Directors going mobile

In a move designed to highlight the fledgling business of mobile multimedia content, the GSM Association will next week distribute a free collection of short films made for cellphones by directors commissioned by Robert Redford's Sundance Institute, writes the International Herald Tribune.

The short films, including one created by the husband-and-wife team Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton, who directed Little Miss Sunshine, will be viewable on most video-capable phones. Ultimately, the films will be showcased at the 3GSM World Congress, the industry's biggest tradeshow.

So far, content on phones has been limited mostly to existing movies or TV programs, but this marks the first time established filmmakers have directed explicitly for a two-inch screen.

"If the cellphone can encourage a new kind of community, that would be positive. But I fear a certain type of isolation that computers and iPods have brought," Faris said.

"What's great about film is that you share it with an audience. The idea that people will share these short films with their friends is the part that is most appealing to us."