By Pamela K. Johnson
AFI FEST Daily News

AFI FEST is not solely about showcasing movies, but also about exploring the technology that affects the content we watch on screens both large and small.

Over two days, Wednesday, November 4th, and Thursday, November 5th, at Mann Chinese 6 Theatres, the highly anticipated AFI DigiFest “offers a window onto the best new digital media out there,” says Suzanne Stefanac, director of the AFI Digital Content Lab, which hosts the free event.

“Our whole media landscape is changing all the time. We’re trying to illustrate the newest forms of storytelling across many different platforms and screens,” she adds.

Day 1 will feature projects incubated in the AFI Digital Content Lab, including the INTERVIEW PROJECT PRESENTED BY DAVIDLYNCH.COM, in which the famed director’s son, Austin, and Jason S., interview people along 20,000 miles of America’s back roads.

“Like those photos done by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s,” notes Stefanac, “they capture their subjects with style and humanity.”

Another participant is the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, who worked with the Lab to devise a strategy for engaging youth in environmental challenges. By partnering with existing environmental groups, the foundation will come up with ideas to help young people change their behavior and adapt habits that are more environmentally sustainable, such as vowing not to accept a plastic bag for a month.

On Day 2 of the event, DigiFest features some of the past years’ most innovative interactive media productions from around the world, including LIVE MUSIC, in which Yair Landau, former vice chair of Sony Animation, used a technique called crowd sourcing, in which he invited people on Facebook to contribute to his animation.

“He came up with a very beautiful, Romeo-and-Juliette-type story, in which a violin and a rock guitar fall in love,” says Stefanac. “He developed the story as part of his company, Mass Animation, working with dozens of people on small segments.”

Two more projects that landed on the list of the year’s best list were Trigger, a production company who created a game and augmented reality application for the movie DISTRICT 9, and ESCAPE FROM CITY 17, created by the Purchase brothers, whose short combines a 3D game world environment with live action. “These guys are totally self-taught and they created this for less than $500,” says Stefanac. “It’s really brilliant.”

To register, go to: http://www.afi.com/Education/dcl.

Pamela K. Johnson can be emailed at pjohn5@aol.com.