Asia. This will consolidate the ground on the basis of which we may be able to apply for further funding in future to expand this South Asian Cinema and VOD network's research. As a result of our conference workshops universities in the US and Asia are now using our network's website in the classroom, in area and film studies courses.
Impact Conference paper, two workshops and one public talk at Inter-Asia Cultural Studies conference. Title of our cluster, which presents and organises these activities: 'Regional Streaming Networks: video online distribution and transnational exchange in South Asia and beyond'. Aimed at presenting the current network's preliminary finding and extending the debate on VOD to scholars based across Asia, our cluster's activities have two additional objectives: 1) to identify possible partners for a future AHRC funding application; 2) to facilitate a comparative approach by gathering information of the spread and impact of VOD in East and South East Asia.
Start Year 2023
 
Description UAL - UCBerkeley - IUB - APU - AU - Inter-Asia Cultural Studies Association 
Organisation University of the Arts London
Department London College of Communication
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution In addition to collaborating as part of my AHRC Networking award on South Asian Cinema and Video Online Distribution (VOD), Ashwani Sharma (LCC, UAL) and I set up a 'cluster' to present the network's work and preliminary findings at the Inter-Asia Cultural Studies biennial conference in July 2023 in Ahmedabad, hosted by the Centre for Inter-Asian Research, Ahmedabad University. The conference theme this year was Post-pandemic Futures: Remapping Inter-Asian Routes. This is one of the most prominent academic conferences in the humanities in Asia. Our cluster organised two workshops and a public talk. The workshops were aimed at extending the debate on VOD to scholars based across Asia.
Collaborator Contribution Ashwani Sharma (LCC, UAL) initiated the collaboration with the Inter-Asian Cultural Studies' conference organisers. As part of our conference cluster we invited prominent scholars of South Asia, including Meeta Rani Jha (UC Berkeley) and Raju Zakhir Hossain (Independent University Bangladesh). S.V. Srinivas (Azim Premji University Bangalore), who is already part of the AHRC Network on South Asian Cinema and Video Online Distribution, is also part of our conference cluster. Attending the conference as a 'cluster' raised the visibility of our network's activities and its impact across Asia. This will consolidate the ground on the basis of which we may be able to apply for further funding in future to expand this South Asian Cinema and VOD network's research. As a result of our conference workshops universities in the US and Asia are now using our network's website in the classroom, in area and film studies courses.
Impact Conference paper, two workshops and one public talk at Inter-Asia Cultural Studies conference. Title of our cluster, which presents and organises these activities: 'Regional Streaming Networks: video online distribution and transnational exchange in South Asia and beyond'. Aimed at presenting the current network's preliminary finding and extending the debate on VOD to scholars based across Asia, our cluster's activities have two additional objectives: 1) to identify possible partners for a future AHRC funding application; 2) to facilitate a comparative approach by gathering information of the spread and impact of VOD in East and South East Asia.
Start Year 2023
 
Description International symposium on Streaming in the Global South 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact An international academic symposium on streaming in the Global South, organised by PI and Co-I, hosted by the Co-I's institution, Vilnius University, Institute of Asian and Transcultural Studies, and attended by network members.
The symposium opened the network's research out to academic researching streaming in all regions of the Global South. Delegates included scholars from South Asia, East Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. The symposium also included a special panel on distribution.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024
URL https://www.vu.lt/en/news-events/news/international-symposium-streaming-in-the-global-south#:~:text=...
 
Description Public screening of South Asian films 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Public free screening of short and medium length films by independent women filmmakers from across South Asia. Part of 'Tongues on Fire: UK Asian Film Festival' and followed by Q&A with the filmmakers and network members, and lively public discussion.
65 people attended this screening at Stratford PictureHouse, London, on 14 May 2022. Reactions from the public and the discussion that followed the screening were very positive. Questionnaires revealed that audiences would like to see more events of this type, showcasing a range of films from across South Asia (not just India), and touching on contemporary themes. (Please also refer to entry under 'Collaborations'.)
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/grabbing-the-world-by-the-lapels-tickets-331454949677?aff=ebdsoporgpr...
 
Description Public screening of South Asian long-form film 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Public free screening of long form documentary by Indian woman filmmaker. This long film - a four hour video-diary set Mirya, a small town south of Mumbai - was chosen because it enables spectators to encounter, in a hyper-localised form, molecular relations and subtle tensions between various Indian communities, of different castes, religion, language, and experience how these play out on a day-to-day basis. The screening led to interesting discussions about this macrocosm of relations. Another purposes of the screening was to network with streaming platform programmers interested in South Asian content and in long form content (films over 2 hours). The screening took place at Close-Up Cinema in London, on 3 February 2024. This cinema was chosen because it is patronised by professionals and cinephiles interested in unusual formats. Reactions from the public and attending professionals, and the discussion that followed were very positive. From a networking point of view, the event was very successful. The featured filmmaker is now being considered for inclusion by Cryptofiction, a UK-based independent streaming platform. This platform has contacted the PI for more South Asian content, in view of hosting a curated South Asian programme.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024
URL https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/many-months-in-mirya-directed-by-renu-savant-tickets-808955205797?aff...
 
