OTTs begin to pick up festival favourites after critical acclaim

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Still, over-the-top (OTT) media firms look for films that may tour the festival circuit without, or with limited, theatrical release in metropolitan cities. That’s prompted by demand for variety among a niche audience and potential consumption among the diaspora.

All We Imagine As Light, which was nominated for the Palme d'Or and won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, besides receiving two Golden Globe nominations, is now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar after a small release in cinemas. Even titles like All That Breathes and Girls Will Be Girls have also found their way to OTT services that want to cater to up-market audiences.

Also Read | Rise of connected TVs prompts OTT platforms to focus on family-centric shows “Several streaming platforms believe these niche, critically acclaimed films can do better in terms of viewership than regular commercial movies," said independent trade analyst Sreedhar Pillai. “In any case, OTT as a medium was supposed to encourage and promote arthouse cinema though it may not have turned out that way entirely." A specific audience demographic waits for experimental movies to premiere on OTT but the mandate for streaming services to wait for theatrical box office has impacted the fare that becomes available for such viewers.

But as few as they may be in number, when a film breaks out in the international film festival circuit, especially the way ‘All We Imagine As Light’ did, it increases its chances of striking a good OTT deal. Also Read | A new streaming customer emerges: The subscription pauser While there is definitely an upmarket, elite audience base