One-stop destination for Asia's best shorts

SHORT films often get a raw deal - they don't get theatrical releases, it's hard to catch them outside of film festivals, and the public usually pays no attention to them because more often than not, they are made by unknowns.

But short films help every big-shot director to first establish himself or herself in the industry.

Hence, cinephiles will tell you it's through short films that you'll find a fresh voice in movie-making and possibly even discover Cinema's Next Big Thing.

To make that search a little easier, local start-up Viddsee has been curating the best shorts from the region and streaming it on their website, which was launched in 2013 by Singaporean Derek Tan and Malaysian-born Ho Jia Jian.

The pair met in university at a film club and while working as engineers building an online platform for a cable TV operator, the idea to start Viddsee struck the duo, who incidentally are filmmakers themselves.

"We were making films by nights and some of it made it to festivals overseas but it was not the best way to get our works out to people," says Tan. "And since we were already working on digital distribution in our day jobs, we thought why not do it for ourselves as well?"

Tired of competing with endless how-to and cute cat videos on YouTube, the duo came up with the idea of a site dedicated to showcasing the works of Asia's best indie filmmakers to a global audience.

Tan adds Viddsee is inspired by the likes of (mainland Chinese) video platforms like Youku, Tudou and iQiyi, which deliver quality content to their audiences.

"From there, we can build a community as discussions will usually follow after watching a film - it's a bit like Facebook where it's not just about broadcasting but also getting people to talk about things and growing the network," explains the 30-year-old about the eco-system they wish to achieve.

Tan reveals Viddsee has since grown to over one million monthly active users today and its original focus on indie filmmakers in South-east Asia has also since expanded to include content from the rest of Asia including Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and even Iran.

The 1,000-plus works featured on Viddsee average around 15 minutes and, with its new mobile app, the films can be pre-downloaded and viewed without incurring data charges while on-the-move.

Not all the films are new, though: some like Guang, a touching musical about autism by Malaysian filmmaker Quek Shio Chuan was made three years ago but has since found a new lease of life after it was put on Viddsee. That in turn has helped Quek raise funds for his upcoming feature.

Filipino zombie drama Lola, meanwhile, has gone viral in the Philippines and those who have watched it are petitioning filmmaker Kevin Ang to produce a sequel or turn it into a full-length movie.

One of Viddsee's most-watched and most talked-about short films recently came from Singapore. Made by N Thilagan as his graduation short film from Ngee Ann Poly, Tudung tells the story of two Malay sisters who are about to meet each other for the first time in five years.

"(Tudung's) story travelled widely as there were many conversations around a real issue," notes Tan. "It goes back to our curation and how we picked very real local stories presented either in narrative or documentary forms."

Confident that the Internet is the perfect home for short films, he is heartened by how people are connecting with the works of the filmmakers on the site.

But he jests his proudest moment could also be seeing his own mother logging into Viddsee.

"(There are) aunties who you least expect to talk about short films mentioning stories they've watched and some of (my) friends' mums are even (discovering) there are more filmmakers here than just Jack Neo!" he adds.

For more information and to view the works of Asia's best indie filmmakers, log onto www.viddsee.com