Description Public screening of short documentaries from Myanmar 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Free public screening of documentaries from Myanmar. At Close-Up Cinema, London. The event was partly intended to test public reactions about, and the visibility of, the films, which are available from a new dedicated independent streaming platform. The screening was followed by a Q&A with one of the filmmakers and their producer/distributor.
Second, the event was intended to promote debate about images of South Asian identities, in particular images of a nation, Myanmar, currently in the news but too often misrepresented. The documentaries were selected to convey a sense of the complexity of identity politics in the region, including intersectional issues of class, caste, religion and gender.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024
URL https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/award-winning-docs-from-myanmar-tickets-852274535077?aff=erelexpmlt
 
Description South Asian Cinema and VOD 2nd network meeting 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Study participants or study members
Results and Impact South Asian Cinema and VOD research network members met in person at University of East London campus over three days.

The issues that had emerged at the 1st (online) network meeting were taken up and discussed further. The members resolved to focus on the presence and operation of local, language-specific VOD platforms (rather than on global, corporate ones), and to map the VOD connections between different countries within South Asia, as well as between different communities within the South Asian diaspora. This to pursue the network's main research question: can VOD technology enable dialogue within South Asia and among diverse identities of the South Asian diaspora?

Also identified as urgent questions:
- censorship on/by VOD platforms;
- streaming as archive for cinemas at risk (e.g. Afghanistan);
- the South Asian documentary on VOD;
- women filmmakers and access to online distribution/exhibition.

Members resolved that the project's website had to indicate those regional connections where they existed. So the website designer was also invited, on the last day of the meeting, to find out how best to make this data available to external researchers, professionals and the general public.

The network members resolved that the next meeting, online, in 2023 will focus on the content of, and representation of identities in, South Asian films available on a range of VOD platforms.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL http://southasiavod.com/past-events
 
Description South Asian Cinema and VOD 3rd network meeting 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Study participants or study members
Results and Impact South Asian Cinema and VOD research network members met online.

Members who attended the Inter-Asia Cultural Studies conference and the symposium in Vilnius reported back, especially on papers about streaming in regions of the Global South other than South Asia but which focused on issues that had emerged also in the context of South Asia.

These included
-the use of YouTube and Facebook as low cost, accessible platforms in the Global South;
-transnational connections made possible by streaming within specific regions of the Global South and diasporic communities there;
-the online visibility of content by identities marginalised within South Asia and the South Asian diaspora in the UK, e.g. for instance, Sylhethi music videos;
-streamed content made by filmmakers based in zones of conflict in South Asia, e.g. Myanmar, Afghanistan;
-representation of intersectional identities in content from parts of South Asia;
-the increased visibility of women-centred content from in South and East Asia.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024
 
Description South Asian Cinema and VOD research network meeting 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Study participants or study members
Results and Impact First, introductory South Asian Cinema and VOD network meeting, online, on 15 May 2022.

Network members described the presence, operation and audience access of streaming platforms in their respective country (incl. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka). The discussion went on to address VODs companies' relation to the state, and other shared issues and differences across the region.

A transcript of the discussion was subsequently circulated to all network members, in preparation of the network's 2nd meeting, in-person in London in September 2022.
Part of the findings that resulted from this first network meeting fed into the preparation of the network's website (www.southasiavod.com) and are published there, accessible to the general public and the research community.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL http://southasiavod.com/past-events
 
Description Website mapping the presence and operation of local VOD platforms in South Asia 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Media (as a channel to the public)
Results and Impact Existing research on video online distribution focuses exclusively on global operators - companies like Netflix and Amazon Prime, which also have a monopoly on the market in the Global North. Our network findings show that when this is projected onto the Global South it gives a highly inaccurate picture. Across South Asia the VOD market is characterised by an undergrowth of domestic and regional VOD operators that are far more (financially) accessible to South Asian audiences in the region. These are also accessible globally to the South Asian diaspora, which also sustains and uses them. These local VOD operators are responsible for the largest share of South Asian-made video/film content, as a distributor and, very often, also as a producer.

None of this is documented anywhere in existing research. This website is intended to begin to map this rich cultural and film-industrial ground. It is both a tool for researchers, filmmakers and programmers, and a resource for general audiences hungry for accessible films from South Asian countries.

The website is currently work-in-progress. Its aims are to map (a) the undergrowth of local VOD and (b) the exchange they make possible between different countries within South Asia - e.g. through shared language across national borders. This to pursue the network's main research question: can VOD technology enable dialogue within South Asia and among diverse identities of the South Asian diaspora?
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022,2023
URL http://southasiavod.com/