Cinemata is a platform for social and environmental films about the Asia-Pacific. Cinemata highlights essential yet underheard stories, increasing filmmakers’ reach, engagement, and impact, helping audiences discover thought-provoking videos.
With almost 5,000 films, Cinemata’s contributors and audiences include
- filmmakers and film curators
- journalists and media makers
- educators and researchers
- advocates and activists
- civil society and nonprofit organisations
Cinemata welcomes contributions in a variety of styles and genres, including documentary, fiction, animation, experimental, and more.
We regularly feature and promote great films, as well as highlight key contributors through EngageMedia’s Featured Filmmaker series.
Why "Cinemata"?
“Cinemata” comes from the combination of “cine”, which means “motion picture”, and “mata”, which means “eye” in several regional languages:
- In Bahasa Malaysia, Bahasa Indonesia, and Filipino, the word for “eye” is “mata”
- In Tetum (East Timor), the word for “eye” is “matan”
- In Vietnamese, the word for “eye” is “mắt”
- In Thai and Lao, the word for “eye” is “ta”
“Cinemata” represents our focus on highlighting Asia-Pacific perspectives and connecting issues, films, and filmmakers in the region.
What makes Cinemata different from other video platforms?
Cinemata has most features expected in a modern video platform, including some still not found in many platforms:
- Download videos in multiple transcoding dimensions (240p, 360p, 480p, 720p, 1080p) or in h264, h265, or vp9 profiles, as well as download the original file
- Save videos in a playlist and share them online
- Upload videos in various codecs (h264, h265, mkv), including support for Apple ProRes and Avid DNxHD
- Publish videos immediately once approved as a Trusted User (contact curators@cinemata.org to apply for Trusted User status)
Curated and Context-rich
While other platforms accept raw clips, Cinemata focuses on self-contained, stand-alone content. We collect and feature videos that
- focus on critical Asia-Pacific events and social and environmental issues
- are well-produced, innovative, engaging, and entertaining
- promote new and underheard stories
Engagement and Impact
More than just watching videos, we want our audiences to engage with social issues and contribute to creating impact:
- to learn more about the issues and contexts
- to share such learnings with peers and communities
- to contribute to wider campaigns and movements
- to become advocates and changemakers
Free, Open Source, and Secure
Developed by WordGames in partnership with EngageMedia, Cinemata is built on MediaCMS, “a modern, fully-featured open source video and media CMS”.
Cinemata is the result of the redevelopment of EngageMedia’s previous video site, which once hosted the videos in Cinemata today. This previous site was based on Plumi, an open source “video-sharing content management system based on Plone and produced by EngageMedia in collaboration with Unweb.me”.
If you’re interested in Cinemata’s source code, check out MediaCMS on GitHub.
Latest Videos on Cinemata
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PENDATANG Teaserby KumanPictures on 30/09/2022
In a dystopian version of Malaysia, draconian laws forbid people of different races from mingling with each other. When a Chinese family finds a Malay girl hiding in their house, they are faced with a dilemma: report her to the authorities or bring her to safety?
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Walking through the Darknessby Athan on 28/09/2022
Following the February 2021 military coup, five journalists risk their freedom – and their lives – to document the political upheaval in Myanmar.
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Black & White Road by Jericho Cedric Nepomuceno Maravillaby CCPFBNMD on 26/09/2022
An artist shares his deeply personal journey walking on the black and white road to escape reality and find his "perfect place". (Warning: Sensitive Content.)
